Gap theorems in Yang-Mills theory for complete four-dimensional manifolds with a weighted Poincaré inequality

Abstract

In this paper we prove $L^{\infty}$ type gap theorems in Yang-Mills theory for complete four-dimensional manifolds with a weighted Poincaré inequality. We apply the theorems to a broad class of complete manifolds satisfying weighted Poincaré inequalities. In particular, we obtain a gap theorem on the Euclidean space without assuming finite Yang-Mills energy. We also prove an $L^{\infty}$ characterization of the BPST instanton.