Differential Harnack inequalities for semilinear parabolic equations on Riemannian manifolds I: Bakry-Émery curvature bounded below

Abstract: In this paper, we present a unified method for deriving differential Harnack inequalities for positive solutions of the semilinear parabolic equation \begin{equation*} \partial_t u=\Delta_V u+H(u) \end{equation*} on complete Riemannian manifolds with Bakry-\'Emery curvature bounded below. This method transforms the problem of deriving differential Harnack inequalities into solving a related ODE system. As an application of this method, we obtain new and improved estimates for logarithmic-type equations and Yamabe-type equations. Moreover, under the non-negative Bakry-\'Emery curvature condition, we obtain complete sharp estimates for these equations. As a natural consequence of these results, we also establish sharp Harnack inequalities and Liouville-type theorems for these equations.