Some nilpotent Lie groups possess a transformation group analogous to the similarity group acting on the Euclidean space. We call such a pair a nilpotent similarity structure. It is notably the case for all Carnot groups and their dilatations. We generalize a theorem of Fried: closed manifolds with a nilpotent similarity structure are either complete or radiant and, in the latter case, complete for the structure of the space deprived of a point. The proof relies on a generalization of convexity arguments in a setting where, in the coordinates given by the Lie algebra, we study geodesic segments instead of linear segments. We show classic consequences for closed manifolds with a geometry modeled on the boundary of a rank one symmetric space.
New results on the convexity of geodesic-length functions on Teichmüller space are presented. A formula for the Hessian of geodesic-length is presented. New bounds for the gradient and Hessian of geodesic-length are described. A relationship of geodesic-length functions to Weil-Petersson distance is described. Applications to the behavior of Weil-Petersson geodesics are discussed.
We show that strictly abnormal geodesics arise in graded nilpotent Lie groups. We construct such a group, for which some Carnot geodesics are strictly abnormal; in fact, they are not normal in any subgroup. In the step-2 case we also prove that these geodesics are always smooth. Our main technique is based on the equations for the normal and abnormal curves, that we derive (for any Lie group) explicitly in terms of the structure constants.
The usual notion of set-convexity, valid in the classical Euclidean context, metamorphoses into several distinct convexity types in the more general Riemannian setting. By studying this phenomenon in reverse, we characterize complete manifolds for which certain convexity types are assumed a priori to coincide.
A metric Lie algebra g is a Lie algebra equipped with an inner product. A subalgebra h of a metric Lie algebra g is said to be totally geodesic if the Lie subgroup corresponding to h is a totally geodesic submanifold relative to the left-invariant Riemannian metric defined by the inner product, on the simply connected Lie group associated to g. A nonzero element of g is called a geodesic if it spans a one-dimensional totally geodesic subalgebra. We give a new proof of Kaizer's theorem that every metric Lie algebra possesses a geodesic. For nilpotent Lie algebras, we give several results on the…
We prove injectivity and a support theorem for the X-ray transform on $2$-step nilpotent Lie groups with many totally geodesic $2$-dimensional flats. The result follows from a general reduction principle for manifolds with uniformly escaping geodesics.
Hedlund constructed Riemannian metrics on n-tori, $n \geq 3$ for which minimal geodesics are very rare. In this paper we construct similar examples for every nilpotent fundamental group. These examples show that Bangert's existence results of minimal geodesics are optimal for nilpotent fundamental groups.
The goals of this article are twofold : 1) to compute the conjugate locus of a geodesic that lies in the center of a simply connected, 2-step nilpotent Lie group with a left invariant metric 2) compare the isometry types of two such nilpotent Lie groups whose conjugate loci for central geodesics are "the same" in a suitable sense. The first goal is achieved. The second is elusive, but we obtain a partial result.
We study the geodesics problem in Heisenberg group H (case SR and riemannian). The sheaf of infinitesimal automorphisms of the (2n,2n+1) distribution D over H is an infinite, transitive Lie algebra sheaf.
We continue the study of the distribution of closed geodesics on nilmanifolds constructed from a simply connected 2-step nilpotent Lie group with a left invariant metric and a lattice. We consider a Lie group with an associated 2-step nilpotent Lie algebra constructed from an irreducible representation of a compact semisimple Lie algebra on a real finite dimensional vector space. We determine sufficient conditions on the semisimple Lie algebra for the nilmanifold to have the density of closed geodesics property for a lattice arising from a Chevalley rational structure.
