L^2-instability of the Taub-Bolt metric under the Ricci flow

Abstract: In this paper we prove that there exists a compact perturbation of the Ricci flat Taub-Bolt metric that evolves under the Ricci flow into a finite time singularity modelled on the shrinking solition FIK [5]. Moreover, this perturbation can be made arbitrarily L^2-small with respect to the Taub-Bolt metric. The method of proof closely follows the strategy adopted in [14], where the author constructs, via a Wa.zewski box argument, Ricci flows on compact manifolds which encounter finite singularities modelled on a given asymptotically conical shrinking soliton.