Given the class of Finsler spaces with Lorentzian signature $(M,L)$ on a manifold $M$ endowed with a timelike vector field $\mathcal{X}$ satisfying $g_{(x,y)}(\mathcal{X},\mathcal{X})<0$ at any point $(x,y)$ of the slit tangent bundle, a pseudo-Riemannian metric defined on $M$ of signature $n-1$ is associated to the fundamental tensor $g$. Furthermore, an affine, torsion free connection is associated to the Chern connection determined by $L$. The definition of the average connection does not make use of $\mathcal{X}$. Therefore, there is no direct relation between these two averaged objects.
The Penrose plane wave limit is a remarkable property of Lorentzian spacetimes. Here, we discuss its extension to Finsler spacetimes by introducing suitable lightlike coordinates and adapting the Lorentzian definition of pp-waves. New examples of such Finsler pp-waves are also presented.
The paper proposes extensions of the usual notions of Finslerian volume to time orientable Finsler spacetime manifolds. The basic idea is to replace, in the classical Busemann-Hausdorff and Holmes-Thompson definitions, integration on the indicatrices of the given metric (which are, in Lorentzian signature, non-compact, generally leading to infinite integrals) with integration on ellipsoids. Under certain conditions regarding the time orientations of the given spacetime, these ellipsoids can be attached to the given Lorentzian Finsler metric by means of a variational procedure. While the constr…
The optimal transport problem is studied in the context of Lorentz-Finsler geometry. For globally hyperbolic Lorentz-Finsler spacetimes the first Kantorovich problem and the Monge problem are solved. Further the intermediate regularity of the transport paths is studied. These results generalize parts of Bertrand & Puel and Brenier et al.
We obtain some results in both Lorentz and Finsler geometries, by using a correspondence between the conformal structure (Causality) of standard stationary spacetimes on $M=\R\times S$ and Randers metrics on $S$. In particular, for stationary spacetimes, we give a simple characterization of when they are causally continuous or globally hyperbolic (including in the latter case, when $S$ is a Cauchy hypersurface), in terms of an associated Randers metric. Consequences for the computability of Cauchy developments are also derived. Causality suggests that the role of completeness in many results o…
We show an analogue of the Lorentzian splitting theorem for weighted Lorentz-Finsler manifolds: If a weighted Berwald spacetime of nonnegative weighted Ricci curvature satisfies certain completeness and metrizability conditions and includes a timelike straight line, then it necessarily admits a one-dimensional family of isometric translations generated by the gradient vector field of a Busemann function. Moreover, our formulation in terms of the $ε$-range introduced in our previous work enables us to unify the previously known splitting theorems for weighted Lorentzian manifolds by Case and Wo…
The paper proposes a notion of volume element for Finsler spaces with metrics of Lorentzian signature, equipped with a time orientation. This notion is based on a slight modification of the idea of Holmes-Thompson volume element working for positive definite Finsler metrics and can be used in field-theoretical applications on a Finslerian background. Though the approach assumes the existence of a time orientation, the volume element does not depend on its choice.
We investigate whether Szabo's metrizability theorem can be extended to Finsler spaces of indefinite signature. For smooth, positive definite Finsler metrics, this important theorem states that, if the metric is of Berwald type (i.e., its Chern-Rund connection defines an affine connection on the underlying manifold), then it is affinely equivalent to a Riemann space, meaning that its affine connection is the Levi-Civita connection of some Riemannian metric. We show for the first time that this result does not extend to Finsler spacetimes. More precisely, we find a large class of Berwald spacet…
Holonomy algebras of Weyl connections in Lorentzian signature are classified. In particular, examples of Weyl connections with all possible holonomy algebras are constructed.
Degree of mobility of a (pseudo-Riemannian) metric is the dimension of the space of metrics geodesically equivalent to it. We describe all possible values of the degree of mobility on a simply connected n-dimensional manifold of lorentz signature. As an application we calculate all possible differences between the dimension of the projective and the isometry groups. One of the main new technical results in the proof is the description of all parallel symmetric (0,2)-tensor fields on cone manifolds of signature $(n-1,2).
