We study the types of non-integrable $\mathrm{G}$-structures on Riemannian manifolds. In particular, geometric types admitting a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion are characterized. 8-dimensional manifolds equipped with a $\Spin(7)$-structure play a special role. Any geometry of that type admits a unique connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion. Under weak conditions on the structure group we prove that this geometry is the only one with this property. Finally, we discuss the automorphism group of a Riemannian manifold with a fixed non-integrable $\mathrm{G}$-structure.
In this lecture delivered at the Integrable and Quantum Field Theory at Peyresq sixth meeting, we review the Lychagin's Monge-Ampere operators theory and exhibit the link it establishes between the classical problem of local equivalence for non linear partial differential equations and the problem of integrability of some geometrical structures.
We describe how the loop group maps corresponding to special submanifolds associated to integrable systems may be thought of as certain Grassmann submanifolds of infinite dimensional homogeneous spaces. In general, the associated families of special submanifolds are certain Grassmann submanifolds. An example is given from recent work of the author.
This paper demostrates a method for analysing almost CR geometries $(H,J)$, by uniquley defining a partially integrable structure $(H,K)$ from the same data. Thus two almost CR geometries $(H,J)$ and $(H',J')$ are equivalent if and and only if they generate isomorphic induced partially integrable CR geometries $(H,K)$ and $(H',K')$, and if the set of CR morphisms between these spaces contains an element that maps $J$ to $J'$. Similar results hold for almost Lagrangian structures.
This review article intends to introduce the reader to non-integrable geometric structures on Riemannian manifolds and invariant metric connections with torsion, and to discuss recent aspects of mathematical physics--in particular superstring theory--where these naturally appear. Connections with skew-symmetric torsion are exhibited as one of the main tools to understand non-integrable geometries. To this aim a a series of key examples is presented and successively dealt with using the notions of intrinsic torsion and characteristic connection of a $G$-structure as unifying principles. % The G…
We give a review of the systematic construction of hierarchies of soliton flows and integrable elliptic equations associated to a complex semi-simple Lie algebra and finite order automorphisms. For example, the non-linear Schrödinger equation, the n-wave equation, and the sigma-model are soliton flows; and the equation for harmonic maps from the plane to a compact Lie group, for primitive maps from the plane to a $k$-symmetric space, and constant mean curvature surfaces and isothermic surfaces in space forms are integrable elliptic systems. We also give a survey of (i) construction of solution…
By a real alphabeta-geometry we mean a four-dimensional manifold M equipped with a neutral metric h such that (M,h) admits both an integrable distribution of alpha-planes and an integrable distribution of beta-planes. We obtain a local characterization of the metric when at least one of the distributions is parallel (i.e., is a Walker geometry) and the three-dimensional distribution spanned by the alpha- and beta-distributions is integrable. The case when both distributions are parallel, which has been called two-sided Walker geometry, is obtained as a special case. We also consider real αβ-ge…
In this paper, multi-component generalizations to the Camassa-Holm equation, the modified Camassa-Holm equation with cubic nonlinearity are introduced. Geometric formulations to the dual version of the Schrödinger equation, the complex Camassa-Holm equation and the multi-component modified Camassa-Holm equation are provided. It is shown that these equations arise from non-streching invariant curve flows respectively in the three-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the two-dimensional Möbius sphere and $n$-dimensional sphere ${\mathbb S}^n(1)$. Integrability to these systems is also studied.
This work has its origins in an attempt to describe systematically the integrable geometries and gauge theories in dimensions one to four related to twistor theory. In each such dimension, there is a nondegenerate integrable geometric structure, governed by a nonlinear integrable differential equation, and each solution of this equation determines a background geometry on which, for any Lie group $G$, an integrable gauge theory is defined. In four dimensions, the geometry is selfdual conformal geometry and the gauge theory is selfdual Yang-Mills theory, while the lower-dimensional structures a…
We investigate dispersionless integrable systems in 3D associated with fourfolds in the Grassmannian Gr(3,5). Such systems appear in numerous applications in continuum mechanics, general relativity and differential geometry, and include such well-known examples as the dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation, the Boyer-Finley equation, etc. We prove the equivalence of the four different approaches to integrability, revealing a remarkable correspondence with Einstein-Weyl geometry and the theory of GL(2,R) structures.
