arXiv research

Defines projective Ricci curvature and proves rigidity for sprays.

The paper studies Jacobi fields and conjugate points in projective sprays.

This paper classifies geodesics of projectively flat sprays and introduces a method to determine sprays based on geodesics.

Study shows zero Pontrjagin classes for sprays.

The paper studies sprays on Hamel-Funk functions and their properties.

Sprays with vanishing X-curvature are studied in this paper.

New sprays of constant curvature introduced; conditions for metrizability given.

The projective Finsler metrizability problem deals with the question whether a projective-equivalence class of sprays is the geodesic class of a (locally or globally defined) Finsler function. In this paper we use Hilbert-type forms to state a number of different ways of specifying necessary and sufficient conditions f…

In this work we show that for the geodesic spray $S$ of a Finsler function $F$ the most natural projective deformation $\widetilde{S}=S -2 λF\mathbb C$ leads to a non-Finsler metrizable spray, for almost every value of $λ\in \mathbb R$. This result shows how rigid is the metrizablility property with respect to certain …

In this paper we study the invariant metrizability and projective metrizability problems for the special case of the geodesic spray associated to the canonical connection of a Lie group. We prove that such canonical spray is projectively Finsler metrizable if and only if it is Riemann metrizable. This result means that…

The projective metrizability problem can be formulated as follows: under what conditions the geodesics of a given spray coincide with the geodesics of some Finsler space, as oriented curves. In Theorem 3.8 we reformulate the projective metrizability problem for a spray in terms of a first-order partial differential ope…

The paper classifies spherically symmetric sprays and their curvature properties.

In 2001, Zhongmin Shen asked if it is possible for two projectively related Finsler metrics to have the same Riemann curvature tensor, [14, page 184]. In this paper, we provide an answer to this question, within the class of Finsler metrics of scalar flag curvature. In Theorem 3.1, we show that the answer is negative, …

Study on Berwald-Weyl curvature with projective invariance and vanishing results.

In this paper, we consider projective deformation of the geodesic system of Finsler spaces by holonomy invariant functions: Starting by a Finsler spray $S$ and a holonomy invariant function $P$, we investigate the metrizability property of the projective deformation $\widetilde{S}=S-2λP C$. We prove that for any holono…

In this paper, we introduce the notion of one form deformation of sprays. The metrizability of the new spray, when the background spray is flat, is characterized. Therefore, we obtain new projectively flat metrics of constant flag curvature $1$. Moreover, these new metrics are not, generally, isometric to the Klein met…

The well-known Funk metric F(x,y) is projectively flat with constant flag curvature K=-1/4 and the Hilbert metric H(x,y):=(F(x,y)+F(x,-y))/2 is projectively flat with constant curvature K=-1. These metrics are the special solutions to Hilbert's Fourth Problem. In this paper, we construct a non-trivial R-flat spray usin…

Based on a self-contained, coordinate-free exposition of the necessary concepts and tools of spray and Finsler geometry (with detailed proofs), we derive new results among others on the consequences of the direction-independence of the Landsberg tensor and the stretch tensor of a Finsler manifold. We show that an at le…

The paper establishes conditions for Riemannian connections and semi-simplicity of Lie algebras using spray structures.

This paper is concerned with the problem of determining whether a projective-equivalence class of sprays is the geodesic class of a Finsler function. We address both the local and the global aspects of this problem. We present our results entirely in terms of a multiplier, that is, a type (0,2) tensor field along the t…

Geodesic sprays on Finsler manifolds studied with covariant coefficients.

It is well known that a system of homogeneous second-order ordinary differential equations (spray) is necessarily isotropic in order to be metrizable by a Finsler function of scalar flag curvature. In Theorem 3.1 we show that the isotropy condition, together with three other conditions on the Jacobi endomorphism, chara…

Geodesic orbit and weakly symmetric properties in spray geometry.

We use Frölicher-Nijenhuis theory to obtain global Helmholtz conditions, expressed in terms of a semi-basic 1-form, that characterize when a semispray is locally Lagrangian. We also discuss the relation between these Helmholtz conditions and their classic formulation written using a multiplier matrix. When the semi-bas…

Study left invariant spray structures on Lie groups, calculating curvature and geodesics.

