We define the Analytical signature, the Hodge signature and the de Rham signature for a foliated manifold with boundary with foliation transverse to the boundary. We show that all these signatures coincide and a Hirzebruch formula is valid.
Let $(X_0,\mathcal{F}_0) $ be a compact manifold with boundary endowed with a foliation $\mathcal{F}_0$ which is assumed to be measured and transverse to the boundary. We denote by $Λ$ a holonomy invariant transverse measure on $(X_0,\mathcal{F}_0) $ and by $\mathcal{R}_0$ the equivalence relation of the foliation. Let $(X,\mathcal{F})$ be the corresponding manifold with cylindrical end and extended foliation with equivalence relation $\mathcal{R}$. In the first part of this work we prove a formula for the $L^2$-$Λ$ index of a longitudinal Dirac-type operator $D^{\mathcal{F}}$ on $X$ in the sp…
We prove that the higher harmonic signature of an even dimensional oriented Riemannian foliation of a compact Riemannian manifold with coefficients in a leafwise U(p,q)-flat complex bundle is a leafwise homotopy invariant. We also prove the leafwise homotopy invariance of the twisted higher Betti classes. Consequences for the Novikov conjecture for foliations and for groups are investigated. Replaces The Higher Harmonic Signature for Foliations I: The Untwisted Case, and contains significant improvements.
We define a new version of the exterior derivative on the basic forms of a Riemannian foliation to obtain a new form of basic cohomology that satisfies Poincaré duality in the transversally orientable case. We use this twisted basic cohomology to show relationships between curvature, tautness, and vanishing of the basic Euler characteristic and basic signature.
We prove transverse Weitzenböck identities for the horizontal Laplacians of a totally geodesic foliation. As a consequence, we obtain nullity theorems for the de Rham cohomology assuming only the positivity of curvature quantities transverse to the leaves. Those curvature quantities appear in the adiabatic limit of the canonical variation of the metric.
Let $X_0$ be a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary endowed with a oriented, measured even dimensional foliation with purely transverse boundary. Let $X$ be the manifold with cylinder attached and extended foliation. We prove that the $L^2$--measured index of a Dirac type operator is well defined and the following Atiyah Patodi Singer index formula is true $$ind_{L^2,Λ}(D^+) = <\widehat{A}(X,\nabla)Ch(E/S),C_Λ> + 1/2[η_Λ(D^{\mathcal{F}_\partial}) - h^+_Λ+ h^-_Λ].$$ Here $Λ$ is a holonomy invariant transverse measure, $η_Λ(D^{\mathcal{F}_{\partial}})$ is the Ramachandran eta invariant \cit…
In this paper we prove a formula for the analytic index of a basic Dirac-type operator on a Riemannian foliation, solving a problem that has been open for many years. We also consider more general indices given by twisting the basic Dirac operator by a representation of the orthogonal group. The formula is a sum of integrals over blowups of the strata of the foliation and also involves eta invariants of associated elliptic operators. As a special case, a Gauss-Bonnet formula for the basic Euler characteristic is obtained using two independent proofs.
In this expository paper, we explain a formula for the multiplicities of the index of an equivariant transversally elliptic operator on a $G$-manifold. The formula is a sum of integrals over blowups of the strata of the group action and also involves eta invariants of associated elliptic operators. Among the applications is an index formula for basic Dirac operators on Riemannian foliations, a problem that was open for many years. This paper summarizes the work in the papers arXiv:1005.3845 [math.DG] and arXiv:1008.1757 [math.DG].
We investigate the properties of a modulus of a foliation on a Riemannian manifold. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an extremal function and state some of its properties. We obtain the integral formula which, in a sense, combines the integral over the manifold with integral over the leaves. We state the relation between an extremal function and the geometry of distribution orthogonal to a foliation.
In this work, we find an equation that relates the Ricci curvature of a riemannian manifold $M$ and the second fundamental forms of two orthogonal foliations of complementary dimensions, $\mathcal{F}$ and $\mathcal{F}^{\bot}$, defined on $M$. Using this equation, we show a sufficient condition for the manifold M to be locally a riemannian product of the leaves of $\mathcal{F}$ and $\mathcal{F}^{\bot}$, if one of the foliations is totally umbilical. We also prove an integral formula for such foliations.
