In this v.2 we replaced the wrong picture of the car's twistor diagram with the correct one, and corrected few typos related to the commutation relations in Section 4.3.1
We show that a car, viewed as a nonholonomic system, provides an example of a flat parabolic geometry of type $({\bf SO}(2,3),P_{12})$, where $P_{12}$ is a Borel parabolic subgroup in ${\bf SO}(2,3)$. We discuss the relations of this geometry of a car with the geometry of circles in the plane (a low dimensional Lie sphere geometry), the geometry of 3-dimensional conformal Minkowski spacetime, the geometry of 3-rd order ODEs, projective contact geometry in three dimensions, and the corresponding twistor fibrations. We indicate how all these classical geometries can be interpreted in terms of the nonholonomic kinematics of a car.
Given a parabolic geometry, it is sometimes possible to find special metrics characterised by some invariant conditions. In conformal geometry, for example, one asks for an Einstein metric in the conformal class. Einstein metrics have the special property that their geodesics are distinguished, as unparameterised curves, in the sense of parabolic geometry. This property characterises the Einstein metrics. In this article we initiate a study of corresponding phenomena for other parabolic geometries, in particular for the hypersurface CR and contact Legendrean cases.
I consider the geometry of the general class of scalar 2nd-order differential equations with parabolic symbol, including non-linear and non-evolutionary parabolic equations. After defining the appropriate $G$-structure to model parabolic equations, I apply Cartan techniques to determine local geometric invariants (quantities invariant up to a generalized change of variables). One family of invariants gives a geometric characterization for parabolic equation of Monge-Ampère type. A second family of invariants determines when a parabolic equation has a local choice of coordinates putting it in e…
For smooth manifolds equipped with various geometric structures, we construct complexes that replace the de Rham complex in providing an alternative fine resolution of the sheaf of locally constant functions. In case that the geometric structure is that of a parabolic geometry, our complexes coincide with the Bernstein-Gelfand-Gelfand complex associated with the trivial representation. However, at least in the cases we discuss, our constructions are relatively simple and avoid most of the machinery of parabolic geometry. Moreover, our method extends to certain geometries beyond the parabolic r…
The current paper is devoted to the study of integral curves of constant type in parabolic homogeneous spaces. We construct a canonical moving frame bundle for such curves and give the criterium when it turns out to be a Cartan connection. Generalizations to parametrized curves, to higher-dimensional submanifolds and to general parabolic geometries are discussed.
We consider the natural generalization of the parabolic Monge-Ampère equation to HKT geometry. We prove that in the compact case the equation has always a short-time solution and when the hypercomplex manifold is locally flat and admits a hyperkähler metric, then the equation has a long-time solution whose normalization converges to a solution of the quaternionic Monge-Ampère equation introduced by Alesker and Verbitsky. The result gives an alternative proof of a theorem of Alesker.
We present a uniform framework generalising and extending the classical theories of projective differential geometry, c-projective geometry, and almost quaternionic geometry. Such geometries, which we call \emph{projective parabolic geometries}, are abelian parabolic geometries whose flat model is an R-space $G\cdot\mathfrak{p}$ in the infinitesimal isotropy representation $\mathbb{W}$ of a larger self-dual symmetric R-space $H\cdot\mathfrak{q}$. We also give a classification of projective parabolic geometries with $H\cdot\mathfrak{q}$ irreducible which, in addition to the aforementioned class…
I consider the existence and structure of conservation laws for the general class of evolutionary scalar second-order differential equations with parabolic symbol. First I calculate the linearized characteristic cohomology for such equations. This provides an auxiliary differential equation satisfied by the conservation laws of a given parabolic equation. This is used to show that conservation laws for any evolutionary parabolic equation depend on at most second derivatives of solutions. As a corollary, it is shown that the only evolutionary parabolic equations with at least one non-trivial co…
Let $p$ be a Lie subalgebra of a semisimple Lie algebra $g$ and $(G,P)$ be the corresponding pair of connected Lie groups. A Cartan geometry of type $(G,P)$ associates to a smooth manifold $M$ a principal $P$-bundle and a Cartan connection, and a parabolic geometry is a Cartan geometry where $P$ is parabolic. We show that if $P$ is parabolic, the adjoint tractor bundle of a Cartan geometry, which is isomorphic to the Atiyah algebroid of the principal $P$-bundle, admits the structure of a (pre-)Courant algebroid, and we identify the topological obstruction to the bracket being a Courant bracket…
The principal group of a Klein geometry has canonical left action on the homogeneous space of the geometry and this action induces action on the spaces of sections of vector bundles over the homogeneous space. This paper is about construction of differential operators invariant with respect to the induced action of the principal group of a particular type of parabolic geometry. These operators form sequences which are related to the minimal resolutions of the k-Dirac operators studied in Clifford analysis.
