In this paper, we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for a $U(n)$-invariant complex Finsler metric $F$ on domains in $\mathbb{C}^n$ to be strongly convex, which also makes it possible to investigate relationship between real and complex Finsler geometry via concrete and computable examples. We prove a rigid theorem which states that a $U(n)$-invariant strongly convex complex Finsler metric $F$ is a real Berwald metric if and only if $F$ comes from a $U(n)$-invariant Hermitian metric. We give a characterization of $U(n)$-invariant weakly complex Berwald metrics with vanishing holomorphic sectional curvature and obtain an explicit formula for holomorphic curvature of $U(n)$-invariant strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler metric. Finally, we prove that the real geodesics of some $U(n)$-invariant complex Finsler metric restricted on the unit sphere $\pmb{S}^{2n-1}\subset\mathbb{C}^n$ share a specific property as that of the complex Wrona metric on $\mathbb{C}^n$.cc
We show that a non-compact (forward) complete Finsler manifold whose Holmes- Thompson volume is infinite admits no non-trivial convex functions. We apply this result to some Finsler manifolds whose Busemann function is convex.
In this paper, it is shown that a large set of connections on a suitable sub-bundle of the tangent bundle of a Finsler Manifold can be used to study all the properties of convex neighbourhoods with respect to the Finsler Metric, which are needed to see that any Complete Finsler Space is Geodesically Connected.
As a natural application of the {\it theory of geometric averaging} in Finsler geometry and generalized Finsler geometry, a new approach to investigate {\it generalized Finsler geometry}, based on a convex invariance of the average structures, is introduced.
Locally convex compact immersed hypersurfaces in Finsler-Hadamard manifolds with bounded T-curvature are considered. We prove that such hypersurfaces are embedded as the boundary of convex body under certain conditions on the normal curvatures
A detailed study of the notions of convexity for a hypersurface in a Finsler manifold is carried out. In particular, the infinitesimal and local notions of convexity are shown to be equivalent. Our approach differs from Bishop's one in his classical result (Bishop, Indiana Univ Math J 24:169-172, 1974) for the Riemannian case. Ours not only can be extended to the Finsler setting but it also reduces the typical requirements of differentiability for the metric and it yields consequences on the multiplicity of connecting geodesics in the convex domain defined by the hypersurface.
In this paper, we first establish several theorems about the estimation of distance function on real and strongly convex complex Finsler manifolds and then obtain a Schwarz lemma from a strongly convex weakly Kähler-Finsler manifold into a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold. As applications, we prove that a holomorphic mapping from a strongly convex weakly Kähler-Finsler manifold into a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold is necessary constant under an extra condition. In particular, we prove that a holomorphic mapping from a complex Minkowski space into a strongly pseud…
We obtain a result about the existence of only a finite number of geodesics between two fixed non-conjugate points in a Finsler manifold endowed with a convex function. We apply it to Randers and Zermelo metrics. As a by-product, we also get a result about the finiteness of the number of lightlike and timelike geodesics connecting an event to a line in a standard stationary spacetime.
In this paper, we prove that a strongly convex complex Finsler metric $F$ on a domain $D\subset\mathbb{C}^n$ is projectively flat (resp. dually flat) if and only if $F$ comes from a strongly convex complex Minkowski metric.
We explore the relationship between contact forms on $\mathbb S^3$ defined by Finsler metrics on $\mathbb S^2$ and the theory developed by H. Hofer, K. Wysocki and E. Zehnder in \cite{HWZ,HWZ1}. We show that a Finsler metric on $\mathbb S^2$ with curvature $K\geq 1$ and with all geodesic loops of length $>π$ is dynamically convex and hence it has either two or infinitely many closed geodesics. We also explain how to explicitly construct $J$-holomorphic embeddings of cylinders asymptotic to Reeb orbits of contact structures arising from Finsler metrics on $\mathbb S^2$ with K=1 thus complementi…
A new convenient method of describing flat convex compact sets is proposed. It generalizes classical trigonometric functions $\sin$ and $\cos$. Apparently, this method may be very useful for explicit description of solutions of optimal control problems with two-dimensional control. Using this method a series of sub-Finsler problems with two-dimensional control lying in an arbitrary convex set $Ω$ is investigated. Namely, problems on the Heisenberg, Engel, and Cartan groups and also Grushin's and Martinet's cases are considered. A particular attention is paid to the case when $Ω$ is a polygon.