Convex optimization is a vibrant and successful area due to the existence of a variety of efficient algorithms that leverage the rich structure provided by convexity. Convexity of a smooth set or a function in a Euclidean space is defined by how it interacts with the standard differential structure in this space -- the Hessian of a convex function has to be positive semi-definite everywhere. However, in recent years, there is a growing demand to understand non-convexity and develop computational methods to optimize non-convex functions. Intriguingly, there is a type of non-convexity that disap…
Let $π:\mc{X}\to \mc{T}$ be Teichmüller curve over Teichmüller space $\mc{T}$, such that the fiber $\mc{X}_z=π^{-1}(z)$ is exactly the Riemann surface given by the complex structure $z\in \mc{T}$. For a fixed Riemannian manifold $M$ and a continuous map $u_0: M\to \mc{X}_{z_0}$, let $E(z)$ denote the energy function of the harmonic map $u(z):M\to \mc{X}_z$ homotopic to $u_0$, $z\in \mathcal T$. We obtain the first and the second variations of the energy function $E(z)$, and show that $\log E(z)$ is strictly plurisubharmonic on Teichmüller space, from which we give a new proof on the Steinness …
The goal of this paper is the study of algebraic relations on the Lie algebra of first integrals of the geodesic flow on nilpotent Lie groups equipped with a left-invariant metric. It is proved that the isometry algebra of the $k$-step nilpotent Lie group, $k=2,3$, gives rise to a isomorphic family of first integrals for the geodesic flow. Also invariant first integrals are analyzed and new involution conditions are shown. Finally it is proved that in low dimensions complete families of first integrals can be constructed with Killing vector fields and symmetric Killing 2-tensor fields. This ho…
We establish the essentially optimal form of Donaldson's geodesic stability conjecture regarding existence of constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics. We carry this out by exploring in detail the metric geometry of Mabuchi geodesic rays, and the uniform convexity properties of the space of Kähler metrics.
Given a Riemannian manifold M and a hypersurface H in M, it is well known that infinitesimal convexity on a neighborhood of a point in H implies local convexity. We show in this note that the same result holds in a semi-Riemannian manifold. We make some remarks for the case when only timelike, null or spacelike geodesics are involved. The notion of geometric convexity is also reviewed and some applications to geodesic connectedness of an open subset of a Lorentzian manifold are given.
Quasi-convexity of energy functions along Teichmüller geodesics
Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS)（韩国高等科学研究院）；Chongqing University of Technology（重庆理工大学）；Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg（哥德堡大学查尔姆斯理工大学）
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 …
Convexity properties of Weil-Petersson geodesics on the Teichmüller space of punctured Riemann surfaces are investigated. A normal form is presented for the Weil-Petersson Levi-Civita connection for pinched hyperbolic metrics. The normal form is used to establish approximation of geodesics in boundary spaces. Considerations are combined to establish convexity along Weil-Petersson geodesics of the functions the distance between horocycles for a hyperbolic metric.
There are two parts of this paper. First, we discovered an explicit formula for the complex Hessian of the weighted log-Bergman kernel on a parallelogram domain, and utilised this formula to give a new proof about the strict convexity of the Mabuchi functional along a smooth geodesic. Second, when a C^{1,1}-geodesic connects two non-degenerate energy minimizers, we also proved this strict convexity, by showing that such a geodesic must be non-degenerate and smooth.
If $Ω$ is the interior of a convex polygon in $\mathbb{R}^{2}$ and $f,g$ two asymptotic geodesics, we show that the distance function $d\left(f\left(t\right),g\left(t\right)\right)$ is convex for $t$ sufficiently large. The same result is obtained in the case $\partial Ω$ is of class $C^{2}$ and the curvature of $\partial Ω$ at the point $f\left(\infty\right)=g\left(\infty\right) $ does not vanish. An example is provided for the necessity of the curvature assumption.
We give a basic treatment of lattices $Γ$ in these groups. Certain tori $T_F$ and $T_B$ provide the model fiber and the base for a submersion of $Γ\backslash N$. This submersion may not be pseudoriemannian in the usual sense, because the tori may be degenerate. We then begin the study of periodic geodesics in these compact nilmanifolds, obtaining a complete calculation of the period spectrum of certain flat spaces.
PseudoH-type is a natural generalization of H-type to geometries with indefinite metric tensors. We give a complete determination of the conjugate locus including multiplicities. We also obtain a partial characterization in terms of the abundance of totally geodesic, 3-dimensional submanifolds.
