120 pages, 12 figures, (v2) minor revision; (v3) new sections on Finsler manifolds, slow growth distributions, Heisenberg group; (v4) major revision, new extended section on 3D contact structures, constant curvature, improved results about existence of ample geodesics on SR structures, 2 new appendices, many minor revisions; (v5) 1 new appendix, minor revisions
The curvature discussed in this paper is a rather far going generalization of the Riemannian sectional curvature. We define it for a wide class of optimal control problems: a unified framework including geometric structures such as Riemannian, sub-Riemannian, Finsler and sub-Finsler structures; a special attention is paid to the sub-Riemannian (or Carnot-Caratheodory) metric spaces. Our construction of the curvature is direct and naive, and it is similar to the original approach of Riemann. Surprisingly, it works in a very general setting and, in particular, for all sub-Riemannian spaces.
In this paper, we prove a global rigidity theorem for negatively curved Finsler metrics on a compact manifold of dimension n>2. We show that for such a Finsler manifold, if the flag curvature is a scalar function on the tangent bundle, then the Finsler metric is of Randers type. We also study the case when the Finsler metric is locally projectively flat.
The flag curvature is a natural extension of the sectional curvature in Riemannian geometry, and the S-curvature is a non-Riemannian quantity which vanishes for Riemannian metrics. There are (incomplete) non-Riemannian Finsler metrics on an open subset in R^n with negative flag curvature and constant S-curvature. In this paper, we are going to show a global rigidity theorem that every Finsler metric with negative flag curvature and constant S-curvature must be Riemannian if the manifold is compact. We also study the nonpositive flag curvature case.
A Riemannian metric is of constant curvature if and only if it is locally projectively flat. There are infinitely many locally projectively flat Finsler metrics of constant curvature, that are special solutions to the Hilbert's Fourth Problem. In this paper, we use the technique in the paper titled "Finsler metrics with K=0 and S=0" (math.DG/0109060) to construct infinitely many Finsler metrics on the 2-sphere with constant curvature K=1 and infinitely many Finsler metrics on the 2-disk with constant curvature K = -1. These metrics are not projectively flat. So far, the classification of Finsl…
The flag curvature of a Finsler metric is called a Riemannian quantity because it is an extension of sectional curvature in Riemannian geometry. In Finsler geometry, there are several non-Riemannian quantities such as the (mean) Cartan torsion, the (mean) Landsberg curvature and the S-curvature, which all vanish for Riemannian metrics. It is important to understand the geometric meanings of these quantities. In this paper, we study Finsler metrics of scalar curvature (i.e., the flag curvature is a scalar function on the slit tangent bundle) and partially determine the flag curvature when certa…
By using the Hawking Taub-NUT metric, this note gives an explicit construction of a 3-parameter family of Einstein Finsler metrics of non-constant flag curvature in terms of navigation representation.
It is the Hilbert's Fourth Problem to characterize the (not-necessarily-reversible) distance functions on a bounded convex domain in R^n such that straight lines are shortest paths. Distance functions induced by a Finsler metric are regarded as smooth ones. Finsler metrics with straight geodesics said to be projective. It is known that the flag curvature of any projective Finsler metric is a scalar function of tangent vectors (the flag curvature must be a constant if it is Riemannian). Thus it is a natural problem to study those of constant curvature. In this paper, we study the Hilbert Fourth…
In Finsler geometry, there are infinitely many models of constant curvature. The Funk metrics, the Hilbert-Klein metrics and the Bryant metrics are projectively flat with non-zero constant curvature. A recent example constructed by the author is projectively flat with zero curvature. In this paper, we introduce a technique to construct non-projectively flat Finsler metrics with zero curvature in each dimension. The technique can be used to construct many non-projectively flat Finsler metrics of constant curvature.
If the flag curvature of a Finsler manifold reduces to sectional curvature, then locally either the Finsler metric is Riemannian, or the flag curvature is isotropic.