Sprays get Hamiltonian description using Dirac structures.

The paper studies new curvature properties in Finsler geometry.

The geodesic flow on the tangent bundle is the flow of a certain vector field which is called the spray $S:TM\to TTM$. The flow lines of the vector field $\ka_{TM}øTS:TTM\to TTTM$ project to the Jacobi fields on $TM$. This could be called the Jacobi flow.

Ambrose, Palais and Singer \cite{Ambrose} introduced the concept of second order structures on finite dimensional manifolds. Kumar and Viswanath \cite{Kumar} extended these results to the category of Banach manifolds. In the present paper all of these results are generalized to a large class of Frechet manifolds. It is…

Sprays on Frechet manifolds connect connections and tangent structures.

Introduces submersion in spray geometry and defines key components.

Study reformulates Finsler metrizability problems using geodesic invariance.

We propose definitions of homogeneity and projective equivalence for systems of ordinary differential equations of order greater than two, which allow us to generalize the concept of a spray (for systems of order two). We show that the Euler-Lagrange fields of parametric Lagrangians of order greater than one which are …

The main purposes of this article are to extend our previous results on homogeneous sprays to arbitrary (generalized) sprays, to show that locally diffeomorphic exponential maps can be defined for any (generalized) spray, and to give a (possibly nonlinear) covariant derivative for any (possibly nonlinear) connection. I…

Spray-invariant sets maintain geodesics on infinite-dimensional manifolds.

Study left invariant spray geometry on Lie groups using parallel translations.

The pseudoconvex and disprisoning conditions for geodesics of linear connections are extended to the solution curves of general homogeneous sprays. The main result is that pseudoconvexity and disprisonment are jointly stable in the fine topology on the space of all homogeneous sprays of any degree of homogeneity.

This paper examines a generalized Kropina metric and its geometric properties.

In the previous work, the notion of the Finsleroid--Finsler space have been formulated and the necessary and sufficient conditions for the space to be of the Landsberg type have been found. In the present paper, starting with particular spray coefficients, we demonstrate how the Landsberg condition can explicitly appea…

In this paper we are investigating variational homogeneous second order differential equations by considering the questions of how many different variational principles exist for a given spray. We focus our attention on h(2)-variationality; that is, the regular Lagrange function is homogeneous of degree two in the dire…

In his book "Differential Geometry of Spray and Finsler spaces", page 177, Zhongmin Shen asks "wether or not there always exist non-trivial Funk functions on a spray space". In this note, we will prove that the answer is negative for the geodesic spray of a finslerian function of non-vanishing scalar flag curvature.

Applying concepts and tools from classical tangent bundle geometry and using the apparatus of the calculus along the tangent bundle projection ('pull-back formalism'), first we enrich the known lists of the characterizations of affine vector fields on a spray manifold and conformal vector fields on a Finsler manifold. …

The paper characterizes strong Hamel functions using symmetries and proves their preservation properties.

Considering prolongation of a Lie algebroid equipped with a spray, defining some classical tensors, we show that a Lie symmetry of a spray is a curvature collineation for these tensors.

For a $2$-dimensional non-flat spray we associate a Berwald frame and a $3$-dimensional distribution that we call the Berwald distribution. The Frobenius integrability of the Berwald distribution characterises the Finsler metrizability of the given spray. In the integrable case, the sought after Finsler function is pro…

We present a brief spray theory necessary for the geometric method in hydrodynamics. We make use of the convenient calculus to complete a unitary approach started by P. Michor and A. Kriegl.

We consider the projective Finsler metrizability problem: under what conditions the solutions of a given system of second-order ordinary differential equations (SODE) coincide with the geodesics of a Finsler metric, as oriented curves. SODEs with isotropic curvature have already been thoroughly studied in the literatur…

A manifold with an arbitrary affine connection is considered and the geodesic spray associated with the connection is studied in the presence of a Lie group action. In particular, results are obtained that provide insight into the structure of the reduced dynamics associated with the given invariant affine connection. …