The geodesic orbit property has been studied intensively for Riemannian manifolds. Geodesic orbit spaces are homogeneous and allow simplifications of many structural questions using the Lie algebra of the isometry group. Weakly symmetric Riemannian manifolds are geodesic orbit spaces. Here we define "naturally reductive" for pseudo-Riemannian manifolds and note that they are geodesic orbit spaces. A few years ago two of the authors proved that weakly symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifolds are geodesic orbit spaces. In particular these results apply to pseudo-Riemannian Lorentz manifolds. There …
We begin a systematic study of these spaces, initially following along the lines of Eberlein's comprehensive study of the Riemannian case. In particular, we integrate the geodesic equation, discuss the structure of the isometry group, and make a study of lattices and periodic geodesics. Some major differences from the Riemannian theory appear. There are many flat groups (versus none), including Heisenberg groups. While still a semidirect product, the isometry group can be strictly larger than the obvious analogue. Everything is illustrated with explicit examples. We introduce the notion of pH-…
We prove that the topology, smooth structure, and metric of a compact Lorentzian manifold with boundary is uniquely determined by data at the boundary. The data consists of the lengths and directions of future-directed once-broken geodesics connecting points on the boundary, which are first timelike and then lightlike. This requires the strong causality condition and a weak convexity assumption, but it holds without any assumptions about conjugate points. With an additional convexity assumption we prove the analogous statement for future-directed once-broken timelike geodesics. If there are no…
In this paper we prove the following pointwise and curvature-free estimates on convexity radius, injectivity radius and local behavior of geodesics in a complete Riemannian manifold $M$: 1) the convexity radius of $p$, $\operatorname{conv}(p)\ge \min\{\frac{1}{2}\operatorname{inj}(p),\operatorname{foc}(B_{\operatorname{inj}(p)}(p))\}$, where $\operatorname{inj}(p)$ is the injectivity radius of $p$ and $\operatorname{foc}(B_r(p))$ is the focal radius of open ball centered at $p$ with radius $r$; 2) for any two points $p,q$ in $M$, $\operatorname{inj}(q)\ge \min\{\operatorname{inj}(p), \operator…
In the homogeneous case, the only curvature behavior which is still far from being understood is Ricci negative. In this paper, we study which nilpotent Lie algebras admit a Ricci negative solvable extension. Different unexpected behaviors were found. On the other hand, given a nilpotent Lie algebra, we consider the space of all the derivations such that the corresponding solvable extension has a metric with negative Ricci curvature. Using the nice convexity properties of the moment map for the variety of nilpotent Lie algebras, we obtain a useful characterization of such derivations and some …
A characterization of the proximal normal cone is obtained and a separation theorem for convex subsets of Riemannian manifolds is established. Moreover, the convexity of the distance function $d_S$ for a convex subset $S$ in the cases where the boundary of $S$ contains a geodesic segment, the boundary of $S$ is $C^2$ or the boundary of $S$ is not regular is discussed. Furthermore, a nonsmooth version of positive semi-definiteness of Hessian of convex functions on Riemannian manifolds is established.
The Hessian of the renormalized volume of geometrically finite hyperbolic $3$-manifolds without rank-$1$ cusps, computed at the hyperbolic metric $g$ with totally geodesic boundary of the convex core, is shown to be a strictly positive bilinear form on the tangent space to Teichmüller space. The metric $g$ is known from results of Bonahon and Storm to be an absolute minimum for the volume of the convex core. We deduce the strict convexity of the functional volume of the convex core at its minimum point.
In this paper we analyze the problem of the geodesic connectedness of subsets of Riemannian manifolds. By using variational methods, the geodesic connectedness of open domains (whose boundaries can be not differentiable and not convex) of a smooth Riemannian manifold is proved. In some cases also the convexity of the domain is obtained. Moreover we present examples of the applicability and of the independence of the assumptions. Finally we give an application to the existence of trajectories with fixed energy of dynamical systems.
