Generalized symplectic Cayley transforms and a higher order formula for the Conley–Zehnder index of symplectic paths

Using a generalized notion of symplectic Cayley transform in the symplectic group, we introduce a sequence of integer valued invariants (higher order signatures) associated with a degeneracy instant of a smooth path of symplectomorphisms. In the real analytic case, we give a formula for the Conley–Zehnder index in terms of the higher order signatures.     

Singularities of the Minkowski set and affine equidistants for a curve and a surface

Generic singularities of envelopes of families of chords and bifurcations of affine equidistants defined by a pair of a curve and a surface in R³ are classified. The chords join pairs of points of the curve and the surface such that the tangent line to the curve is parallel to the tangent plane to the surface. The classification contains singularities of stable Lagrange and Legendre projections, boundary singularities and some less known classes appearing at the points of the surface and the curve themselves.     

Regularity estimates for solutions to the mean curvature flow with a Neumann boundary condition

In this work we study the behaviour of compact, smooth, immersed manifolds with boundary which move under the mean curvature flow in Euclidian space. We thereby prescribe the Neumann boundary condition in a purely geometric manner by requiring a vertical contact angle between the unit normal fields of the immersions and a given, smooth hypersurface. We deduce a very sharp local gradient bound depending only on the curvature of the immersions and. Combining this with a short time existence result, we obtain the existence of a unique solution to any given smooth initial and boundary data. This solution either exists for anyt>0 or on a maximal finite time interval [0,T] such that the curvature explodes astT.This article was processed by the author using the LATEX style filepljourlm from Springer-Verlag.     

Monotonicity formula and small action regularity for Yang-Mills flows in higher dimensions

In this paper the monotonicity formula and the small action regularity theorem for the regular heat flow of Yang-Mills connections in higher dimensions are established.     

A bifurcation result for semi-Riemannian trajectories of the Lorentz force equation

We obtain a bifurcation result for solutions of the Lorentz equation in a semi-Riemannian manifold; such solutions are critical points of a certain strongly indefinite functionals defined in terms of the semi-Riemannian metric and the electromagnetic field. The flow of the Jacobi equation along each solution preserves the so-called electromagnetic symplectic form, and the corresponding curve in the symplectic group determines an integer valued homology class called the Maslov index of the solution.We study electromagnetic conjugate instants with symplectic techniques, and we prove at first, an analogous of the semi-Riemannian Morse Index Theorem (see (Calculus of Variations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA, 1963)). By using this result, together with recent results on the bifurcation for critical points of strongly indefinite functionals (see (J. Funct. Anal. 162(1) (1999) 52)), we are able to prove that each non-degenerate and non-null electromagnetic conjugate instant along a given solution of the semi-Riemannian Lorentz force equation is a bifurcation point.     

The conformal Killing equation on forms—prolongations and applications

We construct a conformally invariant vector bundle connection such that its equation of parallel transport is a first order system that gives a prolongation of the conformal Killing equation on differential forms. Parallel sections of this connection are related bijectively to solutions of the conformal Killing equation. We construct other conformally invariant connections, also giving prolongations of the conformal Killing equation, that bijectively relate solutions of the conformal Killing equation on k-forms to a twisting of the conformal Killing equation on (k−?)-forms for various integers ?. These tools are used to develop a helicity raising and lowering construction in the general setting and on conformally Einstein manifolds.     

Bifurcation diagrams and caustics of simple quasi border singularities

Quasi boundary and quasi corner singularities of functions are discussed. They correspond to the classifications of Lagrangian projections with a boundary or a corner. The geometry of bifurcation diagrams and caustics of simple quasi boundary and quasi corner singularities in R³ and R⁴ are described.     

Hypersurfaces of restricted type in Minkowski space

A submanifold M _n ^r of Minkowski space is said to be of restricted type if its shape operator with respect to the mean curvature vector is the restriction of a fixed linear transformation of to the tangent space of M _n ^r at every point of M _n ^r . In this paper we completely classify hypersurfaces of restricted type in . More precisely, we prove that a hypersurface of is of restricted type if and only if it is either a minimal hypersurface, or an open part of one of the following hypersurfaces: S ^k × , S _k ¹ × , H ^k × , S _n ¹ , H ⁿ , with 1kn–1, or an open part of a cylinder on a plane curve of restricted type.This work was done when the first and fourth authors were visiting Michigan State University.Aangesteld Navorser N.F.W.O., Belgium.     

The Euler-Maclaurin sum formula for an inner derivation

An operator form of the Euler-Maclaurin sum formula is obtained, expressing the sum of the Euler-Maclaurin infinite series in an inner derivation as the difference between a summation operator and an inner antiderivation, on a closed subalgebra of a Banach algebra.     

An explicit expression for the Korteweg-de Vries hierarchy

Several constructions and an explicit expression for the right-hand side of the KdV hierarchy are presented.     

Harmonic sections of Riemannian vector bundles, and metrics of Cheeger-Gromoll type

We study harmonic sections of a Riemannian vector bundle E→M when E is equipped with a 2-parameter family of metrics hp,q which includes both the Sasaki and Cheeger-Gromoll metrics. For every k>0 there exists a unique p such that the harmonic sections of the radius-k sphere subbundle are harmonic sections of E with respect to hp,q for all q. In both compact and non-compact cases, Bernstein regions of the (p,q)-plane are identified, where the only harmonic sections of E with respect to hp,q are parallel. Examples are constructed of vector fields which are harmonic sections of E=TM in the case where M is compact and has non-zero Euler characteristic.     