The aim of the present paper is to provide an \emph{intrinsic} investigation of special Finsler spaces of $H_{p}$-scalar curvature and of $H_{p}\,$-constant curvature. Characterizations of such spaces are shown. Sufficient condition for Finsler space of $H_{p}$-scalar curvature to be of perpendicular scalar curvature is investigated. Necessary and sufficient condition under which a Finsler space of scalar curvature turns into a Finsler space of $H_{p}$-scalar curvature is given. Further, certain conditions under which a Finsler manifolds of $H_{p}$-scalar curvature and of scalar curvature redu…
We define a Weyl-type curvature tensor that provides a characterisation for Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature. When the Finsler metric reduces to a Riemannian metric, the Weyl-type curvature tensor reduces to the classic projective Weyl tensor. In the general case, the Weyl-type curvature tensor differs from the Weyl projective curvature, it is not a projective invariant, and hence Beltrami Theorem does not work in Finsler geometry. We provide the relation between the Weyl-type curvature tensors of two projectively related Finsler metrics. Using this formula we show that a projective …
We classify homogeneous reversible Finsler metrics with positive Flag curvature. We show that if G/H admits a G invariant reversible Finsler metric with positive Flag curvature, then up to a few low dimensional spaces, it also admits a G invariant Riemannian metric with positive sectional curvature. For the exceptions, we do not know if they admit homogeneous Finsler metrics with positive Flag curvature.
We study the variational problem for $N$-parallel curves on a Finslerian surface by means of Exterior Differential Systems using Griffiths' method. We obtain the conditions when these curves are extremals of a length functional and write the explicit form of Euler-Lagrange equations for this type of variational problem.
The aim of the present paper is to provide an intrinsic investigation of two special Finsler spaces whose defining properties are related to Berwald connection, namely, Finsler space of scalar curvature and of constant curvature. Some characterizations of a Finsler space of scalar curvature are proved. Necessary and sufficient conditions under which a Finsler space of scalar curvature reduces to a Finsler space of constant curvature are investigated.
We investigate projective spherically symmetric Finsler metrics with constant flag curvature in $R^n$ and give the complete classification theorems. Furthermore, a new class of Finsler metrics with two parameters on n-dimensional disk are found to have constant negative flag curvature.
We define a Weyl-type curvature tensor of $(1,2)$-type to provide a characterization for Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature. This Weyl-type curvature tensor is projective invariant only to projective factors that are Hamel functions. Based on this aspect we construct new families of projectively related Finsler metrics that have constant flag curvature.
Here, an extension of the Obata-Tanno's theorem to Finsler geometry is established and the following rigidity result is obtained; Every complete connected Finsler manifold of positive constant flag curvature is isometrically homeomorphic to an $n$-sphere equipped with a certain Finsler metric, and vise versa.
The study of curvature properties of homogeneous Finsler spaces with $(α, β)$-metrics is one of the central problems in Riemann-Finsler geometry. In this paper, we consider homogeneous Finsler spaces with square metric and Randers change of square metric. First, we derive the explicit formulae for Ricci curvature of homogeneous Finsler spaces with these metrics. Next, we find a necessary and sufficient condition under which a homogeneous Finsler space with either of these metrics is of vanishing $S$-curvature. The formulae for Ricci curvature of homogeneous Finsler spaces with square metric an…
In this paper we study warped product Finsler metrics and show that the notion of isotropic $E$-curvature and isotropic $S$-curvature are equivalent for this class of metrics.
We obtain a partial parallelism of the complex structure on Kähler Finsler manifolds. As applications, we prove Synge-Tsukamoto theorem and Bonnet-Myers theorem for positively curved Kähler Finsler manifolds. Moreover, we generalize a comparison theorem due to Ni-Zheng by introducing the notion of orthogonal Ricci curvature to Kähler Finsler geometry.
In the current paper, first we give the correct version of the formula for mean Berwald curvature of a spherically symmetric Finsler metric given in paper \cite{YCheWSon2015}. Further, we establish differential equations characterizing projectively as well as dually flat spherically symmetric Finsler metrics. Finally, we obtain a rigidity result on spherically symmetric Finsler metrics with isotropic $E$-Curvature.
In this paper, we first deduce a formula of S-curvature of homogeneous Finsler spaces in terms of Killing vector fields. Then we prove that a homogeneous Finsler space has isotropic S-curvature if and only if it has vanishing S-curvature. In the special case that the homogeneous Finsler space is a Randers space, we give an explicit formula which coincides with the previous formula obtained by the second author using other methods.
In Finsler geometry, we use calculus to study the geometry of regular inner metric spaces. In this note I will briefly discuss various curvatures and their geometric meanings from the metric geometry point of view, without going into the forest of tensors.
