Let $(M,g)$ be a pseudo-Riemannian manifold. We propose a new approach for defining the conformal Schwarzian derivatives. These derivatives are 1-cocycles on the group of diffeomorphisms of $M$ related to the modules of linear differential operators. As operators, these derivatives do not depend on the rescaling of the metric $g.$ In particular, if the manifold $(M,g)$ is conformally flat, these derivatives vanish on the conformal group $\Og(p+1,q+1),$ where $\mathrm{dim} (M)=p+q.$ This work is a continuation of [1,4] where the Schwarzian derivative was defined on a manifold endowed with a projective connection.
Let $(M,F)$ be a Finsler manifold. We construct a 1-cocycle on $\Diff(M)$ with values in the space of differential operators acting on sections of some bundles, by means of the Finsler function $F.$ As an operator, it has several expressions: in terms of the Chern, Berwald, Cartan or Hashiguchi connection, although its cohomology class does not depend on them. This cocycle is closely related to the conformal Schwarzian derivatives introduced in our previous work. The second main result of this paper is to discuss some properties of the conformally invariant quantization map by means of a Sazak…
The conformal geometry of the Schwarzian Davey-Stewartson II hierarchy and its discrete analogue is investigated. Connections with discrete and continuous isothermic surfaces and generalised Clifford configurations are recorded. An interpretation of the Schwarzian Davey-Stewartson II flows as integrable deformations of conformally immersed surfaces is given.
This paper goes some way in explaining how to construct an integrable hierarchy of flows on the space of conformally immersed tori in n-space. These flows have first occured in mathematical physics -- the Novikov-Veselov and Davey-Stewartson hierarchies -- as kernel dimension preserving deformations of the Dirac operator. Later, using spinorial representations of surfaces, the same flows were interpreted as deformations of surfaces in 3- and 4-space preserving the Willmore energy. This last property suggest that the correct geometric setting for this theory is Moebius invariant surface geometr…
Thurston, in 1986, discovered that the Schwarzian derivative has mysterious properties similar to the curvature on a manifold. After his work, there are several approaches to develop this notion on Riemannian manifolds. Here, a tensor field is identified in the study of global conformal diffeomorphisms on Finsler manifolds as a natural generalization of the Schwarzian derivative. Then, a natural definition of a Mobius mapping on Finsler manifolds is given and its properties are studied. In particular, it is shown that Mobius mappings are mappings that preserve circles and vice versa. Therefore…
In [5], P. Lecomte conjectured the existence of a natural and conformally invariant quantization. In [7], we gave a proof of this theorem thanks to the theory of Cartan connections. In this paper, we give an explicit formula for the natural and conformally invariant quantization of trace-free symbols thanks to the method used in [7] and to tools already used in [8] in the projective setting. This formula is extremely similar to the one giving the natural and projectively invariant quantization in [8].
Conformally equivariant quantization is a peculiar map between symbols of real weight $δ$ and differential operators acting on tensor densities, whose real weights are designed by $λ$ and $λ+δ$. The existence and uniqueness of such a map has been proved by Duval, Lecomte and Ovsienko for a generic weight $δ$. Later, Silhan has determined the critical values of $δ$ for which unique existence is lost, and conjectured that for those values of $δ$ existence is lost for a generic weight $λ$. We fully determine the cases of existence and uniqueness of the conformally equivariant quantization in term…
The concept of conformally equivariant quantizations was introduced by Duval, Lecomte and Ovsienko in \cite{DLO} for manifolds endowed with flat conformal structures. They obtained results of existence and uniqueness (up to normalization) of such a quantization procedure. A natural generalization of this concept is to seek for a quantization procedure, over a manifold $M$, that depends on a pseudo-Riemannian metric, is natural and is invariant with respect to a conformal change of the metric. The existence of such a procedure was conjectured by P. Lecomte in \cite{Leconj} and proved by C. Duva…
Let $M$ be a smooth manifold equipped with a conformal structure, $E[w]$ the space of densities with the the conformal weight $w$ and $D_{w,w+\de}$ the space of differential operators from $E[w]$ to $E[w+δ]$. Conformal quantization $Q$ is a right inverse of the principle symbol map on $D_{w,w+δ}$ such that $Q$ is conformally invariant and exists for all $w$. This is known to exists for generic values of $δ$. We give explicit formulae for $Q$ for all $δ$ out of the set of critical weights. We provide a simple description of this set and conjecture its minimality.