Under suitable conditions, we show that the Euler characteristic of a foliated Riemannian manifold can be computed only from curvature invariants which are transverse to the leaves. Our proof uses the hypoelliptic sub-Laplacian on forms recently introduced by two of the authors.
In this article, we prove a series of integral formulae for a codimension-one foliated sub-Riemannian manifold, i.e., a Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ equipped with a distribution ${\mathcal D}=T{\mathcal F}\oplus\,{\rm span}(N)$, where ${\mathcal F}$ is a foliation of $M$ and $N$ a unit vector field $g$-orthogonal to ${\mathcal F}$. Our integral formulas involve $r$th mean curvatures of ${\mathcal F}$, Newton transformations of the shape operator of ${\mathcal F}$ with respect to $N$ and the curvature tensor of induced connection on ${\mathcal D}$ and generalize some known integral formulas (due…
We study Riemannian foliations whose transverse Levi-Civita connection $\nabla$ has special holonomy. In particular, we focus on the case where $Hol(\nabla)$ is contained either in SU(n) or in Sp(n). We prove a Weitzenbock formula involving complex basic forms on Kähler foliations and we apply this formula for pointing out some properties of transverse Calabi-Yau structures. This allows us to prove that links provide examples of compact simply-connected contact Calabi-Yau manifolds. Moreover, we show that a simply-connected compact manifold with a Kähler foliation admits a transverse hyper- Kä…
We consider the basic heat operator on functions on a Riemannian foliation of a compact, Riemannian manifold, and we show that the trace of this operator has a particular short time asymptotic expansion. The coefficients in this expansion are obtainable from local transverse geometric invariants - functions computable by analyzing the manifold in an arbitrarily small neighborhood of a leaf closure. Using this expansion, we prove some results about the spectrum of the basic Laplacian, such as the analogue of Weyl's asymptotic formula. Also, we explicitly calculate the first two nontrivial coeff…
We study the geometry of the foliation by constant Gaussian curvature surfaces $(Σ_k)_k$ of a hyperbolic end, and how it relates to the structures of its boundary at infinity and of its pleated boundary. First, we show that the Thurston and the Schwarzian parametrizations are the limits of two families of parametrizations of the space of hyperbolic ends, defined by Labourie in 1992 in terms of the geometry of the leaves $Σ_k$. We give a new description of the renormalized volume using the constant curvature foliation. We prove a generalization of McMullen's Kleinian reciprocity theorem, which …
We prove a family of new Weitzenböck formulas on a Riemannian foliation with totally geodesic leaves. These Weitzenböck formulas are naturally parametrized by the canonical variation of the metric. As a consequence, under natural geometric conditions, the horizontal Laplacian satisfies a generalized curvature dimension inequality. Among other things, this curvature dimension inequality implies Li-Yau estimates for positive solutions of the horizontal heat equation and a sub-Riemannian Bonnet-Myers compactness theorem whose assumptions only rely on the intrinsic geometry of the horizontal distr…
We study the geometry of a codimension-one foliation with a time-dependent Riemannian metric. The work begins with formulae concerning deformations of geometric quantities as the Riemannian metric varies along the leaves of the foliation. Then the Extrinsic Geometric Flow depending on the second fundamental form of the foliation is introduced. Under suitable assumptions, this evolution yields the second order parabolic PDEs, for which the existence/uniquenes and in some cases convergence of a solution are shown. Applications to the problem of prescribing mean curvature function of a codimensio…
In this work we prove a Baum-Bott type formula for non-compact complex manifold of the form $\tilde{X}=X- \mathcal{D}$, where $X$ is a complex compact manifold and $\mathcal{D}$ is a normal crossing divisor on $X$. As applications, we provide a Poincaré-Hopf type Theorem and an optimal description for a smooth hypersurface $\mathcal{D}$ invariant by an one-dimensional foliation $\mathscr F$ on $\mathbb{P}^n$ satisfying $Sing(\mathscr F) \subsetneq \mathcal{D}.$
