In this paper, we establish a sufficient condition for a geodesic in a Riemannian manifold to be homogeneous, i.e. an orbit of an $1$-parameter isometry group. As an application of this result, we provide a new proof of the fact that every weakly symmetric space is geodesic orbit manifold, i.e. all its geodesics are homogeneous. We also study general properties of homogeneous geodesics, in particular, the structure of the closure of a given homogeneous geodesic. We present several examples where this closure is a torus of dimension $\geq 2$ which is (respectively, is not) totally geodesic in the ambient manifold. Finally, we discuss homogeneous geodesics in Lie groups supplied with left-invariant Riemannian metrics.
In this paper, we study homogeneous geodesics in homogeneous Finsler spaces. We first give a simple criterion that characterizes geodesic vectors. We show that the geodesics on a Lie group, relative to a bi-invariant Finsler metric, are the cosets of the one-parameter subgroups. The existence of infinitely many homogeneous geodesics on compact semi-simple Lie group is established. We introduce the notion of naturally reductive homogeneous Finsler space. As a special case, we study homogeneous geodesics in homogeneous Randers spaces. Finally, we study some curvature properties of homogeneous ge…
The existence of at least two homogeneous geodesics in any homogeneous Finsler manifold was proved in a previous paper by the author. The examples of solvable Lie groups with invariant Finsler metric which admit just two homogeneous geodesics were presented in another paper. In the present work, it is shown that a homogeneous Finsler manifold with indefinite Killing form admits at least four homogeneous geodesics. Examples of invariant Randers metrics on Lie groups with definite Killing form admitting just two homogeneous geodesics and examples with indefinite Killing form admitting just four …
In previous papers, a fundamental affine method for studying homogeneous geodesics was developed. Using this method and elementary differential topology it was proved that any homogeneous affine manifold and in particular any homogeneous pseudo-Riemannian manifold admits a homogeneous geodesic through arbitrary point. In the present paper this affine method is refined and adapted to the pseudo-Riemannian case. Using this method and elementary topology it is proved that any homogeneous Lorentzian manifold of even dimension admits a light-like homogeneous geodesic. The method is illustrated in d…
In this paper, we study geodesics and geodesic vectors for homogeneous exponential Finsler space and homogeneous infinite series Finsler space. Further, we find necessary and sufficient condition for a non-zero vector in these homogeneous spaces to be a geodesic vector.
In a recent paper, it was claimed that any homogeneous Finsler space of odd dimension admits a homogeneous geodesic through any point. For the proof, the algebraic method dealing with the reductive decomposition of the Lie algebra of the isometry group was used. However, the proof contains a serious gap. In the present paper, homogeneous geodesics in Finsler homogeneous spaces are studied using the affine method, which was developed in earlier papers by the author. The mentioned statement is proved correctly and it is further proved that any homogeneous Berwald space or homogeneous reversible …
In this paper, we study the set of homogeneous geodesics of a leftinvariant Finsler metric on Lie groups. We first give a simple criterion that characterizes geodesic vectors. As an application, we study some geometric properties of bi-invariant Finsler metrics on Lie groups. In particular a necessary and sufficient condition that left-invariant Randers metrics are of Berwald type is given. Finally a correspondence of homogeneous geodesics to critical points of restricted Finsler metrics is given. Then results concerning the existence homogeneous geodesics are obtained.
We study conjugate points along homogeneous geodesics in generalized flag manifolds. This is done by analyzing the second variation of the energy of such geodesics. We also give an example of how the homogeneous Ricci flow can evolve in such way to produce conjugate points in the complex projective space $\mathbb{C} P^{2n+1} = Sp(n+1)/({U}(1)\times{Sp}(n))$.
In this paper, we focus on homogeneous spaces which are constructed from two strongly isotropy irreducible spaces, and prove that any geodesic orbit metric on these spaces is naturally reductive.