In this short paper, we study a symmetric covariant tensor in Finsler geometry, which is called the mean Berwald curvature. We first investigate the geometry of the fibres as the submanifolds of the tangent sphere bundle on a Finsler manifold. Then we prove that if the mean Berwald curvature is isotropic along fibres, then the Berwald scalar curvature is constant along fibres.
In this paper, first, we give an explicit formula for the flag curvature of a homogeneous Finsler space with generalized $m$-Kropina metric. Then, we show that, under a mild condition, the two definitions of naturally reductive homogeneous Finsler space are equivalent for afore said metric. Finally, we study the flag curvature of naturally reductive homogeneous Finsler spaces with generalized $m$-Kropina metric.
The study of curvature properties of homogeneous Finsler spaces with $(α, β)$-metrics is one of the central problems in Riemann-Finsler geometry. In the present paper, the existence of invariant vector fields on homogeneous Finsler spaces with square $(α, β)$-metric and Randers changed square $(α, β)$-metric is proved. Further, an explicit formula for $S$-curvature of these $(α, β)$-metrics is established. Finally, using the formula of $S$-curvature, the mean Berwald curvature of afore said $(α, β)$-metrics is calculated.
In this paper we prove that a Finsler metrics has constant flag curvature if and only if the curvature of the induced nonlinear connection satisfies an algebraic identity with respect to some arbitrary second rank tensors. Such algebraic identity appears as an obstruction to the formal integrability of some operators in Finsler geometry, [4,7]. This algebraic characterisation for Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature allows to provide yet another proof for the Finslerian version of Beltrami's Theorem, [2,3].
Spherically symmetric metrics form a rich and important class of metrics. Many well-known Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature can be locally expressed as a spherically symmetric metric on R^n. In this paper, we study spherically symmetric metrics with constant Ricci curvature and constant flag curvature.
In this paper we characterize sprays that are metrizable by Finsler functions of constant flag curvature. By solving a particular case of the Finsler metrizability problem we provide the necessary and sufficient conditions that can be used to decide whether or not a given homogeneous system of second order ordinary differential equations represents the Euler-Lagrange equations of a Finsler function of constant flag curvature. The conditions we provide are tensorial equations on the Jacobi endomorphism. We identify the class of homogeneous SODE where the Finsler metrizability is equivalent with…
An $n$-dimensional ($n\geq 2$) simply connected, compact without boundary Finsler space of positive constant sectional curvature is conformally homeomorphic to an n-sphere in the Euclidean space $\R^{n+1}$.
In this paper, we get an inequality in terms of holomorphic sectional curvature of complex Finsler metrics. As applications, we prove a Schwarz Lemma from a complete Riemannian manifold to a complex Finsler manifold. We also show that a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold with semi-positive but not identically zero holomorphic sectional curvature has negative Kodaira dimension under an extra condition.
In this paper, we investigate the spherically symmetric Finsler metrics with isotropic S-curvature and obtain a characterized equation. As an application, we prove that these metrics with Douglas type must be Randers metrics or Berwald metrics. This result leads to two classification theorems.
In this paper, we study the relationship between isoparametric hypersurfaces and hypersurfaces with constant principal curvatures in Finsler spaces. We give some examples of isoparametric hypersurfaces with (non)constant principal curvatures on Randers manifolds with nonconstant flag curvatures. Furthermore, we construct an example of a conformally flat Randers manifold which admits a family of nonisoparametric hyperplanes with constant principal curvatures.
Fundamental function in Finsler manifold defines a metrices that depend on a point and a direction. At any point tangent space is a Riemannian and an indicatrix is a convex hypersurface. In this paper a mean curvature of the indicatrix is expressed in terms of fundamental function.
This is a survey paper on our recent works concerning the classification of positively curved homogeneous Finsler spaces, and some related topics. At the final part, we present some open problems in this field.
The main aim of this article is to calculate explicit formula for S-curvature in homogeneous generalized m-Kropina metric. Further, we also deduce mean Berwald curvature for homogeneous generalized m-Kropina metric from S-curvature.
In this paper, first we derive an explicit formula for the flag curvature of a homogeneous Finsler space with infinite series $(α, β)$-metric and exponential metric. Next, we deduce it for naturally reductive homogeneous Finsler space with the above mentioned metrics.