The authors study the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces on a four-dimensional manifold $(M, c)$ endowed with a pseudoconformal structure $c = CO (2, 2)$. They prove that a lightlike hypersurface $V \subset (M, c)$ bears a foliation formed by conformally invariant isotropic geodesics and two isotropic distributions tangent to these geodesics, and that these two distributions are integrable if and only if $V$ is totally umbilical. The authors also indicate how, using singular points and singular submanifolds of a lightlike hypersurface $V \subset (M, c)$, to construct an invariant normalizatio…
In this paper, we study $(\mathcal F,\mathcal F')_{p}$-harmonic maps between foliated Riemannian manifolds $(M,g,\mathcal F)$ and $(M',g',\mathcal F')$. A $(\mathcal F,\mathcal F')_{p}$-harmonic map $ϕ:(M,g,\mathcal F)\to (M', g',\mathcal F')$ is a critical point of the transversal $p$-energy functional $E_{B,p}$. Trivially, $(\mathcal F,\mathcal F')_2$-harmonic map is $(\mathcal F,\mathcal F')$-harmonic map, which is a critical point of $E_B$. There is another definition of a harmonic map on foliated Riemannian manifolds, called transversally harmonic map, which is a solution of the Euler-Lar…
We study extrinsic geometry of a codimension-one foliation ${\cal F}$ of a closed Finsler space $(M,F)$, in particular, of a Randers space $(M,α+β)$. Using a unit vector field $ν$ orthogonal (in the Finsler sense) to the leaves of ${\cal F}$ we define a new Riemannian metric $g$ on $M$, which for Randers case depends nicely on $(α,β)$. For that $g$ we derive several geometric invariants of ${\cal F}$ (e.g. the Riemann curvature and the shape operator) in terms of $F$, then under natural assumptions on $β$ which simplify derivations, we express them in terms of corresponding invariants arising …
In this article, we deduce a series of integral formulas for a foliated sub-Riemannian manifold, which is a new geometric concept denoting a Riemannian manifold equipped with a distribution ${\mathcal D}$ and a foliation ${\mathcal F}$, whose tangent bundle is a subbundle of ${\mathcal D}$. Our integral formulas generalize some results for foliated Riemannian manifolds and involve the shape operators of ${\mathcal F}$ with respect to normals in ${\mathcal D}$ and the curvature tensor of induced connection on ${\mathcal D}$. The formulas also include arbitrary functions $f_j\ (0\le j<\dim{\math…
We develop variation formulas on almost-product (e.g. foliated) pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, and we consider variations of metric preserving orthogonality of the distributions. These formulae are applied to Einstein-Hilbert type actions: the total mixed scalar curvature and the total extrinsic scalar curvature of a distribution. The obtained Euler-Lagrange equations admit a number of solutions, e.g., twisted products, conformal submersions and isoparametric foliations. The paper generalizes recent results about the actions on codimension-one foliations for the case of arbitrary (co)dimension.
The purpose of this paper is to present a ``Cech-De Rham'' model for the cohomology of leaf spaces. This model lends itself to the construction of characteristic classes (in the cohomology of classifying spaces) by explicit geometrical constructions which are immediate extensions of the standard constructions for manifolds. In particular we rediscover (and explain) the Thurston formula and the Bott formulas for cocycles on diffeomorphism groups. We also use the Cech-De Rham model to explicitly describe the relation between the cohomology of the classifying space, the basic cohomology, and the …
A necessary and sufficient condition for the leaves of a {\em non-degenerate} foliation of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold to be conformally flat is developed. The condition mimics the classical condition of the vanishing of the Weyl or Cotton tensor establishing the conformal flatness of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold in the sense that it is also formulated in terms of the vanishing of certain tensors. These tensors play the role of the Weyl or the Cotton tensors and they are defined in terms of the the curvature of a linear torsion-free connection (the {\em bi-conformal connection}).
We obtain integral formulas for a metric-affine space equipped with two complementary orthogonal distributions. The integrand depends on the Ricci and mixed scalar curvatures and invariants of the second fundamental forms and integrability tensors of the distributions. The formulas under some conditions yield splitting of manifolds (including submersions and twisted products) and provide geometrical obstructions for existence of distributions and foliations (or compact leaves of them).
