This paper studies normalized Ricci flow on a nonparabolic surface, whose scalar curvature is asymptotically −1 in an integral sense. By a method initiated by R. Hamilton, the flow is shown to converge to a metric of constant scalar curvature −1. A relative estimate of Green’s function is proved as a tool.

It is shown that there is a unique Yamabe representative for a generic set of conformal classes in the space of metrics on any manifold. At such classes, the scalar curvature functional is shown to be differentiable on the space of Yamabe metrics. In addition, some sufficient conditions are given which imply that a Yamabe metric of locally maximal scalar curvature is necessarily Einstein.