Dani and Mainkar introduced a method for constructing a 2-step nilpotent Lie algebra $\mathfrak{n}_G$ from a simple directed graph $G$ in 2005. There is a natural inner product on $\mathfrak{n}_G$ arising from the construction. We study geometric properties of the associated simply connected 2-step nilpotent Lie group $N$ with Lie algebra $\mathfrak{n}_G$. We classify singularity properties of the Lie algebra $\mathfrak{n}_G$ in terms of the graph $G$. A comprehensive description is given of graphs $G$ which give rise to Heisenberg-like Lie algebras. Conditions are given on the graph $G$ and o…
In this paper, we show a local energy convexity of $W^{1,2}$ maps into $CAT(K)$ spaces. This energy convexity allows us to extend Colding and Minicozzi's width-sweepout construction to produce closed geodesics in any closed Alexandrov space of curvature bounded from above, which also provides a generalized version of the Birkhoff-Lyusternik theorem on the existence of non-trivial closed geodesics in the Alexandrov setting.
The geodesic orbit property is useful and interesting in Riemannian geometry. It implies homogeneity and has important classes of Riemannian manifolds as special cases. Those classes include weakly symmetric Riemannian manifolds and naturally reductive Riemannian manifolds. The corresponding results for indefinite metric manifolds are much more delicate than in Riemannian signature, but in the last few years important corresponding structural results were proved for geodesic orbit Lorentz manifolds. Here we carry out a major step in the structural analysis of geodesic orbit Lorentz nilmanifold…
We are analysing the convexity and continuity properties of the Mabuchi functional along weak geodesics. The key technical point in our paper is the global approximation of weak geodesics obtained via a well-chosen family of Monge-Ampère equations.
We determine the complete conjugate locus along all geodesics parallel or perpendicular to the center (Theorem 2.3). When the center is 1-dimensional we obtain formulas in all cases (Theorem 2.5), and when a certain operator is also diagonalizable these formulas become completely explicit (Corollary 2.7). These yield some new information about the smoothness of the pseudoriemannian conjugate locus. We also obtain the multiplicities of all conjugate points.
Let (X,L) be a polarized projective complex manifold. We show, by a simple toric one-dimensional example, that Mabuchi's K-energy functional on the geodesically complete space of bounded positive (1,1)-forms in the first Chern class of L, endowed with the Mabuchi metric, is not strictly convex modulo automorphisms. However, under some further assumptions the strict convexity in question does hold in the toric case. This leads to a uniqueness result saying that a finite energy minimizer of the K-energy (which exists on any toric polarized manifold (X,L) which is uniformly K-stable) is uniquely …
An algebraic curvature tensor A is said to be Jacobi-Tsankov if J(x)J(y)=J(y)J(x) for all x,y. This implies J(x)J(x)=0 for all x; necessarily A=0 in the Riemannian setting. Furthermore, this implies J(x)J(y)=0 for all x,y if the dimension is at most 13. We exhibit a 14-dimensional algebraic curvature tensor in signature (8,6) which is Jacobi--Tsankov but which has J(x)J(y) non 0 for some x,y. We determine the group of symmetries of this tensor and show that it is geometrically realizable by a wide variety of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds which are geodesically complete and have vanishing scalar …
The Cartan group is the free nilpotent Lie group of rank 2 and step 3. We consider the left-invariant sub-Riemannian problem on the Cartan group defined by an inner product in the first layer of its Lie algebra. This problem gives a nilpotent approximation of an arbitrary sub-Riemannian problem with the growth vector $(2,3,5)$. In previous works we described a group of symmetries of the sub-Riemannian problem on the Cartan group, and the corresponding Maxwell time -- the first time when symmetric geodesics intersect one another. It is known that geodesics are not globally optimal after the Max…
We study a new notion of Ricci curvature that applies to Markov chains on discrete spaces. This notion relies on geodesic convexity of the entropy and is analogous to the one introduced by Lott, Sturm, and Villani for geodesic measure spaces. In order to apply to the discrete setting, the role of the Wasserstein metric is taken over by a different metric, having the property that continuous time Markov chains are gradient flows of the entropy. Using this notion of Ricci curvature we prove discrete analogues of fundamental results by Bakry--Emery and Otto--Villani. Furthermore we show that Ricc…
We give some remarks on geodesics in the space of Kähler metrics that are defined for all time. Such curves are conjecturally induced by holomorphic vector fields, and we show that this is indeed so for regular geodesics, whereas the question for generalized geodesics is still open (as far as we know). We also give a result about the derivative of such geodesics which implies a variant of a theorem of Atiyah and Guillemin-Sternberg on convexity of the image of certain moment maps.