A quantization over a manifold can be seen as a way to construct a differential operator with prescribed principal symbol. The quantization map is moreover required to be a linear bijection. It is known that there is in general no natural quantization procedure. However, considering manifolds endowed with additional structures, such as projective or pseudo-conformal structures, one can seek for quantizations that depend on this additional structure and that are natural if the dependence with respect to the structure is taken into account. The question of existence of such a quantization was ad…
We are interested in the study of the space of $n$-ary differential operators denoted by $\mathfrak{D}_{\underlineł,μ}$ where $\underlineł=(ł_{1},...,ł_{n})$ acting on weighted densities from $\frak F_{ł_1}\otimes\frak F_{ł_2}\otimes...\otimes\frak F_{ł_n}$ to $\frak F_μ$ as a module over the orthosymplectic superalgebra $\mathfrak{osp}(1|2)$. As a consequence, we prove the existence and the uniqueness of a canonical conformally equivariant symbol map from $\mathfrak{D}_{\underlineλ,μ}^k$ to the corresponding space of symbols as well for the explicit expression of the associated quantization m…
We prove the existence and the uniqueness of a conformally equivariant symbol calculus and quantization on any conformally flat pseudo-Riemannian manifold $(M,\rg)$. In other words, we establish a canonical isomorphism between the spaces of polynomials on $T^*M$ and of differential operators on tensor densities over $M$, both viewed as modules over the Lie algebra $\so(p+1,q+1)$ where $p+q=\dim(M)$. This quantization exists for generic values of the weights of the tensor densities and compute the critical values of the weights yielding obstructions to the existence of such an isomorphism. In t…
Let $(M,g)$ be a pseudo-Riemannian manifold and $F_λ(M)$ the space of densities of degree $λ$ on $M$. We study the space $D^2_{λ,μ}(M)$ of second-order differential operators from $F_λ(M)$ to $F_μ(M)$. If $(M,g)$ is conformally flat with signature $p-q$, then $D^2_{λ,μ}(M)$ is viewed as a module over the group of conformal transformations of $M$. We prove that, for almost all values of $μ-λ$, the $O(p+1,q+1)$-modules $D^2_{λ,μ}(M)$ and the space of symbols (i.e., of second-order polynomials on $T^*M$) are canonically isomorphic. This yields a conformally equivariant quantization for quadratic …
The boundary at infinity of a quasifuchsian hyperbolic manifold is equiped with a holomorphic quadratic differential. Its horizontal measured foliation $f$ can be interpreted as the natural analog of the measured bending lamination on the boundary of the convex core. This analogy leads to a number of questions. We provide a variation formula for the renormalized volume in terms of the extremal length $\ext(f)$ of $f$, and an upper bound on $\ext(f)$. We then describe two extensions of the holomorphic quadratic differential at infinity, both valid in higher dimensions. One is in terms of Poinca…
This work takes place over a conformally flat spin manifold (M,g). We prove existence and uniqueness of the conformally equivariant quantization valued in spinor differential operators, and provide an explicit formula for it when restricted to first order operators. The Poisson algebra of symbols is realized as a space of functions on the supercotangent bundle, endowed with a symplectic form depending on the metric g. It admits two different actions of the conformal Lie algebra, one tensorial and one Hamiltonian. They are intertwined by the uniquely defined conformally equivariant superization…
We first partially extend a theorem of Topping, on the relation between mean curvature and intrinsic diameter, from immersed submanifolds of $\mathbb{R} ^{n} $ to almost everywhere immersed, closed submanifolds of a compact Riemannian manifold. We use this to prove quantization of energy for pseudo-holomorphic closed curves, of all genus, in a compact locally conformally symplectic manifold.
We develop a new approach, based on quantization methods, to study higher symmetries of invariant differential operators. We focus here on conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian over a conformally flat manifold and recover results of Eastwood, Leistner, Gover and Šilhan. In particular, conformally equivariant quantization establishes a correspondence between the algebra of Hamiltonian symmetries of the null geodesic flow and the algebra of higher symmetries of the conformal Laplacian. Combined with a symplectic reduction, this leads to a quantization of the minimal nilpotent coadjoint o…
This article is a survey of recent work of the authors developing a new approach to quantization based on the equivariance with respect to some Lie group of symmetries. Examples are provided by conformal and projective differential geometry: given a smooth manifold M endowed with a flat conformal/projective structure, we establish a canonical isomorphism between the space of symmetric contravariant tensor fields on M and the space of differential operators on M. This leads to a notion of conformally/projectively invariant star-product on $T^*M$.
We establish, via geometric quantization of the supercotangent bundle sM of (M,g), a correspondence between its conformal geometry and those of the spinor bundle. In particular, the Kosmann Lie derivative of spinors is obtained by quantization of the comoment map, associated to the new Hamiltonian action of conf(M,g) on sM. We study then the conf(M,g)-module structures induced on the space of differential operators acting on spinor densities and on its spaces of symbols (functions on sM). In the conformally flat case, we classify their conformal invariants, including the conformally odd powers…
This paper studies a particular class of higher order conformally invariant dif- ferential operators and related integral operators acting on functions taking values in particular finite dimensional irreducible representations of the Spin group. The differential operators can be seen as a generalization to higher spin spaces of kth- powers of the Euclidean Dirac operator. To construct these operators, we use the framework of higher spin theory in Clifford analysis, in which irreducible represen- tations of the Spin group are realized as polynomial spaces satisfying a particular system of diffe…
