Constrained deformations of positive scalar curvature metrics, II

Abstract

AbstractWe prove that various spaces of constrained positive scalar curvature metrics on compact three‐manifolds with boundary, when not empty, are contractible. The constraints we mostly focus on are given in terms of local conditions on the mean curvature of the boundary, and our treatment includes both the mean‐convex and the minimal case. We then discuss the implications of these results on the topology of different subspaces of asymptotically flat initial data sets for the Einstein field equations in general relativity.