We study geodesics of the form $γ(t)=π(\exp(tX)\exp(tY))$, $X,Y\in \fr{g}=\operatorname{Lie}(G)$, in homogeneous spaces $G/K$, where $π:G\rightarrow G/K$ is the natural projection. These curves naturally generalise homogeneous geodesics, that is orbits of one-parameter subgroups of $G$ (i.e. $γ(t)=π(\exp (tX))$, $X\in \fr{g}$). We obtain sufficient conditions on a homogeneous space implying the existence of such geodesics for $X,Y\in \fr{m}=T_o(G/K)$. We use these conditions to obtain examples of Riemannian homogeneous spaces $G/K$ so that all geodesics of $G/K$ are of the above form. These in…
We classify generalized Wallach spaces which are g.o. spaces. We also investigate homogeneous geodesics in generalized Wallach spaces for any given invariant Riemannian metric and we give some examples.
We determine, for all three-dimensional non-unimodular Lie groups equipped with a Lorentzian metric, the set of homogeneous geodesics through a point. Together with the results of [C] and [CM2], this leads to the full classification of three-dimensional Lorentzian g.o. spaces and naturally reductive spaces.
We show that a simply connected Riemannian homogeneous space M which admits a totally geodesic hypersurface F is isometric to either (a) the Riemannian product of a space of constant curvature and a homogeneous space, or (b) the warped product of the Euclidean space and a homogeneous space, or (c) the twisted product of the line and a homogeneous space (with the warping/twisting function given explicitly). In the first case, F is also a Riemannian product; in the last two cases, it is a leaf of a totally geodesic homogeneous fibration. Case (c) can alternatively be characterised by the fact th…
Let $ξ=(G\times_{K} \mathcal{G} / \mathcal{K}, ρ_ξ, \emph{G} / \emph{K},\mathcal{G} / \mathcal{K})$ be the associated bundle and $τ_{G/K}=(T_{G/K},π_{G/K},G/K, \textrm{R}^{m})$ be the tangent bundle of special examples of odd dimension solvable Lie groups equipped with left invariant Riemannian metric. In this paper we prove some conditions about the existence of homogeneous geodesic on the base space of $τ_{G/K}$ and homogeneous (geodesic) vectors on the fiber space of $ξ$ .
Let $\mathcal{M}$ be a Type $\mathcal{A}$ affine surface. We show that $\mathcal{M}$ is linearly strongly projectively flat. We use the quasi-Einstein equation together with the condition that $\mathcal{M}$ is strongly projectively flat to examine to examine the geodesic completeness of $\mathcal{M}$.
A homogeneous Riemannian manifold $(M=G/K, g)$ is called a space with homogeneous geodesics or a $G$-g.o. space if every geodesic $γ(t)$ of $M$ is an orbit of a one-parameter subgroup of $G$, that is $γ(t) = \exp(tX)\cdot o$, for some non zero vector $X$ in the Lie algebra of $G$. We give an exposition on the subject, by presenting techniques that have been used so far and a wide selection of previous and recent results. We also present some open problems.
When a closed Finsler manifold admits continuous isometric actions, estimating the number of orbits of prime closed geodesics seems a more reasonable substitution for estimating the number of prime closed geodesics. To generalize the works of H. Duan, Y. Long, H.B. Rademacher, W. Wang and others on the existence of two prime closed geodesics to the equivariant situation, we purpose the question if a closed Finsler manifold has only one orbit of prime closed geodesic if and only if it is a compact rank-one Riemannian symmetric space. In this paper, we study this problem in homogeneous Finsler g…
In this paper we show that for an invariant $(α,β)-$metric $F$ on a homogeneous Finsler manifold $\frac{G}{H}$, induced by an invariant Riemannian metric $\tilde{a}$ and an invariant vector field $\tilde{X}$, the vector $X=\tilde{X}(H)$ is a geodesic vector of $F$ if and only if it is a geodesic vector of $\tilde{a}$. Then we give some conditions such that under them, an arbitrary vector is a geodesic vector of $F$ if and only if it is a geodesic vector of $\tilde{a}$. Finally we give an explicit formula for the flag curvature of bi-invariant $(α,β)-$metrics on connected Lie groups.
