Canonical connections on paracontact manifolds

The canonical paracontact connection is defined and it is shown that its torsion is the obstruction the paracontact manifold to be paraSasakian. A -homothetic transformation is determined as a special gauge transformation. The η-Einstein manifold are defined, it is proved that their scalar curvature is a constant, and it is shown that in the paraSasakian case these spaces can be obtained from Einstein paraSasakian manifolds with -homothetic transformations. It is shown that an almost paracontact structure admits a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion if and only if the Nijenhuis tensor of the paracontact structure is skew-symmetric and the defining vector field is Killing.      

Conformal quaternionic contact curvature and the local sphere theorem

A tensor invariant is defined on a quaternionic contact manifold in terms of the curvature and torsion of the Biquard connection involving derivatives up to third order of the contact form. This tensor, called quaternionic contact conformal curvature, is similar to the Weyl conformal curvature in Riemannian geometry and to the Chern–Moser tensor in CR geometry. It is shown that a quaternionic contact manifold is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the standard flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group, or equivalently, to the standard 3-Sasakian structure on the sphere iff the quaternionic contact conformal curvature vanishes.     

Cusp Cross-Sections of Hyperbolic Orbifolds by Heisenberg Nilmanifolds I

Long and Reid [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 2: 285–296, 2002] have shown that the diffeomorphism class of every Riemannian flat manifold of dimension n≥ 3 arises as a cusp cross-section of a complete finite volume real hyperbolic (n+1)-orbifold. For the complex hyperbolic case, McReynolds [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 4: 721–755, 2004] proved that every 3-dimensional infranilmanifold is diffeomorphic to a cusp cross-section of a complete finite volume complex hyperbolic 2-orbifold. Moreover, he gave a necessary and sufficient condition for a Heisenberg infranilmanifold to be realized as a cusp cross-section of finite volume (arithmetically) complex hyperbolic orbifold. We study these realization problems by using Seifert fibrations.     

Variational properties of the Gauss–Bonnet curvatures

The Gauss–Bonnet curvature of order 2k is a generalization to higher dimensions of the Gauss–Bonnet integrand in dimension 2k, as the scalar curvature generalizes the two dimensional Gauss–Bonnet integrand. In this paper, we evaluate the first variation of the integrals of these curvatures seen as functionals on the space of all Riemannian metrics on the manifold under consideration. An important property of this derivative is that it depends only on the curvature tensor and not on its covariant derivatives. We show that the critical points of this functional once restricted to metrics with unit volume are generalized Einstein metrics and once restricted to a pointwise conformal class of metrics are metrics with constant Gauss–Bonnet curvature.     

Conformal minimal two-spheres in Q 2

In this paper, we consider a conformal minimal immersion f from S ₂ into a hyperquadric Q ₂, and prove that its Gaussian curvature K and normal curvature K ^⊥ satisfy K + K ^⊥ = 4. We also show that the ellipse of curvature is a circle.     

On the conditions to control curvature tensors of Ricci flow

An important problem in the study of Ricci flow is to find the weakest conditions that provide control of the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor. In this article, supposing (M ⁿ , g(t)) is a solution to the Ricci flow on a Riemmannian manifold on time interval [0, T), we show that L^\fracn+22{L^\frac{n+2}{2}} norm bound of scalar curvature and Weyl tensor can control the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor if M is closed and T < ∞. Next we prove, without condition T < ∞, that C ⁰ bound of scalar curvature and Weyl tensor can control the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor on complete manifolds. Finally, we show that to the Ricci flow on a complete non-compact Riemannian manifold with bounded curvature at t = 0 and with the uniformly bounded Ricci curvature tensor on M ⁿ  × [0, T), the curvature tensor stays uniformly bounded on M ⁿ  × [0, T). Hence we can extend the Ricci flow up to the time T. Some other results are also presented.     

Generalized Einstein tensor for a Weyl manifold and its applications

It is well known that the Einstein tensor G for a Riemannian manifold defined by G βα = R βα 1/2 Rδβα , R βα = g βγ R γα where R γα and R are respectively the Ricci tensor and the scalar curvature of the manifold, plays an important part in Einstein's theory of gravitation as well as in proving some theorems in Riemannian geometry. In this work, we first obtain the generalized Einstein tensor for a Weyl manifold. Then, after studying some properties of generalized Einstein tensor, we prove that the conformal invariance of the generalized Einstein tensor implies the conformal invariance of the curvature tensor of the Weyl manifold and conversely. Moreover, we show that such Weyl manifolds admit a one-parameter family of hypersurfaces the orthogonal trajectories of which are geodesics. Finally, a necessary and sufficient condition in order that the generalized circles of a Weyl manifold be preserved by a conformal mapping is stated in terms of generalized Einstein tensors at corresponding points.     