We prove the following localized version of a classical ellipsoid characterization: Let $B\subset\mathbb R^3$ be convex body with a smooth strictly convex boundary and 0 in the interior, and suppose that there is an open set of planes through 0 such that all sections of $B$ by these planes are linearly equivalent. Then all these sections are ellipses and the corresponding part of $B$ is a part of an ellipsoid. We apply this to differential geometry of Finsler surfaces in normed spaces and show that in certain cases the intrinsic metric of a surface imposes restrictions on its extrinsic geometr…
We consider Heisenberg groups equipped with a sub-Finsler metric. Using methods of optimal control theory we prove that in this geometric setting the infinite geodesics are horizontal lines under the assumption that the sub-Finsler metric is defined by a strictly convex norm. This answers a question posed in [5] and has applications in the characterisation of isometric embeddings into Heisenberg groups.
In the present paper, we obtain explicit formulae for geodesics in some left-invariant sub-Finsler problems on Heisenberg groups $\mathbb{H}_{2n+1}$. Our main assumption is the following: the compact convex set of unit velocities at identity admits a generalization of spherical coordinates. This includes convex hulls and sums of coordinate 2-dimensional sets, all left-invariant sub-Riemannian structures on $\mathbb{H}_{2n+1}$, and unit balls in $L_p$-metric for $1\le p\le\infty$. In the last case, extremals are obtained in terms of incomplete Euler integral of the first kind.
We discuss general notions of metrics and of Finsler structures which we call weak metrics and weak Finsler structures. Any convex domain carries a canonical weak Finsler structure, which we call its tautological weak Finsler structure. We compute distances in the tautological weak Finsler structure of a domain and we show that these are given by the so-called Funk weak metric. We conclude the paper with a discussion of geodesics, of metric balls and of convexity properties of the Funk weak metric.
A method to generalize results from Riemannian Geometry to Finsler geometry is presented. We use the method to generalize several results that involve only metric conditions. Between them we show that the topology induced by the Finsler structure is equivalent to the manifold topology, we provide a new proof of the Hopf-Rinow theorem in Finsler geometry and we prove the existence of the center of mass of a convex body when the non-symmetric distance function comes from a non-reversible Finsler function.
We prove that a Finsler metric is nonpositively curved in the sense of Busemann if and only if it is affinely equivalent to a Riemannian metric of nonpositive sectional curvature. In other terms, such Finsler metrics are precisely Berwald metrics of nonpositive flag curvature. In particular in dimension 2 every such metric is Riemannian or locally isometric to that of a normed plane. In the course of the proof we obtain new characterizations of Berwald metrics in terms of the so-called linear parallel transport.
We construct a convex and strongly pseudoconvex Kobayashi positive Finsler metric on a vector bundle $E$ under the assumption that the symmetric power of the dual $S^kE^*$ has a Griffiths negative $L^2$-metric for some $k$. The proof relies on the negativity of direct image bundles and the Minkowski inequality for norms. As a corollary, we show that given a strongly pseudoconvex Kobayashi positive Finsler metric, one can upgrade to a \textit{convex} Finsler metric with the same property. We also give an extremal characterization of Kobayashi curvature for Finsler metrics.
A smooth curve on a homogeneous manifold $G/H$ is called a Riemannian equigeo-desic if it is a homogeneous geodesic for any $G$-invariant Riemannian metric. The homogeneous manifold $G/H$ is called Riemannian equigeodesic, if for any $x\in G/H$ and any nonzero $y\in T_x(G/H)$, there exists a Riemannian equigeodesic $c(t)$ with $c(0)=x$ and $\dot{c}(0)=y$. These two notions can be naturally transferred to the Finsler setting, which provides the definitions for Finsler equigeodesic and Finsler equigeodesic space. We prove two classification theorems for Riemannian equigeodesic spaces and Finsler…
We consider a series of optimal control problems with 2-dimensional control lying in an arbitrary convex compact set $Ω$. The considered problems are well studied for the case when $Ω$ is a unit disc, but barely studied for arbitrary $Ω$. We derive extremals to these problems in general case by using machinery of convex trigonometry, which allows us to do this identically and independently on the shape of $Ω$. The paper describes geodesics in (i) the Finsler problem on the Lobachevsky hyperbolic plane; (ii) left-invariant sub-Finsler problems on all unimodular 3D Lie groups (SU(2), SL(2), SE(2…
In this paper, we solve a problem of Kobayashi posed in \cite{Ko4} by introducing a Donaldson type functional on the space $F^+(E)$ of strongly pseudo-convex complex Finsler metrics on $E$ -- a holomorphic vector bundle over a closed Kähler manifold $M$. This Donaldson type functional is a generalization in the complex Finsler geometry setting of the original Donaldson functional and has Finsler-Einstein metrics on $E$ as its only critical points, at which this functional attains the absolute minimum.
