In this paper, we establish an analytic foundation for a fully non-linear equation 2 1 = f on manifolds with metrics of positive
scalar curvature and apply it to give a (rough) classification of such manifolds. A crucial point is a simple observation that this
equation is a degenerate elliptic equation without any condition on the sign of f and it is elliptic not only for f > 0 but also for f < 0.
By defining a Yamabe constant Y2,1 with respect to this equation, we show that a manifold with metrics of positive scalar curvature
admits a conformal metric of positive scalar curvature and positive 2-scalar curvature if and only if Y2,1 > 0. We give a complete
solution for the corresponding Yamabe problem. Namely, let g0 be a positive scalar curvature metric, then in its conformal class
there is a conformal metric with 2(g) = 1(g), for some constant . Using these analytic results, we give a rough classification of the space of manifolds with metrics of positive scalar curvature.