Ambient connections realising conformal Tractor holonomy

For a conformal manifold we introduce the notion of an ambient connection, an affine connection on an ambient manifold of the conformal manifold, possibly with torsion, and with conditions relating it to the conformal structure. The purpose of this construction is to realise the normal conformal Tractor holonomy as affine holonomy of such a connection. We give an example of an ambient connection for which this is the case, and which is torsion free if we start the construction with a C-space, and in addition Ricci-flat if we start with an Einstein manifold. Thus, for a C-space this example leads to an ambient metric in the weaker sense of Čap and Gover, and for an Einstein space to a Ricci-flat ambient metric in the sense of Fefferman and Graham. Current address for first author: Erwin Schr?dinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics (ESI), Boltzmanngasse 9, 1090 Vienna, Austria Current address for second author: Department of Mathematics, University of Hamburg, Bundesstra?e 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany     

The tangential end fibration of an aspherical Poincaré complex

We construct a sphere fibration over a finite aspherical Poincaré complex X, which we call the tangential end fibration, under the condition that the universal cover of X is forward tame and simply connected at infinity. We show that it is tangent to X if the formal dimension of X is even or, when the formal dimension is odd, if the diagonal X→X×X admits a Poincaré embedding structure.     

Lagrangian skeletons,periodic geodesic flows and symplectic cuttings

In this paper, we investigate symplectic manifolds endowed with a Morse–Bott function with only two critical submanifolds, one of which is Lagrangian while the other one is symplectic.     

Symplectic Yang–Mills theory,Ricci tensor,and connections

A Yang–Mills theory in a purely symplectic framework is developed. The corresponding Euler–Lagrange equations are derived and first integrals are given. We relate the results to the work of Bourgeois and Cahen on preferred symplectic connections.     

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.     

Calabi's diastasis function for Hermitian symmetric spaces

In this paper we study the Calabi diastasis function of Hermitian symmetric spaces. This allows us to prove that if a complete Hermitian locally symmetric space (M,g) admits a Kähler immersion into a globally symmetric space (S,G) then it is globally symmetric and the immersion is injective. Moreover, if (S,G) is symmetric of a specified type (Euclidean, noncompact, compact), then (M,g) is of the same type. We also give a characterization of Hermitian globally symmetric spaces in terms of their diastasis function. Finally, we apply our analysis to study the balanced metrics, introduced by Donaldson, in the case of locally Hermitian symmetric spaces.     

On the existence of nontrivial extremal metrics on complete noncompact surfaces

In this paper, we consider the 2-dimensional local Calabi flow on a complete noncompact surface . Then, based on the Harnack-type estimate, we show the long-time existence and asymptotic convergence of a subsequence of solutions of such a flow on with and bounded from above by a negative constant on a ball. For its applications, this will lead to the existence of extremal metrics on a complete noncompact surface of finite topological type. In particular, there exists an extremal metric of nonconstant Gaussian curvature on or Received: 21 June 2001 / 18 January 2002 / Published online: 27 June 2002 Research supported in part by NSC and NCTS.     

Algebraic properties of the 1 + 1-dimensional Heisenberg spin field model

The Estabrook-Wahlquist prolongation method is applied to the (compact and noncompact) continuous isotropic Heisenberg model in 1 + 1 dimensions. Using a special realization (an algebra of the Kac-Moody type) of the arising incomplete prolongation Lie algebra, a whole family of nonlinear field equations containing the original Heisenberg system is generated.     

Horizontal lift of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process over Riemannian path space

In this paper we give a representation formula for the heat semigroup on adapted vector fields by the horizontal lift of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process over Riemannian path space.     

A balancing condition for weak limits of families of minimal surfaces

We prove a balancing condition for weak limits of families of embedded minimal surfaces of finite total curvature. We use it to prove compactness theorems for certain families of minimal surfaces.