In this paper, we show the existence of a sequence of invariant differential operators on a particular homogeneous model $G/P$ of a Cartan geometry. The first operator in this sequence can be locally identified with the Dirac operator in $k$ Clifford variables, $D=(D_1,..., D_k)$, where $D_i=\sum_j e_j\cdot \partial_{ij}: C^\infty((\R^n)^k,§)\to C^\infty((\R^n)^k,§)$. We describe the structure of these sequences in case the dimension $n$ is odd. It follows from the construction that all these operators are invariant with respect to the action of the group $G$. These results are obtained by con…
We define the infinitesimal and geometric orders of an effective Klein geometry G/H. Using these concepts, we prove i) For any integer m>1, there exists an effective Klein geometry G/H of infinitesimal order m such that G/H is a projective variety (Corollary 9). ii) An effective Klein geometry G/H of geometric order M defines a differential equation of order M+1 on G/H whose global solution space is G (Proposition 18).
We give sharp $C^{2,α}$ estimates for solutions of some fully nonlinear elliptic and parabolic equations in complex geometry and almost complex geometry, assuming a bound on the Laplacian of the solution. We also prove the analogous results to complex Monge-Ampère equations with conical singularities. As an application, we obtain a local estimate for Calabi-Yau equation in almost complex geometry. We also improve the $C^{2,α}$ regularities and estimates for viscosity solutions to some uniformly elliptic and parabolic equations. All our results are optimal regarding the Hölder exponent.
We present the linearized metrizability problem in the context of parabolic geometries and subriemannian geometry, generalizing the metrizability problem in projective geometry studied by R. Liouville in 1889. We give a general method for linearizability and a classification of all cases with irreducible defining distribution where this method applies. These tools lead to natural subriemannian metrics on generic distributions of interest in geometric control theory.
We study the ring generated by the Chern classes of tautological line bundles on the moduli space of parabolic bundles of arbitrary rank on a Riemann surface. We show the Poincaré duals to these Chern classes have simple geometric representatives. We use this construction to show that the ring generated by these Chern classes vanishes below the dimension of the moduli space, in analogy with the Newstead-Ramanan conjecture for stable bundles.
This note aims to demonstrate that every parabolic geometry has a naturally defined per-Courant algebroïd structure. This structure is a Courant algebroïd if and only if the the curvature $κ$ of the Cartan connection vanishes. In all other cases, if the parabolic geometry is regular, there does not exist a natural universal expression for a Courant bracket.
We study the local geometry of irreducible parabolic geometries admitting strongly essential flows; these are flows by local automorphisms with higher-order fixed points. We prove several new rigidity results, and recover some old ones for projective and conformal structures, which show that in many cases the existence of a strongly essential flow implies local flatness of the geometry on an open set having the fixed point in its closure. For almost c-projective and almost quaternionic structures we can moreover show flatness of the geometry on a neighborhood of the fixed point.
In this thesis, we show the existence of a sequence of differential operators starting with with the Dirac operator in k Clifford variables, $D=(D_1,..., D_k)$, where $D_i=\sum_j e_j\cdot \partial_{ij}: C^\infty((\R^n)^k,§)\to C^\infty((\R^n)^k,§)$ ($§$ is the spinor module). This operator is the Cauchy-Riemann operator for n=2 and its resolution is the Dolbeault complex. For higher n, the resolution of D is not known in general. While this problem was treated many times in the language of Clifford analysis and some partial results are known, we give a description of this operator in Parabolic…
We explore the geometry that underlies the osculating nilpotent group structures of the Heisenberg calculus. For a smooth manifold $M$ with a distribution $H\subseteq TM$ analysts use explicit (and rather complicated) coordinate formulas to define the nilpotent groups that are central to the calculus. Our aim in this paper is to provide insight in the intrinsic geometry that underlies these coordinate formulas. First, we introduce `parabolic arrows' as a generalization of tangent vectors. The definition of parabolic arrows involves a mix of first and second order derivatives. Parabolic arrows …
For a semisimple Lie group $G$ with parabolic subgroups $Q\subset P\subset G$, we associate to a parabolic geometry of type $(G,P)$ on a smooth manifold $N$ the correspondence space $\Cal CN$, which is the total space of a fiber bundle over $N$ with fiber a generalized flag manifold, and construct a canonical parabolic geometry of type $(G,Q)$ on $\Cal CN$. Conversely, for a parabolic geometry of type $(G,Q)$ on a smooth manifold $M$, we construct a distribution corresponding to $P$, and find the exact conditions for its integrability. If these conditions are satisfied, then we define the twis…