In this work it is shown that a necessary condition for the completeness of the geodesics of left invariant pseudo-Riemannian metrics on Lie groups is also sufficient in the case of 3-dimensional unimodular Lie groups, and not sufficient for 3-dimensional non unimodular Lie groups. As a consequence it is possible to identify, amongst the compact locally homogeneous Lorentzian 3-manifolds with non compact (local) isotropy group, those that are geodesically complete.
Geodesic orbit spaces (or g.o. spaces) are defined as those homogeneous Riemannian spaces $(M=G/H,g)$ whose geodesics are orbits of one-parameter subgroups of $G$. The corresponding metric $g$ is called a geodesic orbit metric. We study the geodesic orbit spaces of the form $(\Sp(n)/\Sp(n_1)\times \cdots \times \Sp(n_s), g)$, with $0<n_1+\cdots +n_s\leq n$. Such spaces include spheres, quaternionic Stiefel manifolds, Grassmann manifolds and quaternionic flag manifolds. The present work is a contribution to the study of g.o. spaces $(G/H,g)$ with $H$ semisimple.
We study the geodesic orbit property for nilpotent Lie groups $N$ when endowed with a pseudo-Riemannian left-invariant metric. We consider this property with respect to different groups acting by isometries. When $N$ acts on itself by left-translations we show that it is a geodesic orbit space if and only if the metric is bi-invariant. Assuming $N$ is 2-step nilpotent and with non-degenerate center we give algebraic conditions on the Lie algebra $\mathfrak n$ of $N$ in order to verify that every geodesic is the orbit of a one-parameter subgroup of $N\rtimes\operatorname{Auto}(N)$. In addition …
We solve explicitly the geodesic equation for a wide class of (pseudo)-Riemannian homogeneous manifolds (G/H,m), including those with G compact, as well as non-compact semisimple Lie groups, under a simple algebraic condition for the metric m. We prove that these manifolds are geodesically complete and their geodesics are orbits in G/H of a product of N one-parameter subgroups of G, where N is a natural number. This is intimately related to the fact that the metrics m can be regarded as N-parameter deformations of a Riemannian metric in G/H with special symmetries. We show that there exists a …
In this paper we consider some properties of the three-dimensional homogeneous SO(2)-isotropic Riemannian manifolds. In particular, we determine the geodesics, the totally geodesic surfaces, the totally umbilical surfaces and the geodesics of the rotational surfaces.
We prove that a homogeneous Finsler sphere with constant flag curvature $K\equiv1$ and a prime closed geodesic of length $2π$ must be Riemannian. This observation provides the evidence for the non-existence of homogeneous Bryant spheres. It also helps us propose an alternative approach proving that a geodesic orbit Finsler sphere with $K\equiv1$ must be Randers. Then we discuss the behavior of geodesics on a homogeneous Finsler sphere with $K\equiv1$. We prove that many geodesic properties for homogeneous Randers spheres with $K\equiv1$ can be generalized to the non-Randers case.