The fermionic signature operator is analyzed on globally hyperbolic Lorentzian surfaces. The connection between the spectrum of the fermionic signature operator and geometric properties of the surface is studied. The findings are illustrated by simple examples and counterexamples.
In some recent papers, the relations existing between the metric properties of Randers spaces and the conformal geometry of stationary Lorentzian manifolds were discovered and investigated. In this note, we focus on the equality between the index of a geodesic in a Randers space and that of its lightlike lift in the associated conformal stationary spacetime. Moreover we make some remarks about regularity of the energy functional of a Finsler metric on the infinite dimensional manifold of $H^1$ curves between two points, in connection with infinite dimensional techniques in Morse Theory.
We model pseudo-Finsler geometries, with pseudo-Euclidean signatures of metrics, for two classes of four dimensional nonholonomic manifolds: a) tangent bundles with two dimensional base manifolds and b) pseudo-Riemannian/ Einstein manifolds. Such spacetimes are enabled with nonholonomic distributions and associated nonlinear connection structures and theirs metrics are solutions of the field equations in general relativity or in generalized gravity theories with nonholonomic variables. We rewrite the Schwarzschild metric in Finsler variables and use it for generating new classes of locally ani…
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 …
Two Kähler metrics on a complex manifold are called c-projectively equivalent if their $J$-planar curves coincide. These curves are defined by the property that the acceleration is complex proportional to the velocity. We give an explicit local description of all pairs of c-projectively equivalent Kähler metrics of arbitrary signature and use this description to prove the classical Yano-Obata conjecture: we show that on a closed connected Kähler manifold of arbitrary signature, any c-projective vector field is an affine vector field unless the manifold is $CP^n$ with (a multiple of) the Fubini…
We establish the submaximal symmetry dimension for Riemannian and Lorentzian conformal structures. The proof is based on enumerating all subalgebras of orthogonal Lie algebras of sufficiently large dimension and verifying if they stabilize a non-zero Weyl tensor up to scale. Our main technical tools include Dynkin's classification of maximal subalgebras in complex simple Lie algebras, a theorem of Mostow, and Kostant's Bott-Borel-Weil theorem.
We investigate connections between pairs of (pseudo-)Riemannian metrics whose sum is a (tensor) product of a covector field with itself. A bijective mapping between the classes of Euclidean and Lorentzian metrics is constructed as a special result. The existence of such maps on a differentiable manifold is discussed. Similar relations for metrics of arbitrary signature on a manifold are considered. We point the possibility that any physical theory based on real Lorentzian metric(s) can be (re)formulated equivalently in terms of real Euclidean metric(s).