We study vector fields generating a local flow by automorphisms of a parabolic geometry with higher order fixed points. We develop general tools extending the techniques of [1], [2], and [3]. We apply these tools to almost Grassmannian, almost quaternionic, and contact parabolic geometries, including CR structures, to obtain descriptions of the possible dynamics of such flows near the fixed point and strong restrictions on the curvature. In some cases, we can show vanishing of the curvature on a nonempty open set. Deriving consequences for a specific geometry entails evaluating purely algebrai…
Lie contact structures generalize the classical Lie sphere geometry of oriented hyperspheres in the standard sphere. They can be equivalently described as parabolic geometries corresponding to the contact grading of orthogonal real Lie algebra. It follows the underlying geometric structure can be interpreted in several equivalent ways. In particular, we show this is given by a split-quaternionic structure on the contact distribution, which is compatible with the Levi bracket. In this vein, we study the geometry of chains, a distinguished family of curves appearing in any parabolic contact geom…
A cone structure on a complex manifold $M$ is a closed submanifold $\mathcal C \subset \mathbb P TM$ of the projectivized tangent bundle which is submersive over $M$. A conic connection on $\mathcal C$ specifies a distinguished family of curves on $M$ in the directions specified by $\mathcal C$. There are two common sources of cone structures and conic connections, one in differential geometry and another in algebraic geometry. In differential geometry, we have cone structures induced by the geometric structures underlying holomorphic parabolic geometries, a classical example of which is the n…
This thesis is concerned with the theory of invariant bilinear differential pairings on parabolic geometries. It introduces the concept formally with the help of the jet bundle formalism and provides a detailed analysis. More precisely, after introducing the most important notations and definitions, we first of all give an algebraic description for pairings on homogeneous spaces and obtain a first existence theorem. Next, a classification of first order invariant bilinear differential pairings is given under exclusion of certain degenerate cases that are related to the existence of invariant l…
Given a generic stable strongly parabolic $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$-Higgs bundle $(\mathcal{E}, φ)$, we describe the family of harmonic metrics $h_t$ for the ray of Higgs bundles $(\mathcal{E}, t φ)$ for $t\gg0$ by perturbing from an explicitly constructed family of approximate solutions $h_t^{\mathrm{app}}$. We then describe the natural hyperKähler metric on $\mathcal{M}$ by comparing it to a simpler "semi-flat" hyperKähler metric. We prove that $g_{L^2} - g_{\mathrm{sf}} = O(\mathrm{e}^{-γt})$ along a generic ray, proving a version of Gaiotto-Moore-Neitzke's conjecture. Our results extend to weakly…
We use classical (Penrose) two-component spinors to set up the differential geometry of two parabolic contact structures in five dimensions, namely $G_2$ contact geometry and Legendrean contact geometry. The key players in these two geometries are invariantly defined directional derivatives defined only in the contact directions. We explain how to define them and their usage in constructing basic invariants such as the harmonic curvature, the obstruction to being locally flat from the parabolic viewpoint. As an application, we calculate the invariant torsion of the $G_2$ contact structure on t…
This is an expanded version of a series of lectures delivered at the 25th Winter School ``Geometry and Physics'' in Srni. After a short introduction to Cartan geometries and parabolic geometries, we give a detailed description of the equivalence between parabolic geometries and underlying geometric structures. The second part of the paper is devoted to constructions which relate parabolic geometries of different type. First we discuss the construction of correspondence spaces and twistor spaces, which is related to nested parabolic subgroups in the same semisimple Lie group. An example related…
In this paper, we show that associated to any coisotropic Cartan geometry there is a twisted Courant algebroid. This includes in particular parabolic geometries. Using this twisted Courant structure, we give some new results about the Cartan curvature and the Weyl structure of a parabolic geometry. As more direct applications, we have Lie 2-algebra and 3D AKSZ sigma model with background associated to any coisotropic Cartan geometry.
In this article we introduce new affinely invariant points---`special parabolic points'---on the parabolic set of a generic surface $M$ in real 4-space, associated with symmetries in the 2-parameter family of reflexions of $M$ in points of itself. The parabolic set itself is detected in this way, and each arc is given a sign, which changes at the special points, where the family has an additional degree of symmetry. Other points of $M$ which are detected by the family of reflexions include inflexion points of real and imaginary type, and the first of these is also associated with sign changes …
Motivated by the rich geometry of conformal Riemannian manifolds and by the recent development of geometries modeled on homogeneous spaces $G/P$ with $G$ semisimple and $P$ parabolic, Weyl structures and preferred connections are introduced in this general framework. In particular, we extend the notions of scales, closed and exact Weyl connections, and Rho--tensors, we characterize the classes of such objects, and we use the results to give a new description of the Cartan bundles and connections for all parabolic geometries.
