Normal and tangential geodesic deformations of the surfaces of revolution

We study special infinitesimal geodesic deformations of the surfaces of revolution in the Euclidean space E ³.     

Riemannian convexity of functionals

This paper extends the Riemannian convexity concept to action functionals defined by multiple integrals associated to Lagrangian differential forms on first order jet bundles. The main results of this paper are based on the geodesic deformations theory and their impact on functionals in Riemannian setting. They include the basic properties of Riemannian convex functionals, the Riemannian convexity of functionals associated to differential m-forms or to Lagrangians of class C ¹ respectively C ², the generalization to invexity and geometric meaningful convex functionals. Riemannian convexity of functionals is the central ingredient for global optimization. We illustrate the novel features of this theory, as well as its versatility, by introducing new definitions, theorems and algorithms that bear upon the currently active subject of functionals in variational calculus and optimal control. In fact so deep rooted is the convexity notion that nonconvex problems are tackled by devising appropriate convex approximations.     

Local Symmetry of Harmonic Spaces as Determined by The Spectra of Small Geodesic Spheres

We show that in any harmonic space, the eigenvalue spectra of the Laplace operator on small geodesic spheres around a given point determine the norm |?R|{{|\nabla{R}|}} of the covariant derivative of the Riemannian curvature tensor in that point. In particular, the spectra of small geodesic spheres in a harmonic space determine whether the space is locally symmetric. For the proof we use the first few heat invariants and consider certain coefficients in the radial power series expansions of the curvature invariants |R|² and |Ric|² of the geodesic spheres. Moreover, we obtain analogous results for geodesic balls with either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. We also comment on the relevance of these results to constructions of Z.I. Szabó.     

The characterization of totally geodesic submanifolds ofS m andCP m

We prove a theorem on ruled surfaces that generalizes a theorem of Ferus on totally geodesic foliations. On the basis of this theorem we obtain criteria for totally geodesic submanifolds ofS ^m andCP ^m that generalize and complement certain results of Borisenko, Ferus, and Abe. We give an application to the geodesic differential forms defined by Dombrowski in the case of submanifolds ofS ^m andCP ^m.Translated from Ukrainskií Geometricheskií Sbornik, Issue 28, 1985, pp. 106–116.The author is grateful to V. A. Toponogov for posing this problem and for attention to the work and to A. A. Borisenko for helpful criticisms.     

The Minimal Length of a Closed Geodesic Net on a Riemannian Manifold with a Nontrivial Second Homology Group

Let Mⁿ be a closed Riemannian manifold with a nontrivial second homology group. In this paper we prove that there exists a geodesic net on Mⁿ of length at most 3 diameter(Mⁿ). Moreover, this geodesic net is either a closed geodesic, consists of two geodesic loops emanating from the same point, or consists of three geodesic segments between the same endpoints. Geodesic nets can be viewed as the critical points of the length functional on the space of graphs immersed into a Riemannian manifold. One can also consider other natural functionals on the same space, in particular, the maximal length of an edge. We prove that either there exists a closed geodesic of length ≤ 2 diameter(Mⁿ), or there exists a critical point of this functional on the space of immersed θ-graphs such that the value of the functional does not exceed the diameter of Mⁿ. If n=2, then this critical θ-graph is not only immersed but embedded.Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000). 53C23, 49Q10     

On Geodesic <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>-Convex Sets,Geodesic <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>-Convex Functions and <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>-Epigraphs

In this paper, we introduce a new class of sets and a new class of functions called geodesic E-convex sets and geodesic E-convex functions on a Riemannian manifold. The concept of E-quasiconvex functions on R ⁿ is extended to geodesic E-quasiconvex functions on Riemannian manifold and some of its properties are investigated. Afterwards, we generalize the notion of epigraph called E-epigraph and discuss a characterization of geodesic E-convex functions in terms of its E-epigraph. Some properties of geodesic E-convex sets are also studied.     