A geodesic orbit manifold (GO manifold) is a Riemannian manifold (M,g) with the property that any geodesic in M is an orbit of a one-parameter subgroup of a group G of isometries of (M,g). The metric g is then called a G-GO metric in M. For an arbitrary compact homogeneous manifold M=G/H, we simplify the general problem of determining the G-GO metrics in M. In particular, if the isotropy representation of H induces equivalent irreducible submodules in the tangent space of M, we obtain algebraic conditions, under which, any G-GO metric in M admits a reduced form. As an application we determine …
A fibration of a Riemannian manifold is fiberwise homogeneous if there are isometries of the manifold onto itself, taking any given fiber to any other one, and preserving fibers. Examples are fibrations of Euclidean n-space by parallel n-planes, and the Hopf fibrations of the round n-sphere by great n-spheres. In this paper, we describe all the fiberwise homogeneous fibrations of Euclidean and hyperbolic 3-space by geodesics. Our main result is that, up to fiber-preserving isometries, there is precisely a one-parameter family of such fibrations of Euclidean 3-space, and a two-parameter family …
A homogeneous Riemannian space $(M= G/H,g)$ is called a geodesic orbit space (shortly, GO-space) if any geodesic is an orbit of one-parameter subgroup of the isometry group $G$. We study the structure of compact GO-spaces and give some sufficient conditions for existence and non-existence of an invariant metric $g$ with homogeneous geodesics on a homogeneous space of a compact Lie group $G$. We give a classification of compact simply connected GO-spaces $(M = G/H,g)$ of positive Euler characteristic. If the group $G$ is simple and the metric $g$ does not come from a bi-invariant metric of $G$,…
There is a well developed theory of weakly symmetric Riemannian manifolds. Here it is shown that several results in the Riemannian case are also valid for weakly symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, but some require additional hypotheses. The topics discussed are homogeneity, geodesic completeness, the geodesic orbit property, weak symmetries, and the structure of the nilradical of the isometry group. Also, we give a number of examples of weakly symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, some mirroring the Riemannian case and some indicating the problems in extending Riemannian results to weakly…
We study the family of $α$-connections of Amari-Chentsov on the homogeneous space $\mathcal{D}(M)/\mathcal{D}_μ(M)$ of diffeomorphisms modulo volume-preserving diffeomorphims of a compact manifold $M$. We show that in some cases their geodesic equations yield completely integrable Hamiltonian systems.
An affine manifold is said to be geodesically complete if all affine geodesics extend for all time. It is said to be affine Killing complete if the integral curves for any affine Killing vector field extend for all time. We use the solution space of the quasi-Einstein equation to examine these concepts in the setting of homogeneous affine surfaces.
We show that for any weakly reflective submanifold of a compact isotropy irreducible Riemannian homogeneous space its inverse image under the parallel transport map is an infinite dimensional weakly reflective PF submanifold of a Hilbert space. This is an extension of the author's previous result in the case of compact irreducible Riemannian symmetric spaces. We also give a characterization of so obtained weakly reflective PF submanifolds.
We investigate homogeneous geodesics in a class of homogeneous spaces called $M$-spaces, which are defined as follows. Let $G/K$ be a generalized flag manifold with $K=C(S)=S\times K_1$, where $S$ is a torus in a compact simple Lie group $G$ and $K_1$ is the semisimple part of $K$. Then the {\it associated $M$-space} is the homogeneous space $G/K_1$. These spaces were introduced and studied by H.C. Wang in 1954. We prove that for various classes of $M$-spaces the only g.o. metric is the standard metric. For other classes of $M$-spaces we give either necessary, or necessary and sufficient condi…
We prove that a normal homogeneous space with the property that every Jacobi field along a geodesic vanishing at two points is the restriction of a Killing field along that geodesic is a globally symmetric space.
We introduce the notion of weak commensurabilty of arithmetic subgroups and relate it to the length equivalence and isospectrality of locally symmetric spaces. We prove many strong consequences of weak commensurabilty and derive from these many interesting results about isolength and isospectral locally symmetric spaces.