The chains studied in this paper generalize Chern-Moser chains for CR structures. They form a distinguished family of one dimensional submanifolds in manifolds endowed with a parabolic contact structure. Both the parabolic contact structure and the system of chains can be equivalently encoded as Cartan geometries (of different types). The aim of this paper is to study the relation between these two Cartan geometries for Lagrangean contact structures and partially integrable almost CR structures. We develop a general method for extending Cartan geometries which generalizes the Cartan geometry i…
We prove a general criterion to establish existence and uniqueness of a short-time solution to an evolution equation involving "closed" sections of a vector bundle, generalizing a method used recently by Bryant and Xu for studying the Laplacian flow in G_2-geometry. We apply this theorem in balanced geometry introducing a natural extension of the Calabi flow to the balanced case. We show that this flow has always a unique short-time solution belonging to the same Bott-Chern cohomology class of the initial balanced structure and that it preserves the Kaehler condition. Finally we study explicit…
Ray nil-affine geometries are defined on nilpotent spaces. They occur in every parabolic geometry and in those cases, the nilpotent space is an open dense subset of the corresponding flag manifold. We are interested in closed manifolds having a ray nil-affine structure. We show that under a rank one condition on the isotropy, closed manifolds are either complete or their developing map is a cover onto the complement of a nil-affine subspace. We prove that if additionally there is a parallel volume or if the automorphism group acts non properly then closed manifolds are always complete.This pap…
We prove for the automorphism group of an arbitrary parabolic geometry that the $C^0$ and $C^{\infty}$ topologies coincide, and the group admits the structure of a Lie group in this topology. We further show that this automorphism group is closed in the homeomorphism group of the underlying manifold.
This paper attempts to define a generalisation of the standard Einstein condition (in conformal/metric geometry) to any parabolic geometry. To do so, it shows that any preserved involution $σ$ of the adjoint bundle $\mc{A}$ gives rise, given certain algebraic conditions, to a unique preferred affine connection $\nabla$ with covariantly constant rho-tensor $\mathsf{P}$, compatible with the algebraic bracket on $\mc{A}$. These conditions can reasonably be considered the generalisations of the Einstein condition, and recreate the standard Einstein condition in conformal geometry. The existence of…
An intrinsic definition in terms of conformal capacity is proposed for the conformal type of a Carnot--Carathéodory space (parabolic or hyperbolic). Geometric criteria of conformal type are presented. They are closely related to the asymptotic geometry of the space at infinity and expressed in terms of the isoperimetric function and the growth of the area of geodesic spheres. In particular, it is proved that a sub-Riemannian manifold admits a conformal change of metric that makes it into a complete manifold of finite volume if and only if the manifold is of conformally parabolic type. Further …
We initiate a new study of differential operators with symmetries and combine this with the study of branching laws for Verma modules of reductive Lie algebras. By the criterion for discretely decomposable and multiplicity-free restrictions of generalized Verma modules [T. Kobayashi, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00031-012-9180-y {Transf. Groups (2012)}], we are brought to natural settings of parabolic geometries for which there exist unique equivariant differential operators to submanifolds. Then we apply a new method (F-method) relying on the Fourier transform to find singular vectors in genera…
This article studies the fundamental invariants of 2--nondegenerate CR geometries with simple models. We show that there are two sources of these invariants. The first source is the harmonic curvature of the parabolic geometry that appears (locally) on the leaf space of the Levi kernel. The second source is the difference between the complex structure on the complex tangent space of the CR geometry and the complex structure on the correspondence space to the underlying parabolic geometry. We show that the later fundamental invariants appear only when the model is generic and if they vanish, th…
In this paper, we will give a complete geometric background for the geometry of Painlevé $VI$ and Garnier equations. By geometric invariant theory, we will construct a smooth coarse moduli space $M_n^{\balpha}(\bt, \blambda, L) $ of stable parabolic connection on $\BP^1$ with logarithmic poles at $D(\bt) = t_1 + ... + t_n$ as well as its natural compactification. Moreover the moduli space $\cR(\cP_{n, \bt})_{\ba}$ of Jordan equivalence classes of $SL_2(\C)$-representations of the fundamental group $π_1(\BP^1 \setminus D(\bt),\ast)$ are defined as the categorical quotient. We define the Riemann…