In these survey lectures, we investigate the geometric and analytic properties of transverse Dirac operators. In particular, we define a transverse Dirac operator associated to a distribution that is essentially self-adjoint (Prokhorenkov-R result). We describe the Habib-R Theorem showing that the invariance of the spectrum of a basic Dirac operator on a Riemannian foliation. The Bruening-Kamber-R theorems give Atiyah-Singer type formulas for the equivariant index of transversally elliptic operators on G-manifolds and the index of basic Dirac operators on Riemannian foliations. These notes con…
We characterize compact eight-manifolds M which arise as internal spaces in N=1 flux compactifications of M-theory down to AdS3 using the theory of foliations, for the case when the internal part of the supersymmetry generator is everywhere non-chiral. We prove that specifying such a supersymmetric background is equivalent with giving a codimension one foliation of M which carries a leafwise G2 structure, such that the O'Neill-Gray tensors, non-adapted part of the normal connection and torsion classes of the G2 structure are given in terms of the supergravity four-form field strength by explic…
Let G be a simple Lie group of real rank one, and S the ideal boundary of the corresponding symmetric space of noncompact type (H^n_R, H^n_C, H^n_H or H^2_O). We show the finiteness of the possible values of the secondary characteristic classes of transversely homogeneous foliations on a fixed manifold whose transverse structures are modeled on the G-action on S, except the case where G=SO(n+1,1) for even n. For this exceptional case, we construct examples of foliations on a manifold which break the finiteness and show a weaker form of the finiteness. These are generalizations of a finiteness …
We prove an asymptotic formula for the number of integer points in a family of bounded domains in the Euclidean space with smooth boundary, which remain unchanged along some linear subspace and stretch out in the directions, orthogonal to this subspace. A more precise estimate for the remainder is obtained in the case when the domains are strictly convex. Using these results, we improved the remainder estimate in the adiabatic limit formula (due to the first author) for the eigenvalue distribution function of the Laplace operator associated with a bundle-like metric on a compact manifold equip…
The boundary at infinity of a quasifuchsian hyperbolic manifold is equiped with a holomorphic quadratic differential. Its horizontal measured foliation $f$ can be interpreted as the natural analog of the measured bending lamination on the boundary of the convex core. This analogy leads to a number of questions. We provide a variation formula for the renormalized volume in terms of the extremal length $\ext(f)$ of $f$, and an upper bound on $\ext(f)$. We then describe two extensions of the holomorphic quadratic differential at infinity, both valid in higher dimensions. One is in terms of Poinca…
Let X be a smooth compact manifold with boundary. For smooth foliations on the boundary of X admitting a `resolution' in terms of a fibration, we construct a pseudodifferential calculus generalizing the fibred cusp calculus of Mazzeo and Melrose. In particular, we introduce certain symbols leading to a simple description of the Fredholm operators inside the calculus. When the leaves of the fibration `resolving' the foliation are compact, we also obtain an index formula for Fredholm perturbations of Dirac-type operators. Along the way, we obtain a formula for the adiabatic limit of the eta inva…
We announce a Godbillon-Vey index formula for longitudinal Dirac operators on a foliated bundle $(X,\F)$ with boundary; in particular, we define a Godbillon-Vey eta invariant on the boundary foliation, that is, a secondary invariant for longitudinal Dirac operators on type III foliations. Our theorem generalizes the classic Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index formula for $(X,\F)$. Moreover, employing the Godbillon-Vey index as a pivotal example, we explain a new approach to higher index theory on geometric structures with boundary. This is heavily based on the interplay between the absolute and relativ…
We investigate the remainder in the asymptotic formula for the number of integer points in a family of bounded domains in the Euclidean space, which remain unchanged along some linear subspace and expand in the directions, orthogonal to this subspace. We prove some estimates for the remainder, imposing additional assumptions on the boundary of the domain. We study the average remainder estimates, where the averages are taken over rotated images of the domain by a subgroup of the group SO(n) of orthogonal transformations of the Euclidean space R^n. Using these results, we improve the remainder …