Let $B_n$ and $P_n$ be the unit ball and the unit polydisk in $\mathbb{C}^n$ with $n\geq 2$ respectively. Denote $\mbox{Aut}(B_n)$ and $\mbox{Aut}(P_n)$ the holomorphic automorphism group of $B_n$ and $P_n$ respectively. In this paper, we prove that $B_n$ admits no $\mbox{Aut}(B_n)$-invariant strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler metric other than a constant multiple of the Poincar$\acute{\mbox{e}}$-Bergman metric, while $P_n$ admits infinite many $\mbox{Aut}(P_n)$-invariant complete strongly convex complex Finsler metrics other than the Bergman metric. The $\mbox{Aut}(P_n)$-invariant complex …
David Hilbert discovered in 1895 an important metric that is canonically associated to any convex domain $Ω$ in the Euclidean (or projective) space. This metric is known to be Finslerian, and the usual proof assumes a certain degree of smoothness of the boundary of $Ω$ and refers to a theorem by Busemann and Mayer that produces the norm of a tangent vector from the distance function. In this paper, we develop a new approach for the study of the Hilbert metric where no differentiability is assumed. The approach exhibits the Hilbert metric on a domain as a symmetrization of a natural weak metric…
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.
For a strongly pseudo-convex complex Finsler manifold M, a bundle U of adapted unitary frames is canonically defined. A non-linear Hermitian connection on U, invariant under local biholomorphic isometries, is given and it proved to be unique. By means of such connection, an absolute parallelism on U is determined and a new set of structure functions which generate all the isometric invariants of a Finsler metric is obtained. A pseudo-convex complex Finsler manifolds M, which admits a totally geodesic complex curve with a given constant holomorphic sectional curvature through any point and any …
We show that the infinite-dimensional space of Zoll Finsler metrics on the projective plane strongly deformation retracts to the canonical round metric. In particular, this space of Zoll Finsler metrics is connected. Moreover, the strong deformation retraction arises from a deformation of the geodesic flow of every Zoll Finsler projective plane to the geodesic flow of the round metric through a family of smooth free circle actions induced by the curvature flow of the canonical round projective plane. This construction provides a description of the geodesics of the Zoll Finsler metrics along th…
Finsler metrics are direct generalizations of Riemannian metrics such that the quadratic Riemannian indicatrices in the tangent spaces of a manifold are replaced by more general convex bodies as unit spheres. A linear connection on the base manifold is called compatible with the Finsler metric if the induced parallel transports preserve the Finslerian length of tangent vectors. Finsler manifolds admitting compatible linear connections are called generalized Berwald manifolds. Compatible linear connections are the solutions of the so-called compatibility equations containing the torsion compone…
We study convexity properties of distance functions in Finsler unitary groups, where the Finsler structure is defined by translation of the $p$-Schatten norm on the Lie algebra. As a result we prove the existence of circumcenters for sets with radius less than $π/2$ in several metrics. This result is applied to a fixed point property and to quantitative metric bounds in certain rigidity problems. Bounds for convexity, existence of circumcenters and rigidity are shown to be optimal.
Suppose that $M$ is a Kähler manifold with a pole such that its holomorphic sectional curvature is bounded from below by a constant and its radial sectional curvature is also bounded from below. Suppose that $N$ is a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold such that its holomorphic sectional curvature is bounded from above by a negative constant. In this paper, we establish a Schwarz lemma for holomorphic mappings $f$ form $M$ into $N$. As applications, we obtain a Liouville type rigidity result for holomorphic mappings $f$ from $M$ into $N$, as well as a rigidity theorem for bimeromorp…
We give a lower bound for the length of a non-trivial geodesic loop on a simply-connected and compact manifold of even dimension with a non-reversible Finsler metric of positive flag curvature. Harris and Paternain use this estimate in their recent paper [HP] to give a geometric characterization of dynamically convex Finsler metrics on the 2-sphere.
