Heat semi-group and generalized flows on complete Riemannian manifolds

Abstract We will use the heat semi-group to regularize functions and vector fields on Riemannian manifolds in order to develop Di Perna–Lions theory in this setting. Malliavinʼs point of view of the bundle of orthonormal frames on Brownian motions will play a fundamental role. As a byproduct we will construct diffusion processes associated to an elliptic operator with singular drift.