Averaging of Jacobi fields along geodesics on manifolds of random curvature

The paper considers the Jacobi field along a geodesic on a Riemannian manifold on which the curvature is a stochastic process. The author introduces the concept of linearizing tensor of the Jacobi field on the basis of which a sufficiently universal averaging algorithm is constructed. The equations for higher-order means 〈y ^p 〉 for p = 2, 3, 4 are deduced. It is shown that these statistical means, as well as the expectation of the Jacobi field, exponentially grow even in the case where the mean value of the curvature vanishes. The growth exponents of higher statistical moments of the Jacobi field obtained analytically with the corresponding exponents obtained from the numerical experiment are compared. Translated from Sovremennaya Matematika i Ee Prilozheniya (Contemporary Mathematics and Its Applications), Vol. 57, Suzdal Conference–2006, Part 3, 2008.     

Weyl connections and the local sphere theorem for quaternionic contact structures

We apply the theory of Weyl structures for parabolic geometries developed by Čap and Slovák (Math Scand 93(1):53–90, 2003) to compute, for a quaternionic contact (qc) structure, the Weyl connection associated to a choice of scale, i.e. to a choice of Carnot–Carathéodory metric in the conformal class. The result of this computation has applications to the study of the conformal Fefferman space of a qc manifold, cf. (Geom Appl 28(4):376–394, 2010). In addition to this application, we are also able to easily compute a tensorial formula for the qc analog of the Weyl curvature tensor in conformal geometry and the Chern–Moser tensor in CR geometry. This tensor was first discovered via different methods by Ivanov and Vasillev (J Math Pures Appl 93:277–307, 2010), and we also get an independent proof of their Local Sphere Theorem. However, as a result of our derivation of this tensor, its fundamental properties—conformal covariance, and that its vanishing is a sharp obstruction to local flatness of the qc structure—follow as easy corollaries from the general parabolic theory.     

Conformally Osserman manifolds of dimension 16 and a Weyl–Schouten theorem for rank-one symmetric spaces

A Riemannian manifold is called Osserman (conformally Osserman, respectively), if the eigenvalues of the Jacobi operator of its curvature tensor (Weyl tensor, respectively) are constant on the unit tangent sphere at every point. The Osserman Conjecture asserts that any Osserman manifold is either flat or rank-one symmetric. We prove that both the Osserman Conjecture and its conformal version, the Conformal Osserman Conjecture, are true, modulo a certain assumption on algebraic curvature tensors in ${\mathbb {R}^{16}}$ . As a consequence, we show that a Riemannian manifold having the same Weyl tensor as a rank-one symmetric space is conformally equivalent to it.     

Some results on (k, μ)′-almost Kenmotsu manifolds

In this paper, we study the Weyl conformal curvature tensor 𝒲 and the concircular curvature tensor 𝒞 on a (k, μ)′-almost Kenmotsu manifold M²ⁿ⁺¹ of dimension greater than 3. We obtain that if M²ⁿ⁺¹ satisfies either R · 𝒲 = 0 or 𝒞 · 𝒞 = 0, then it is locally isometric to either the hyperbolic space ?²ⁿ⁺¹ (?1) or the Riemannian product ?ⁿ⁺¹(?4) × ?ⁿ.     

On locally symmetric vector fields on Riemannian manifolds

It is shown that if ann-dimensional (n≧3) Riemannian manifold admitsr≧2 locally symmetric vector fields (LSVF's), then it is aV(k)-space. In particular, ifr=n−1 then the manifold is a space of constant curvature. In the case of a 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold a close connection between LSVF's and eigenvectors of the Ricci tensor is found.     

Covariant derivative of the curvature tensor of pseudo-Kählerian manifolds

It is well known that the curvature tensor of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold can be decomposed with respect to the pseudo-orthogonal group into the sum of the Weyl conformal curvature tensor, the traceless part of the Ricci tensor and of the scalar curvature. A similar decomposition with respect to the pseudo-unitary group exists on a pseudo-Kählerian manifold; instead of the Weyl tensor one obtains the Bochner tensor. In the present paper, the known decomposition with respect to the pseudo-orthogonal group of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is refined. A decomposition with respect to the pseudo-unitary group of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor for pseudo-Kählerian manifolds is obtained. This defines natural classes of spaces generalizing locally symmetric spaces and Einstein spaces. It is shown that the values of the covariant derivative of the curvature tensor for a non-locally symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifold with an irreducible connected holonomy group different from the pseudo-orthogonal and pseudo-unitary groups belong to an irreducible module of the holonomy group.     

On properly essential classical conformal diffeomorphism groups

In this article, we prove that various classical conformal diffeomorphism groups, which are known to be essential (Banyaga, J Geom 68(1–2):10–15, 2000), are in fact properly essential. This is a consequence of a local criterion on a conformal diffeomorphism in the form of a cohomological equation. Furthermore, we study the orbit of a tensor field under the action of the conformal diffeomorphism group for these classical conformal structures. On every closed contact manifold, we find conformal contact forms that are not diffeomorphic.     