We prove that every Riemannian metric on the 2-disc such that all its geodesics are minimal, is a minimal filling of its boundary (within the class of fillings homeomorphic to the disc). This improves an earlier result of the author by removing the assumption that the boundary is convex. More generally, we prove this result for Finsler metrics with area defined as the two-dimensional Holmes-Thompson volume. This implies a generalization of Pu's isosystolic inequality to Finsler metrics, both for Holmes-Thompson and Busemann definitions of Finsler area.
In the asymmetric setting, Hilbert's fourth problem asks to construct and study all (non-reversible) projective Finsler metrics: Finsler metrics defined on open, convex subsets of real projective $n$-space for which geodesics lie on projective lines. While asymmetric norms and Funk metrics provide many examples of essentially non-reversible projective metrics defined on proper convex subsets of projective $n$-space, it is shown that any projective Finsler metric defined on the whole projective $n$-space is the sum of a reversible projective metric and an exact 1-form.
On a convex body in a Euclidean space, we introduce a new variational formulation for its Funk metric, a Finsler metric compatible with the tautological Finsler structure of the convex body. We generalize the metric on Teichmuller spaces with the Weil-Petersson distance function. A set of similarities the resulting metric structure shares with Thurston's asymmetric metric is noted.
We deal with an isoperimetric problem on the Finsler hyperbolic plane. The space is defined as the Lie group of proper affine transformations of the line with a left-invariant Finsler structure. To state the problem, we use the left-invariant volume form. The optimal isoperimetric loops are found in terms of convex trigonometry functions. We also propose a generalization of the isoperimetric inequality in parametric form.
Let $M$ be a differentiable manifold and $TM$ be its tangent bundle. A $C^0$-Finsler structure on $M$ is a continuous function $F: TM \rightarrow \mathbb R$ such that its restriction to each tangent space is a norm. In this work we present a large family of projectively equivalent $C^0$-Finsler manifolds $(\hat M \cong \mathbb R^2,\hat F)$. Their structures $\hat F$ don't have partial derivatives and they aren't invariant by any transformation group of $\hat M$. For every $p,q \in (\hat M,\hat F)$, we determine the unique minimizing path connecting $p$ and $q$. They are line segments parallel …
A Finsler metric is geodesically reversible if geodesics remain geodesics after a change of orientation. Asymmetric norms on vector spaces and Funk metrics in the interior of convex bodies are examples of geodesically reversible metrics that are not necessarily sums of reversible metrics and closed 1-forms. However, there seem to be few such examples in closed manifolds. In this paper the theory of volumes and areas on Finsler spaces is applied to establish a number of rigidity theorems which partially explain this paucity of examples. These rigidity results settle some hitherto unsolved cases…
In this short note, we prove that a complex Finsler vector bundle with positive Kobayashi curvature must be ample, which partially solves a problem of S. Kobayashi posed in 1975. As applications, a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold with positive Kobayashi curvature must be biholomorphic to the complex projective space; we also show that all Schur polynomials are numerically positive for complex Finsler vector bundles with positive Kobayashi curvature.
For a strictly convex set $K\subset \mathbb{R}^2$ of class $C^2$ we consider its associated sub-Finsler $K$-perimeter $|\partial E|_K$ in $\mathbb{H}^1$ and the prescribed mean curvature functional $|\partial E|_K-\int_E f$ associated to a function $f$. Given a critical set for this functional with Euclidean Lipschitz and intrinsic regular boundary, we prove that their characteristic curves are of class $C^2$ and that this regularity is optimal. The result holds in particular when the boundary of $E$ is of class $C^1$.
In Minkowski geometry the unit ball is a compact convex body $K$ containing the origin in its interior. The boundary of the body is formed by the unit vectors. We also have a so-called Minkowski functional to measure the length of vectors. By changing the origin in the interior of the body we have a smoothly varying family of Minkowski functionals. This is called the Funk metric. Under some regularity conditions the Minkowski functionals allow us to measure the volume (area) of the indicatrix bodies (hypersurfaces). Some homogenity properties provide the volume and the area to be proportional.…
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…
For every Finsler metric $F$ we associate a Riemannian metric $g_F$ (called the Binet-Legendre metric). The transformation $F \mapsto g_F$ is $C^0$-stable and has good smoothness properties, in contrast to previous constructions. The Riemannian metric $g_F$ also behaves nicely under conformal or bilipshitz deformation of the Finsler metric $F$. These properties makes it a powerful tool in Finsler geometry and we illustrate that by solving a number of named Finslerian geometric problems. We also generalize and give new and shorter proofs of a number of known results. In particular we answer a q…