On the generic nonexistence of rational geodesic foliations in the torus, Mather sets and Gromov hyperbolic spaces

Given a rational homology classh in a two dimensional torusT ², we show that the set of Riemannian metrics inT ² with no geodesic foliations having rotation numberh isC ^k dense for everyk N. We also show that, generically in theC ² topology, there are no geodesic foliations with rational rotation number. We apply these results and Mather's theory to show the following: let (M, g) be a compact, differentiable Riemannian manifold with nonpositive curvature, if (M, g) satisfies the shadowing property, then (M, g) has no flat, totally geodesic, immersed tori. In particular,M has rank one and the Pesin set of the geodesic flow has positive Lebesgue measure. Moreover, if (M, g) is analytic, the universal covering ofM is a Gromov hyperbolic space.Partially supported by CNPq-GMD, FAPERJ, and the University of Freiburg.     

Derivatives with respect to metrics and applications: subgradient marching algorithm

This paper introduces a subgradient descent algorithm to compute a Riemannian metric that minimizes an energy involving geodesic distances. The heart of the method is the Subgradient Marching Algorithm to compute the derivative of the geodesic distance with respect to the metric. The geodesic distance being a concave function of the metric, this algorithm computes an element of the subgradient in O(N ² log(N)) operations on a discrete grid of N points. It performs a front propagation that computes a subgradient of a discrete geodesic distance. We show applications to landscape modeling and to traffic congestion. Both applications require the maximization of geodesic distances under convex constraints, and are solved by subgradient descent computed with our Subgradient Marching. We also show application to the inversion of travel time tomography, where the recovered metric is the local minimum of a non-convex variational problem involving geodesic distances.     

On the canonical extension of a differentiable manifold

In this paper, the differential geometry of second canonical extension² M of a differentiable manifoldM is studied. Some vector fields tangent to² M inTTM are determined. In addition we obtain that the second canonical extensions ofM and a totally geodesic submanifold inM are totally geodesic submanifolds inTTM and² M respectively.     

Vanishing geodesic distance for the Riemannian metric with geodesic equation the KdV-equation

The Virasoro-Bott group endowed with the right-invariant L ²-metric (which is a weak Riemannian metric) has the KdV-equation as geodesic equation. We prove that this metric space has vanishing geodesic distance.     

On the equi-normalizable deformations of singularities of complex plane curves

We study a specific class of deformations of curve singularities: the case when the singular point splits to several ones, such that the total δ invariant is preserved. These are also known as equi-normalizable or equi-generic deformations. We restrict primarily to the deformations of singularities with smooth branches. A natural invariant of the singular type is introduced: the dual graph. It imposes severe restrictions on the possible collisions/deformations. And allows to prove some bounds on the variation of classical invariants in equi-normalizable families. We consider in details deformations of ordinary multiple point, the deformations of a singularity into the collections of ordinary multiple points and deformations of the type x ^p  + y ^pk into the collections of A _k ’s. The research was constantly supported by the Skirball postdoctoral fellowship of the Center of Advanced Studies in Mathematics (Mathematics Department of Ben Gurion University, Israel). Part of the work was done in Mathematische Forschungsinsitute Oberwolfach, during the author’s stay as an OWL-fellow. Some results were published in the preprint [17].     

Bending and stamping deformations of hyperbolic manifolds

The paper deals with some geometric approaches (from the viewpoint of (n + 1)- dimentional Lobachevsky geometry) to the deformation theory for uniformized conformal (i.e., flat conformal) structures on a hyperbolic n-manifold M with finite volume. Namely, two kinds of deformations are studied: bendings and stampings along totally geodesic submanifolds of M. The construction of the last deformation disproves a conjecture of C. Kourouniotis.     