The paper is devoted to metric connections with parallel skew-symmetric torsion in Lorentzian signature. This is motivated by recent progress in the Riemannian signature and by possible applications to supergravity theories. We provide a complete information about holonomy algebras, torsion and curvature of the considered connections up to the corresponding objects from the Riemannian signature. Various examples are constructed. It is shown how to construct all simply connected Lorentzian naturally reductive homogeneous spaces of arbitrary dimension from Riemannian naturally reductive homogene…
The authors study the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces on manifolds $(M, c)$ endowed with a pseudoconformal structure $c = CO (n - 1, 1)$ of Lorentzian signature. Such hypersurfaces are of interest in general relativity since they can be models of different types of physical horizons. On a lightlike hypersurface, the authors consider the fibration of isotropic geodesics and investigate their singular points and singular submanifolds. They construct a conformally invariant normalization of a lightlike hypersurface intrinsically connected with its geometry and investigate affine connections i…
There are three types of hypersurfaces in a pseudoconformal space C^n_1 of Lorentzian signature: spacelike, timelike, and lightlike. These three types of hypersurfaces are considered in parallel. Spacelike hypersurfaces are endowed with a proper conformal structure, and timelike hypersurfaces are endowed with a conformal structure of Lorentzian type. Geometry of these two types of hypersurfaces can be studied in a manner that is similar to that for hypersurfaces of a proper conformal space. Lightlike hypersurfaces are endowed with a degenerate conformal structure. This is the reason that their…
The harmonic oscillator as a distinguished dynamical system can be defined not only on the Euclidean plane but also on the sphere and on the hyperbolic plane, and more generally on any configuration space with constant curvature and with a metric of any signature, either Riemannian (definite positive) or Lorentzian (indefinite). In this paper we study the main properties of these `curved' harmonic oscillators simultaneously on any such configuration space, using a Cayley-Klein (CK) type approach, with two free parameters $\ki, \kii$ which altogether correspond to the possible values for curvat…
We investigate the local metrizability of Finsler spaces with $m$-Kropina metric $F = α^{1+m}β^{-m}$, where $β$ is a closed null 1-form. We show that such a space is of Berwald type if and only if the (pseudo-)Riemannian metric $α$ and 1-form $β$ have a very specific form in certain coordinates. In particular, when the signature of $α$ is Lorentzian, $α$ belongs to a certain subclass of the Kundt class and $β$ generates the corresponding null congruence, and this generalizes in a natural way to arbitrary signature. We use this result to prove that the affine connection on such an $m$-Kropina s…
We are studying the harmonic and twistor equation on Lorentzian surfaces, that is a two dimensional orientable manifold with a metric of signature $(1,1)$. We will investigate the properties of the solutions of these equations and try to relate the conformal invariant dimension of the space of harmonic and twistor spinors to the natural conformal invariants given by the Lorentzian metric. We will introduce the notion of semi-conformally flat surfaces and establish a complete classification of the possible dimensions for this family.
This paper is a survey on special geometric structures that admit conformal Killing spinors based on lectures, given at the ``Workshop on Special Geometric Structures in String Theory'', Bonn, September 2001 and at ESI, Wien, November 2001. We discuss the case of Lorentzian signature and explain which geometries occur up to dimension 6.
We give a spinorial characterization of isometrically immersed surfaces of arbitrary signature into 3-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian space forms. For Lorentzian surfaces, this generalizes a recent work of the first author in $\mathbb{R}^{2,1}$ to other Lorentzian space forms. We also characterize immersions of Riemannian surfaces in these spaces. From this we can deduce analogous results for timelike immersions of Lorentzian surfaces in space forms of corresponding signature, as well as for spacelike and timelike immersions of surfaces of signature (0,2), hence achieving a complete spinorial de…
We present in this paper a $C^1$-metric on an open neighbourhood of the origin in $\RR^{5}$. The metric is of Lorentzian signature $(1,4)$ and admits a solution to the twistor equation for spinors with a unique isolated zero at the origin. The metric is not conformally flat in any neighbourhood of the origin. The construction is based on the Eguchi-Hanson metric with parallel spinors on Riemannian 4-space.
The main result of this paper is that a Lorentzian manifold is locally conformally equivalent to a manifold with recurrent lightlike vector field and totally isotropic Ricci tensor if and only if its conformal tractor holonomy admits a 2-dimensional totally isotropic invariant subspace. Furthermore, for semi-Riemannian manifolds of arbitrary signature we prove that the conformal holonomy algebra of a $C$-space is a Berger algebra. For Ricci-flat spaces we show how the conformal holonomy can be obtained by the holonomy of the ambient metric and get results for Riemannian manifolds and plane wav…
We study the geometric structure of Lorentzian spin manifolds, which admit imaginary Killing spinors. The discussion is based on the cone construction and a normal form classification of skew-adjoint operators in signature $(2,n-2)$. Derived geometries include Brinkmann spaces, Lorentzian Einstein-Sasaki spaces and certain warped product structures. Exceptional cases with decomposable holonomy of the cone are possible.