We study weak geodesics in the space of potentials for the deformed Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation. The geodesic equation can be formulated as a degenerate elliptic equation, allowing us to employ nonlinear Dirichlet duality theory, as developed by Harvey-Lawson. By exploiting the convexity of the level sets of the Lagrangian angle operator in the highest branch, we are able to construct continuous solutions of the associated Dirichlet problem.
A spherical set is called convex if for every pair of its points there is at least one minimal geodesic segment that joins these points and lies in the set. We prove that for n >= 3 a complete locally-convex (topological) immersion of a connected (n-1)-manifold into the n-sphere is a surjection onto the boundary of a convex set.
Under a convexity assumption on the boundary we solve a local inverse problem, namely we show that the geodesic X-ray transform can be inverted locally in a stable manner; one even has a reconstruction formula. We also show that under an assumption on the existence of a global foliation by strictly convex hypersurfaces the geodesic X-ray transform is globally injective. In addition we prove stability estimates and propose a layer stripping type algorithm for reconstruction.
We prove: "If $M$ is a compact hypersurface of the hyperbolic space, convex by horospheres and evolving by the volume preserving mean curvature flow, then it flows for all time, convexity by horospheres is preserved and the flow converges, exponentially, to a geodesic sphere". In addition, we show that the same conclusions about long time existence and convergence hold if $M$ is not convex by horospheres but it is close enough to a geodesic sphere.
In the present paper we give a proof of the fact that the sub-Riemannian cut locus of a wide class of nilpotent groups of step two, called $H$-type groups, starting from the origin corresponds to the center of the group. We obtain this result by completely describing the sub-Riemannian geodesics in the group, and using these to obtain three disjoint sets of points in the group determined by the number of geodesics joining them to the origin.
The Teichmüller space $\mathcal{T}_S(\mathbf{b})$ of hyperbolic metrics on a surface $S$ with fixed lengths at the boundary components is symplectic. We prove that any sum of infinitesimal earthquakes on $S$ that is tangent to $\mathcal{T}_S(\mathbf{b})$ is Hamiltonian, by providing a Hamiltonian $\mathbb{L}$. Such function extends the classical length map associated to a compactly supported measured geodesic lamination and shares with it some peculiar properties, such as properness and strict convexity along earthquakes paths under usual topological conditions. As an application, we prove tha…
We prove the smoothness of abnormal minimizers of subriemannian manifolds of step 3 with a nilpotent basis. We prove that rank 2 Carnot groups of step 4 admit no strictly abnormal minimizers. For any subriemannian manifolds of step less than 7, we show all abnormal minimizers have no corner type singularities, which partly generalize the main result of Leonardi-Monti.
The group of real 4 by 4 upper triangular matrices with 1s on the diagonal has a left-invariant subRiemannian (or Carnot-Caratheodory) structure whose underlying distribution corresponds to the superdiagonal. We prove that the associated subRiemannian geodesic flow is not completely integrable. This provides the first example of a Carnot group (graded nilpotent Lie group with an invariant subRiemannian structure supported on the generating subspace) with a non-integrable geodesic flow. We apply this result to prove that the centralizer for the corresponding quadratic ``quantum'' Hamiltonian in…
By using Stationary-to-Randers correspondence (SRC), a characterization of light and time-convexity of the boundary of a region of a standard stationary (n+1)-spacetime is obtained, in terms of the convexity of the boundary of a domain in a Finsler n or (n+1)-space of Randers type. The latter convexity is analyzed in depth and, as a consequence, the causal simplicity and the existence of causal geodesics confined in the region and connecting a point to a stationary line are characterized. Applications to asymptotically flat spacetimes include the light-convexity of stationary hypersurfaces whi…