Let $\left( M,J,g\right) $ be a metallic pseudo-Riemannian manifold equipped with a metallic structure $J$ and a pseudo-Riemannian metric $g$. The paper deals with interactions of Codazzi couplings formed by conjugate connections and tensor structures. The presence of Tachibana operator and Codazzi couplings presented a new characterization for locally metallic pseudo-Riemannian manifold. Also, a necessary and sufficient condition a non-integrable metallic pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a quasi metallic pseudo Riemannian manifold is derived. Finally, it is introduced metallic-like pseudo-Rieman…
Contact path geometries are curved geometric structures on a contact manifold comprising smooth families of paths modeled on the family of all isotropic lines in the projectivization of a symplectic vector space. Locally such a structure is equivalent to the graphs in the space of independent and depedent variables of the family of solutions of a system of an odd number of second order ODE's subject to a single maximally non-integrable constraint. A subclass of contact path geometries is distinguished by the vanishing of an invariant contact torsion. For this subclass the equivalence problem i…
This review is dedicated to two-dimensional sigma models with flag manifold target spaces, which are generalizations of the familiar $CP^{n-1}$ and Grassmannian models. They naturally arise in the description of continuum limits of spin chains, and their phase structure is sensitive to the values of the topological angles, which are determined by the representations of spins in the chain. Gapless phases can in certain cases be explained by the presence of discrete 't Hooft anomalies in the continuum theory. We also discuss integrable flag manifold sigma models, which provide a generalization o…
Starting from a homogeneous polynomial in momenta of arbitrary order we extract multi-component hydrodynamic-type systems which describe 2-dimensional geodesic flows admitting the initial polynomial as integral. All these hydrodynamic-type systems are semi-Hamiltonian, thus implying that they are integrable according to the generalized hodograph method. Moreover, they are integrable in a constructive sense as polynomial first integrals allow to construct generating equations of conservation laws. According to the multiplicity of the roots of the polynomial integral, we separate integrable part…
The Miura transformation plays a crucial role in the study of integrable systems. There have been various extensions of the Miura transformation, which have been used to relate different kinds of integrable equations and to classify the bi-Hamiltonian structures. In this paper, we are mainly concerned with the geometric aspects of the Miura transformation. The generalized Miura transformations from the mKdV-type hierarchies to the KdV-type hierarchies are constructed under both algebraic and geometric settings. It is shown that the Miura transformations not only relate integrable curve flows i…
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 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).
In this paper we present an overview of the connection between completely integrable systems and the background geometry of the flow. This relation is better seen when using a group-based concept of moving frame introduced by Fels and Olver in [Acta Appl. Math. 51 (1998), 161-213; 55 (1999), 127-208]. The paper discusses the close connection between different types of geometries and the type of equations they realize. In particular, we describe the direct relation between symmetric spaces and equations of KdV-type, and the possible geometric origins of this connection.
In this paper we study a novel class of parabolic geometries which we call parabolic geometries of Monge type. These parabolic geometries are defined by special gradings of simple Lie algebras, namely, gradings with the property that their -1 component contains a nonzero co-dimension 1 abelian subspace whose bracket with its complement is non-degenerate. We completely classify the simple Lie algebras with such gradings in terms of elementary properties of the defining set of simple roots. We then characterize those parabolic geometries of Monge type which are non-rigid in the sense that, apart…
We study non-degenerate CR geometries of hypersurface type that are symmetric in the sense that, at each point, there is a CR transformation reversing the CR distribution at that point. We show that such geometries are either flat or homogeneous. We show that non-flat non-degenerate symmetric CR geometries of hypersurface type are covered by CR geometries with a compatible pseudo-Riemannian metric preserved by all symmetries. We construct examples of simply connected flat non-degenerate symmetric CR geometries of hypersurface type that do not carry a pseudo-Riemannian metric compatible with th…
We obtain variational formulas for holomorphic objects on Riemann surfaces with respect to arbitrary local coordinates on the moduli space of complex structures. These formulas are written in terms of a canonical object on the moduli space which corresponds to the pairing between the space of quadratic differentials and the tangent space to the moduli space. This canonical object satisfies certain commutation relations which appear to be the same as the ones that emerged in the integrability theory of Whitham type hierarchies. Driven by this observation, we develop the theory of Whitham type h…
HyperCR Einstein--Weyl equations in 2+1 dimensions reduce to a pair of quasi-linear PDEs of hydrodynamic type. All solutions to this hydrodynamic system can be in principle constructed from a twistor correspondence, thus establishing the integrability. Simple examples of solutions including the hydrodynamic reductions yield new Einstein--Weyl structures.
