Entropy, noncollapsing, and a gap theorem for ancient solutions to the Ricci flow

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the asymptotic entropy for ancient solutions to the Ricci flow. We prove a gap theorem for ancient solutions, which could be regarded as an entropy counterpart of Yokota's work. In addition, we prove that under some assumptions on one time slice of a complete ancient solution with nonnegative curvature operator, finite asymptotic entropy implies kappa-noncollapsing on all scales. This provides an evidence for Perelman's more general assertion that on a complete ancient solution with nonnegative curvature operator, bounded entropy is equivalent to kappa-noncollapsing.