A Volumetric Penrose Inequality for Conformally Flat Manifolds

We consider asymptotically flat Riemannian manifolds with non-negative scalar curvature that are conformal to \mathbbRⁿ\ W, n 3 3{\mathbb{R}^{n}{\setminus} \Omega, n\ge 3}, and so that their boundary is a minimal hypersurface. (Here, W ì \mathbbRⁿ{\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^{n}} is open bounded with smooth mean-convex boundary.) We prove that the ADM mass of any such manifold is bounded below by \frac12(V/b_n)^(n-2)/n{\frac{1}{2}\left(V/\beta_{n}\right)^{(n-2)/n}}, where V is the Euclidean volume of Ω and β _n is the volume of the Euclidean unit n-ball. This gives a partial proof to a conjecture of Bray and Iga (Commun. Anal. Geom. 10:999–1016, 2002). Surprisingly, we do not require the boundary to be outermost.     

On Einstein Hermitian manifolds

We show that every compact Einstein Hermitian surface with constant *–scalar curvature is a K?hler surface. In contrast to the 4-dimensional case, it is shown that there exists a compact Einstein Hermitian (4n + 2)-dimensional manifold with constant *–scalar curvature which is not K?hler.     

Graded metrics adapted to splittings

Homogeneous graded metrics over split ℤ₂-graded manifolds whose Levi-Civita connection is adapted to a given splitting, in the sense recently introduced by Koszul, are completely described. A subclass of such is singled out by the vanishing of certain components of the graded curvature tensor, a condition that plays a role similar to the closedness of a graded symplectic form in graded symplectic geometry: It amounts to determining a graded metric by the data {g, ω, Δ′}, whereg is a metric tensor onM, ω 0 is a fibered nondegenerate skewsymmetric bilinear form on the Batchelor bundleE → M, and Δ′ is a connection onE satisfying Δ′ω = 0. Odd metrics are also studied under the same criterion and they are specified by the data {κ, Δ′}, with κ ∈ Hom (TM, E) invertible, and Δ′κ = 0. It is shown in general that even graded metrics of constant graded curvature can be supported only over a Riemannian manifold of constant curvature, and the curvature of Δ′ onE satisfiesR ^Δ′ (X,Y)² = 0. It is shown that graded Ricci flat even metrics are supported over Ricci flat manifolds and the curvature of the connection Δ′ satisfies a specific set of equations. 0 Finally, graded Einstein even metrics can be supported only over Ricci flat Riemannian manifolds. Related results for graded metrics on Ω(M) are also discussed. Partially supported by DGICYT grants #PB94-0972, and SAB94-0311; IVEI grant 95-031; CONACyT grant #3189-E9307.     

Conformal vector fields on Kaehler manifolds

It is known that a conformal vector field on a compact Kaehler manifold is a Killing vector field. In this paper, we are interested in finding conditions under which a conformal vector field on a non-compact Kaehler manifold is Killing. First we prove that a harmonic analytic conformal vector field on a 2n-dimensional Kaehler manifold (n ≠ 2) of constant nonzero scalar curvature is Killing. It is also shown that on a 2n-dimensional Kaehler Einstein manifold (n > 1) an analytic conformal vector field is either Killing or else the Kaehler manifold is Ricci flat. In particular, it follows that on non-flat Kaehler Einstein manifolds of dimension greater than two, analytic conformal vector fields are Killing.     

Compactness for conformal metrics with constant Q curvature on locally conformally flat manifolds

In this note we study the conformal metrics of constant Q curvature on closed locally conformally flat manifolds. We prove that for a closed locally conformally flat manifold of dimension n ≥ 5 and with Poincaré exponent less than , the set of conformal metrics of positive constant Q and positive scalar curvature is compact in the C∞ topology.     

The Yamabe problem for almost Hermitian manifolds

The conformal class of a Hermitian metric g on a compact almost complex manifold (M^2m, J) consists entirely of metrics that are Hermitian with respect to J. For each one of these metrics, we may define a J-twisted version of the Ricci curvature, the J-Ricci curvature, and its corresponding trace, the J-scalar curvature s^J. We ask if the conformal class of g carries a metric with constant s^J, an almost Hermitian version of the usual Yamabe problem posed for the scalar curvature s. We answer our question in the affirmative. In fact, we show that (2m−1)s^J−s=2(2m−1)W(ω, ω), where W is the Weyl tensor and ω is the fundamental form of g. Using techniques developed for the solution of the problem for s, we construct an almost Hermitian Yamabe functional and its corresponding conformal invariant. This invariant is bounded from above by a constant that only depends on the dimension of M, and when it is strictly less than the universal bound, the problem has a solution that minimizes the almost complex Yamabe functional. By the relation above, we see that when W (ω, ω) is negative at least one point, or identically zero, our problem has a solution that minimizes the almost Hermitian Yamabe functional, and the universal bound is reached only in the case of the standard 6-sphere equipped with a suitable almost complex structure. When W(ω, ω) is non-negative and not identically zero, we prove that the conformal invariant is strictly less than the universal bound, thus solving the problem for this type of manifolds as well. We discuss some applications.