Loss of initial data under limits of Ricci flows

Abstract

We construct a sequence of smooth Ricci flows on $T^2$, with standard uniform $C/t$ curvature decay, and with initial metrics converging to the standard flat unit-area square torus $g_0$ in the Gromov-Hausdorff sense, with the property that the flows themselves converge not to the static Ricci flow $g(t)\equiv g_0$, but to the static Ricci flow $g(t)\equiv 2g_0$ of twice the area.