We investigate integrable second order equations of the form F(u_{xx}, u_{xy}, u_{yy}, u_{xt}, u_{yt}, u_{tt})=0. Familiar examples include the Boyer-Finley equation, the potential form of the dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation, the dispersionless Hirota equation, etc. The integrability is understood as the existence of infinitely many hydrodynamic reductions. We demonstrate that the natural equivalence group of the problem is isomorphic to Sp(6), revealing a remarkable correspondence between differential equations of the above type and hypersurfaces of the Lagrangian Grassmannian.…
A complete classification of isotropic vector equations of the geometric type that possess higher symmetries is proposed. New examples of integrable multi-component systems of the geometric type and their auto-Backlund transformations are found.
We prove a singular Darboux type theorem for homogeneous polynomial closed $2$-forms of degree one on $\mathbb{C}^n$. As application, we classify non-integrable codimension one distributions, of degree one, and arbitrary classes on projective spaces.
We provide a uniform framework to study the exceptional homogeneous compact geometries of type C3. This framework is then used to show that these are simply connected, answering a question by Kramer and Lytchak, and to calculate the full automorphism groups.
In the present work, the integrable bi-Hamiltonian hierarchies related to compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type are effectively constructed. For achieving this aim, first of all, the problem on the canonical form of a special type for compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type is solved.
We introduce a class of non-commutative, complex, infinite-dimensional Heisenberg like Lie groups based on an abstract Wiener space. The holomorphic functions which are also square integrable with respect to a heat kernel measure $μ$ on these groups are studied. In particular, we establish a unitary equivalence between the square integrable holomorphic functions and a certain completion of the universal enveloping algebra of the "Lie algebra" of this class of groups. Using quasi-invariance of the heat kernel measure, we also construct a skeleton map which characterizes globally defined functio…
We investigate the role of Hertling-Manin condition on the structure constants of an associative commutative algebra in the theory of integrable systems of hydrodynamic type. In such a framework we introduce the notion of F-manifold with compatible connection generalizing a structure introduced by Manin.
We solve the problem of reducing to the simplest and convenient for our purposes, canonical form for an arbitrary pair of compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type generated by metrics of constant Riemannian curvature in order to get an effective construction of the integrable hierarchies related to all these compatible Poisson brackets.
We generalize Calabi-Yau 3-folds from the special Lagrangian perspective. More precisely, we study SU(3)-structures which admit as "nice" a local special Lagrangian geometry as the flat $\mathbf{C}^3$ or a Calabi-Yau structure does. The underlying almost complex structure may not be integrable. Such SU(3)-structures are called {\it admissible}. Among these, we are particularly interested in a subclass of SU(3)-structures called {\it nearly Calabi-Yau}. We discuss the local generalities of admissible SU(3)-structures and nearly Calabi-Yau structures in Cartan's sense. Examples of nearly Calabi-…
For integrable Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom whose Hamiltonian vector fields have incomplete flows, an analogue of the Liouville theorem is established. A canonical Liouville fibration is defined by means of an "exact" 2-parameter family of flat polygons equipped with certain pairing of sides. For the integrable Hamiltonian systems given by the vector field $v=(-\partial f/\partial w, \partial f/\partial z)$ on ${\mathbb C}^2$ where $f=f(z,w)$ is a complex polynomial in 2 variables, geometric properties of Liouville fibrations are described.
We investigate a class of multi-dimensional two-component systems of Monge-Ampère type that can be viewed as generalisations of heavenly-type equations appearing in self-dual Ricci-flat geometry. Based on the Jordan-Kronecker theory of skew-symmetric matrix pencils, a classification of normal forms of such systems is obtained. All two-component systems of Monge-Ampère type turn out to be integrable, and can be represented as the commutativity conditions of parameter-dependent vector fields. Geometrically, systems of Monge-Ampère type are associated with linear sections of the Grassmannians. Th…
We prove that a local Hamiltonian operator of hydrodynamic type K_1 is compatible with a nondegenerate local Hamiltonian operator of hydrodynamic type K_2 if and only if the operator K_1 is locally the Lie derivative of the operator K_2 along a vector field in the corresponding domain of local coordinates. This result gives a natural invariant definition of the class of special flat manifolds corresponding to all the class of compatible Dubrovin--Novikov Hamiltonian operators (the Frobenius--Dubrovin manifolds naturally belong to this class). There is an integrable bi-Hamiltonian hierarchy cor…
We use the consistency approach to classify discrete integrable 3D equations of the octahedron type. They are naturally treated on the root lattice $Q(A_3)$ and are consistent on the multidimensional lattice $Q(A_N)$. Our list includes the most prominent representatives of this class, the discrete KP equation and its Schwarzian (multi-ratio) version, as well as three further equations. The combinatorics and geometry of the octahedron type equations are explained. In particular, the consistency on the 4-dimensional Delaunay cells has its origin in the classical Desargues theorem of projective g…