In this paper, we introduce the notion of standard homogeneous $(α_1,α_2)$-metrics, as a natural non-Riemannian deformation for the normal homogeneous Riemannian metrics. We prove that with respect to the given bi-invariant inner product and orthogonal decompositions for $\mathfrak{g}$, if there exists one generic standard g.o. $(α_1,α_2)$-metric, then all other standard homogeneous $(α_1,α_2)$-metrics are also g.o.. For standard homogeneous $(α_1,α_2)$-metrics associated with a triple of compact connected Lie groups, we can refine our theorem and get some simple algebraic equations as the cri…
There are many equivalent definitions of Riemannian geodesics. They are naturally generalised to sub-Riemannian manifold, but become non-equivalent. We give a review of different definitions of geodesics of a sub-Riemannian manifold and interrelation between them. We recall three variational definitions of geodesics as (locally) shortest curves (Euler-Lagrange, Pontyagin and Hamilton) and three definitions of geodesics as straightest curves (d'Alembert , Levi-Civita-Schouten and Cartan-Tanaka ), used in nonholonomic mechanics and discuss their interrelations. We consider a big class of sub-Rie…
This paper provides a characterization of homogeneous curves on a geometric flag manifold which are geodesic with respect to any invariant metric. We call such curves homogeneous equigeodesics. We also characterize homogeneous equigeodesics whose associated Killing field is closed, hence, the corresponding geodesics is closed.
We prove that the Penrose limit of a spacetime along a homogeneous geodesic is a homogeneous plane wave spacetime and that the Penrose limit of a reductive homogeneous spacetime along a homogeneous geodesic is a Cahen--Wallach space. We then consider several homogenous examples to show that these results are indeed sharp and conclude with a remark about the existence of null homogeneous geodesics.
The consideration of the so-called rotation minimizing frames allows for a simple and elegant characterization of plane and spherical curves in Euclidean space via a linear equation relating the coefficients that dictate the frame motion. In this work, we extend these investigations to characterize curves that lie on a geodesic sphere or totally geodesic hypersurface in a Riemannian manifold of constant curvature. Using that geodesic spherical curves are normal curves, i.e., they are the image of an Euclidean spherical curve under the exponential map, we are able to characterize geodesic spher…
The authors found geodesics, shortest arcs, cut loci, and conjugate sets for left-invariant sub-Riemannian matric on the Lie group $SL(2)$, which is right-invariant relative to the Lie subgroup $SO(2)\subset SL(2)$ (in other words, for invariant sub-Riemannian metric on weakly symmetric space $(SL(2)\times SO(2))/SO(2)$).
We study a volume/area preserving curvature flow of hypersurfaces that are convex by horospheres in the hyperbolic space, with velocity given by a generic positive, increasing function of the mean curvature, not necessarly homogeneous. For this class of speeds we prove the exponential convergence to a geodesic sphere. The proof is ispired by [10] and is based on the preserving of the convexity by horospheres that allows to bound the inner and outer radii and to give uniform bounds on the curvature by maximum principle arguments. In order to deduce the exponential trend, we study the behaviour …
In this work we study the existence of homogeneous Einstein metrics on the total space of homogeneous fibrations such that the fibers are totally geodesic manifolds. We obtain the Ricci curvature of an invariant metric with totally geodesic fibers and some necessary conditions for such a metric to be Einstein in terms of Casimir operators. Some particular cases are studied, for instance, for normal base or fiber, symmetric fiber, Einstein base or fiber, for which the Einstein equations are manageable. We show the existence of new invariant Einstein metrics on homogeneous bisymmetric fibrations…
In this paper we study the shape space of curves with values in a homogeneous space $M = G/K$, where $G$ is a Lie group and $K$ is a compact Lie subgroup. We generalize the square root velocity framework to obtain a reparametrization invariant metric on the space of curves in $M$. By identifying curves in $M$ with their horizontal lifts in $G$, geodesics then can be computed. We can also mod out by reparametrizations and by rigid motions of $M$. In each of these quotient spaces, we can compute Karcher means, geodesics, and perform principal component analysis. We present numerical examples inc…
Geodesic orbit spaces are those Riemannian homogeneous spaces (G/H,g) whose geodesics are orbits of one-parameter subgroups of G. We classify the simply connected geodesic orbit spaces where G is a compact Lie group of rank two. We prove that the only such spaces for which the metric g is not induced from a bi-invariant metric on G are certain spheres and projective spaces, endowed with metrics induced from Hopf fibrations.
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 $Sp(n)/Sp(n-1)$.
