Riemannian geometry is characterized, and research is oriented towards and shaped by concepts (geodesics, connections, curvature, ...) and objectives, in particular to understand certain classes of (compact) Riemannian manifolds defined by curvature conditions (constant or positive or negative curvature, ...). By way of contrast, geometric analysis is a perhaps somewhat less systematic collection of techniques, for solving extremal problems naturally arising in geometry and for investigating and characterizing their solutions. It turns out that the two fields complement each other very well; geometric analysis offers tools for solving difficult problems in geometry, and Riemannian geometry stimulates progress in geometric analysis by setting ambitious goals.
It is the aim of this book to be a systematic and comprehensive introduction to Riemannian geometry and a representative introduction to the methods of geometric analysis. It attempts a synthesis of geometric and analytic methods in the study of Riemannian manifolds.
The present work is the sixth edition of my textbook on Riemannian geometry and geometric analysis. It has developed on the basis of several graduate courses I taught at the Ruhr~University Bochum and the University of Leipzig. The main new feature of the present edition is a systematic presentation of the spectrum of the Laplace operator and its relation with the geometry of the underlying Riemannian marufold. Naturally, I have also included several smaller additions and minor corrections (for which I am grateful to several readers). Moreover, the organization of the chapters has been systematically rearranged.
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