Geometry of curves and surfaces through the contact map

We introduce a new approach to the study of affine equidistants and centre symmetry sets via a family of maps obtained by reflexion in the midpoints of chords of a submanifold of affine space. We apply this to surfaces in R³, previously studied by Giblin and Zakalyukin, and then apply the same ideas to surfaces in R⁴, elucidating some of the connexions between their geometry and the family of reflexion maps. We also point out some connexions with symplectic topology.     

The essential Lagrangian-Grassmannian and the homotopy type of the Fredholm Lagrangian-Grassmannian

Let H be a separable infinite dimensional Hilbert space endowed with a symplectic structure and let L₀⊂H be a Lagrangian subspace. Using the results of [A. Abbondandolo, P. Majer, Infinite dimensional Grassmannians, math.AT/0307192], we show that the Fredholm Lagrangian-Grassmannian FL₀(Λ) has the homotopy type of Gc(L₀), the Grassmannian of all Lagrangian subspaces of H that are compact perturbations of L₀. It is well known that the latter has the homotopy type of the quotient U(∞)/O(∞). As a corollary, we recover a result by B. Booss-Bavnbek and K. Furutani (see [B. Booss-Bavnbek, K. Furutani, Symplectic functional analysis and spectral invariants, Contemp. Math. 242 (1999) 53-83; K. Furutani, Fredholm-Lagrangian-Grassmannian and the Maslov index, J. Geom. Phys. 51 (2004) 269-331]) that the L₀-Maslov index is an isomorphism between the fundamental group of FL₀(Λ) and the integers.     

Pappus type theorems for motions along a submanifold

We study the volumes volume(D) of a domain D and volume(C) of a hypersurface C obtained by a motion along a submanifold P of a space form Mⁿ_λ. We show: (a) volume(D) depends only on the second fundamental form of P, whereas volume(C) depends on all the ith fundamental forms of P, (b) when the domain that we move D₀ has its q-centre of mass on P, volume(D) does not depend on the mean curvature of P, (c) when D₀ is q-symmetric, volume(D) depends only on the intrinsic curvature tensor of P; and (d) if the image of P by the ln of the motion (in a sense which is well-defined) is not contained in a hyperplane of the Lie algebra of SO(n−q−d), and C is closed, then volume(C) does not depend on the ith fundamental forms of P for i>2 if and only if the hypersurface that we move is a revolution hypersurface (of the geodesic (n−q)-plane orthogonal to P) around a d-dimensional geodesic plane.     

Finite determinacy of matrices over local rings. Tangent modules to the miniversal deformation for R-linear group actions

We consider matrices with entries in a local ring, $Ma{t}_{m\times n}(R)$. Fix a group action, $G?Ma{t}_{m\times n}(R)$, and a subset of allowed deformations, $\mathrm{\Sigma }?Ma{t}_{m\times n}(R)$. The standard question in Singularity Theory is the finite-$(\mathrm{\Sigma },G)$-determinacy of matrices. Finite determinacy implies algebraizability and is equivalent to a stronger notion: stable algebraizability.In our previous work this determinacy question was reduced to the study of the tangent spaces $T_{(\mathrm{\Sigma },A)}$, $T_{(GA,A)}$, and their quotient, the tangent module to the miniversal deformation,

. In particular, the order of determinacy is controlled by the annihilator of this tangent module, $ann(T_{(\mathrm{\Sigma },G,A)}^1)$.In this work we study this tangent module for the group action $GL(m,R)\times GL(n,R)?Ma{t}_{m\times n}(R)$ and various natural subgroups of it.We obtain ready-to-use criteria of determinacy for deformations of (embedded) modules, (skew-)symmetric forms, filtered modules, filtered morphisms of filtered modules, chains of modules and others.     

A local analytic splitting of the holonomy map on flat connections

Supported by the National Science Foundation     

Equivariant quantizations for AHS-structures

We construct an explicit scheme to associate to any potential symbol an operator acting between sections of natural bundles (associated to irreducible representations) for a so-called AHS-structure. Outside of a finite set of critical (or resonant) weights, this procedure gives rise to a quantization, which is intrinsic to this geometric structure. In particular, this provides projectively and conformally equivariant quantizations for arbitrary symbols on general (curved) projective and conformal structures.     

Variational aspects of the Seiberg-Witten functional

The Seiberg-Witten equations that have recently found important applications for four-dimensional geometry are the Euler-Lagrange equations for a functional involving a connection A on a line bundleL and a section of another bundleW ⁺ constructed fromL and a spinor bundle on a given four-dimensional Riemannian manifold. We show the regularity of weak solutions and the Palais-Smale condition for this functional.     

On the geometry of soliton equations

The paper aims to suggest a geometric point of view in the theory of soliton equations. The belief is that a deeper understanding of the origin of these equations may provide a better understanding of their remarkable properties. According to the geometric point of view, soliton equations are the outcome of a specific reduction process of a bi-Hamiltonian manifold. The suggestion of the paper is to pay attention also to the unreduced form of soliton equations.This work has been supported by the Italian MURST and by the GNFM of the Italian CNR.