Submanifolds with totally umbilical Gauss image

The submanifolds whose Gauss images are totally umbilical submanifolds of the Grassmann manifold are under consideration. The main result is the following classification theorem: if the Gauss image of a submanifold F in a Euclidean space is totally umbilical then either the Gauss image is totally geodesic, or F is the surface in E ⁴ of the special structure. Submanifolds in a Euclidean space with totally geodesic Gauss image were classified earlier.     

Nonstandard uniformized conformal structures on hyperbolic manifolds

Summary The main question which the paper discusses is:Is the spaceC(M ⁿ ) of uniformized conformal structures of a finite volume (or closed) hyperbolicn-manifoldM ⁿ (or its Teichmüller space) connected or not?For the surface case (n=2) the answer is well known to be in the affirmative. By contrast, for the casen=3, we describe herein some exotic conformal structures on a closed hyperbolic 3-manifoldM which are uniformized but cannot be approximated by structures onM obtained from the distinguished conformal (=hyperbolic) structure onM by any of the presently known deformations, meaning by bendings or stampings ofM along totally geodesic submanifolds.Oblatum 17-III-1990 & 26-XI-1990This paper was written while the author was visiting Institut Mittag-Leffler, which he thanks for its hospitality. Financial support from Institut Mittag-Leffler is gratefully acknowledged. The author is thankful to Bruce Palka for his help with the English language and to Karin Lindberg for her excellent typesetting.     

Integration of Geodesic Flows on Homogeneous Spaces: The Case of a Wild Lie Group

We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the integrability in quadratures of geodesic flows on homogeneous spaces M with invariant and central metrics. The proposed integration algorithm consists in using a special canonical transformation in the space T ^* M based on constructing the canonical coordinates on the orbits of the coadjoint representation and on the simplectic sheets of the Poisson algebra of invariant functions. This algorithm is applicable to integrating geodesic flows on homogeneous spaces of a wild Lie group.     

Obstructions to toric integrable geodesic flows in dimension 3

The geodesic flow of a Riemannian metric on a compact manifold Q is said to be toric integrable if it is completely integrable and the first integrals of motion generate a homogeneous torus action on the punctured cotangent bundle T ^* Q\Q. If the geodesic flow is toric integrable, the cosphere bundle admits the structure of a contact toric manifold. By comparing the Betti numbers of contact toric manifolds and cosphere bundles, we are able to provide necessary conditions for the geodesic flow on a compact, connected 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold to be toric integrable.Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): primary 53D25; secondary 53D10     

Joachimsthal surfaces inS 3

A representation of the Joachimsthal surfaces (having a family of curvature lines that lie in totally geodesic 2-spheres) in the sphereS ³ is obtained. It is proved that, if a surface of constant mean curvature inS ³ has one family of curvature lines lying in totally geodesic 2-spheres, then it is a surface of rotation. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 67, No. 2, pp. 221–229, February, 2000.     

Automorphisms and a reduction theorem in a Sasakian space form E2m+1(−3)

Summary We construct definitely the automorphism group of a Sasakian space form ¯M=E ^2m+1 (–3) and study the existence of a totally geodesic invariant submanifold of ¯M tangent to a given invariant subspace in the tangent space of ¯M. We also study the Frenet curves in ¯M under a totally contact geodesic immersion of a contact CR-submanifold into ¯M. The purpose of this paper is to prove a reduction theorem of the codimension for a totally contact geodesic, contact CR-submanifold of ¯M.     

C k-rigidity for hyperbolic flows II

In this note we prove the following result: Any conjugating homeomorphism between two geodesic flows for compact negatively curved compactC ^∞ surfaces is necessarilyC ^∞. This extends a result of Feldman and Ornstein. We also discuss some related results for hyperbolic flows and diffeomorphisms.     

Minimal Homogeneous Submanifolds in Euclidean Spaces

We prove that minimal (extrinsically) homogeneous submanifolds of the Euclidean space are totally geodesic. As an application, we obtain that a complex homogeneous submanifold of C ^N must be totally geodesic.