Multiplicity of closed geodesics on Finsler spheres with irrationally elliptic closed geodesics

If all prime closed geodesics on (Sⁿ, F) with an irreversible Finsler metric F are irrationally elliptic, there exist either exactly 2 \(\left[ {\frac{{n + 1}}{2}} \right]\) or infinitely many distinct closed geodesics. As an application, we show the existence of three distinct closed geodesics on bumpy Finsler (S³, F) if any prime closed geodesic has non-zero Morse index.     

Asymptotic distribution of closed geodesics

In this paper the distribution of closed geodesics on surfaces of constant negative curvature are studied from a dynamical viewpoint. Asymptotic estimates are derived independently of the work of Selberg or Margulis, or the work of Bowen on Axiom A flows.     

Holomorphic torsion and closed geodesics

Extending the rank-one case by David Fried, the holomorphic torsion of a compact locally symmetric manifold is expressed as a special value of a zeta function built on geometric data (closed geodesics and their monodromy) of the manifold.     

Fundamental group and contractible closed geodesics

We prove the existence of a nonempty class of finitely presented groups with the following property: If the fundamental group of a compact Riemannian manifold M belongs to this class, then there exists a constant c(M) > 1 such that for any sufficiently large x the number of contractible closed geodesics on M of length not exceeding x is greater than c(M)^x. In order to prove this result, we give a lower bound for the number of contractible closed geodesics of length ≤ x on a compact Riemannian manifold M in terms of the resource-bounded Kolmogorov complexity of the word problem for π₁ (M), thus answering a question posed by Gromov. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Multiple closed geodesics on 3-spheres

This paper is devoted to a study on closed geodesics on Finsler and Riemannian spheres. We call a prime closed geodesic on a Finsler manifold rational, if the basic normal form decomposition (cf. [Y. Long, Bott formula of the Maslov-type index theory, Pacific J. Math. 187 (1999) 113-149]) of its linearized Poincaré map contains no 2×2 rotation matrix with rotation angle which is an irrational multiple of π, or irrational otherwise. We prove that if there exists only one prime closed geodesic on a d-dimensional irreversible Finsler sphere with d?2, it cannot be rational. Then we further prove that there exist always at least two distinct prime closed geodesics on every irreversible Finsler 3-dimensional sphere. Our method yields also at least two geometrically distinct closed geodesics on every reversible Finsler as well as Riemannian 3-dimensional sphere. We prove also such results hold for all compact simply connected 3-dimensional manifolds with irreversible or reversible Finsler as well as Riemannian metrics.     

The type numbers of closed geodesics

This is a short survey on the type numbers of closed geodesics, on applications of the Morse theory to proving the existence of closed geodesics and on the recent progress in applying variational methods to the periodic problem for Finsler and magnetic geodesics.     

Correlations for pairs of closed geodesics

In this article we consider natural counting problems for closed geodesics on negatively curved surfaces. We present asymptotic estimates for pairs of closed geodesics, the differences of whose lengths lie in a prescribed family of shrinking intervals. Related pair correlation problems have been studied in both Quantum Chaos and number theory.     

Simple closed geodesics on most Alexandrov surfaces

We study the existence of simple closed geodesics on most (in the sense of Baire category) Alexandrov surfaces with curvature bounded below, compact and without boundary. We show that it depends on both the curvature bound and the topology of the surfaces.     

Multiple closed geodesics on Riemannian 3-spheres

In this paper, we prove that for every Riemannian Q-homological 3-sphere (M, g) with injectivity radius and the sectional curvature K satisfying there exist at least two geometrically distinct closed geodesics. Yiming Long was partially supported by the 973 Program of MOST, Yangzi River Professorship, NNSF, MCME, RFDP, LPMC of MOE of China, S. S. Chern Foundation, and Nankai University. Wei Wang was partially supported by NNSF, RFDP of MOE of China.     

Angular self-intersections for closed geodesics on surfaces

In this note we consider asymptotic results for self-intersections of closed geodesics on surfaces for which the angle of the intersection occurs in a given arc. We do this by extending Bonahon's definition of intersection forms for surfaces.

     

Three-dimensional manifolds all of whose geodesics are closed

We present some results concerning the Morse Theory of the energy function on the free loop space of the three sphere for metrics all of whose geodesics are closed. We also explain how these results relate to the Berger conjecture in dimension three.