In this paper we prove that the holonomy group of a simply connected locally projectively flat Finsler manifold of constant curvature is a finite dimensional Lie group if and only if it is flat or it is Riemannian.
In this paper, we use the flag curvature formula for homogeneous Finsler spaces in our previous work to classify odd dimensional smooth coset spaces admitting positively curved reversible homogeneous Finsler metrics. We will show that the most features of L. Bérard-Bergery's classification results for odd dimensional positively curved Riemannian homogeneous spaces can be generalized to reversible Finsler spaces.
We establish some important inequalities under a lower weighted Ricci curvature bound on Finsler manifolds. Firstly, we establish a relative volume comparison of Bishop-Gromov type. As one of the applications, we obtain an upper bound for volumes of the Finsler manifolds. Further, when the S-curvature is bounded on the whole manifold, we obtain a theorem of Bonnet-Myers type on Finsler manifolds. Finally, we obtain a sharp Poincaré-Lichnerowicz inequality by using integrated Bochner inequality, from which we obtain a sharp lower bound for the first eigenvalue on the Finsler manifolds.
In this paper, we generalize the classification of geodesic orbit spheres from Riemannian geometry to Finsler geometry. Then we further prove if a geodesic orbit Finsler sphere has constant flag curvature, it must be Randers. It provides an alternative proof for the classification of invariant Finsler metrics with $K\equiv1$ on homogeneous spheres other than $Sp(n)/Sp(n-1)$.
In this paper, we use the technique of Finslerian submersion to deduce a flag curvature formula for homogeneous Finsler spaces. Based on this formula, we give a complete classification of even-dimensional smooth coset spaces $G/H$ admitting $G$-invariant Finsler metrics with positive flag curvature. It turns out that the classification list coincides with that of the even dimensional homogeneous Riemannian manifolds with positive sectional curvature obtained by N.R. Wallach. We also find out all the coset spaces admitting invariant non-Riemannian Finsler metrics with positive flag curvature.
Guided by the Hopf fibration, we single out a family (indexed by a positive constant K) of right invariant Riemannian metrics on the Lie group $S^3$. Using the Yasuda-Shimada theorem as an inspiration, we determine for each K>1 a privileged right invariant Killing field of constant length. Each such Riemannian metric pairs with the corresponding Killing field to produce a y-global and {\it explicit} Randers metric on $S^3$. Using the machinery of spray curvature and Berwald's formula for it, we prove directly that the said Randers metric has constant positive flag curvature K, as predicted by …
Finsler metrics with relatively non-negative (non-positive, respectively), constant and isotropic stretch curvatures are investigated in this paper. In particular, it is proved that every non-Riemannian $(α, β)$-metric with a nonzero constant flag curvature and a non-zero relatively isotropic stretch curvature over a manifold of dimension $n\geq 3$ is of a characteristic scalar constant over the Finsler geodesics. It is also shown that every compact Finsler manifold with a relatively non-negative (non-positive, respectively) stretch curvature is a Landsberg metric. Finsler manifolds with $2$-d…
We show that the results of Foulon (1997 an 2002) and Kim (2007) (independently, Deng and Hou (2007)) about the nonexistence of locally symmetric Finsler metrics of positive or negative flag curvature are in fact local.
Here, using the projectively invariant pseudo-distance and Schwarzian derivative, it is shown that every connected complete Finsler space of the constant negative Ricci scalar is reversible. In particular, every complete Randers metric of constant negative Ricci (or flag) curvature is Riemannian.
The aim of the present paper is to give two \emph{intrinsic} generalizations of Akbar-Zadeh's theorem on a Finsler space of constant curvature. Some consequences, of these generalizations, are drown.
We study two-dimensional Finsler metrics of constant flag curvature and show that such Finsler metrics that admit a Killing field can be written in a normal form that depends on two arbitrary functions of one variable. Furthermore, we find an approach to calculate these functions for spherically symmetric Finsler surfaces of constant flag curvature. In particular, we obtain the normal form of the Funk metric on the unit disk D^2.
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.
In this paper we study spherically symmetric metrics on a symmetric space in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with scalar and constant flag curvature and we also obtain families of this type of metrics. Many explicit examples are provided for Douglas metrics with scalar and constant flag curvature. Furthermore, new examples of projectively flat Finsler metrics are given. We also provide a family of spherically symmetric Finsler metrics which are not of Douglas type.
