Global existence and convergence for a higher order flow in conformal geometry

Abstract

We study a higher-order parabolic equation which generalizes the Ricci flow on two-dimensional surfaces. The metric is deformed conformally with a speed given by the Q-curvature of the metric. Under a condition on the Q-curvature of the initial metric we show that the soluton exists for all time and converges to a metric of prescribed Q-curvature.