We give a functional analytical proof of the equality between the Maslov index of a semi-Riemannian geodesic and the spectral flow of the path of self-adjoint Fredholm operators obtained from the index form. This fact, together with recent results on the bifurcation for critical points of strongly indefinite functionals (see P. M. Fitzpatrick, J. Pejsachowicz, L. Recht, Spectral Flow and Bifurcation of Strongly Indefinite Functionals Part I. General Theory, J. Funct. Anal. 162 (1) (1999), 52-95.) imply that each non degenerate and non null conjugate (or $P$-focal) point along a semi-Riemannian geodesic is a bifurcation point.
We study focal points and Maslov index of a horizontal geodesic $γ:I\to M$ in the total space of a semi-Riemannian submersion $π:M\to B$ by determining an explicit relation with the corresponding objects along the projected geodesic $π\circγ:I\to B$ in the base space. We use this result to calculate the focal Maslov index of a (spacelike) geodesic in a stationary space-time which is orthogonal to a timelike Killing vector field.
We study the singularities of the exponential map in semi Riemannian locally symmetric manifolds. Conjugate points along geodesics depend only on real negative eigenvalues of the curvature tensor, and their contribution to the Maslov index of the geodesic is computed explicitly. We prove that degeneracy of conjugate points, which is a phenomenon that can only occur in semi-Riemannian geometry, is caused in the locally symmetric case by the lack of diagonalizability of the curvature tensor. The case of Lie groups endowed with a bi-invariant metric is studied in some detail, and conditions are g…
We prove an estimate on the difference of Maslov indices relative to the choice of two distinct reference Lagrangians of a continuous path in the Lagrangian Grassmannian of a symplectic space. We discuss some applications to the study of conjugate and focal points along a geodesic in a semi-Riemannian manifold.
We prove an extension of the Index Theorem for Morse-Sturm systems of the form $-V''+RV=0$, where R is symmetric with respect to a (non positive) symmetric bilinear form, and thus the corresponding differential operator is not self-adjoint. The result is then applied to the case of a Jacobi equation along a geodesic in a Lorentzian manifold, obtaining an extension of the Morse Index Theorem for Lorentzian geodesics with variable initial endpoints. Given a Lorentzian manifold (M,g), we consider a geodesic $γ$ in M starting orthogonally to a smooth submanifold P of M. Under suitable hypotheses, …
We prove a semi-Riemannian version of the celebrated Morse Index Theorem for geodesics in semi-Riemannian manifolds; we consider the general case of both endpoints variable on two submanifolds. The key role of the theory is played by the notion of the {\em Maslov index} of a semi-Riemannian geodesic, which is a homological invariant and it substitutes the notion of geometric index in Riemannian geometry. Under generic circumstances, the Maslov index of a geodesic is computed as a sort of {\em algebraic count} of the conjugate points along the geodesic. For non positive definite metrics the ind…
We use the notion of generalized signatures at a singularity of a smooth curve of symmetric bilinear forms to determine a formula for the computation of the Maslov index in the case of a real-analytic path having possibly non transversal intersections. We discuss some applications of the theory, with special emphasis on the study of the Jacobi equation along a semi-Riemannian geodesic. The research work exposed in this paper originated from a suggestion given by the third author relating the spectral flow with the partial signatures. He pointed out several references and formulated the stateme…
In this work, we establish new rigidity results for the Maslov class of Lagrangian submanifolds in large classes of closed and convex symplectic manifolds. Our main result establishes upper bounds for the minimal Maslov number of displaceable Lagrangian submanifolds which are product manifolds whose factors each admit a metric of negative sectional curvature. Such Lagrangian submanifolds exist in every symplectic manifold of dimension greater than six or equal to four. The proof utilizes the relations between closed geodesics on the Lagrangian, the periodic orbits of geometric Hamiltonian flow…
We consider a {\em Hamiltonian setup} $\sextuple$, where $(\mathcal M,ω)$ is a symplectic manifold, $\mathfrak L$ is a distribution of Lagrangian subspaces in $\mathcal M$, $\mathcal P$ a Lagrangian submanifold of $ \mathcal M$, $H$ is a smooth time dependent Hamiltonian function on $\mathcal M$ and $Γ:[a,b]\to\mathcal M$ is an integral curve of the Hamiltonian flow $\Hf$ starting at $\mathcal P$. We do not require any convexity property of the Hamiltonian function $H$. Under the assumption that $Γ(b)$ is not $\mathcal P$-focal it is introduced the Maslov index $\maslov(Γ)$ of $Γ$ given in ter…
We study bifurcation from a branch of trivial solutions of semilinear elliptic Dirichlet boundary value problems on a geodesic ball, whose radius is used as the bifurcation parameter. In the proof of our main theorem we obtain in addition a special case of an index theorem due to S. Smale.
Perturbed geodesics are trajectories of particles moving on a semi-Riemannian manifold in the presence of a potential. Our purpose here is to extend to perturbed geodesics on semi-Riemannian manifolds the well known Morse Index Theorem. When the metric is indefinite, the Morse index of the energy functional becomes infinite and hence, in order to obtain a meaningful statement, we substitute the Morse index by its relative form, given by the spectral flow of an associated family of index forms. We also introduce a new counting for conjugate points, which need not to be isolated in this context,…
We investigate the problem of the stability of the number of conjugate or focal points (counted with multiplicity) along a semi-Riemannian geodesic $γ$. For a Riemannian or a non spacelike Lorentzian geodesic, such number is equal to the intersection number (Maslov index) of a continuous curve with a subvariety of codimension one of the Lagrangian Grassmannian of a symplectic space. Such intersection number is proven to be stable in a large variety of circumstances. In the general semi-Riemannian case, under suitable hypotheses this number is equal to an algebraic count of the multiplicities o…
We revisit an example of a semi-Riemannian geodesic that was discussed by Musso, Pejsachowicz and Portaluri in 2007 to show that not every conjugate point is a bifurcation point. We point out a mistake in their argument, showing that on this geodesic actually every conjugate point is a bifurcation point. Finally, we provide an improved example which yields that the claim in our title is nevertheless true.
We consider a continuous path of bounded symmetric Fredholm bilinear forms with arbitrary endpoints on a real Hilbert space, and we prove a formula that gives the spectral flow of the path in terms of the spectral flow of the restriction to a finite codimensional closed subspace. We also discuss the case of restrictions to a continuous path of finite codimensional closed subspaces. As an application of the formula, we introduce the notion of spectral flow for a periodic semi-Riemannian geodesic, and we compute its value in terms of the Maslov index.
Recently the first author studied the bifurcation of critical points of families of functionals on a Hilbert space, which are parametrised by a compact and orientable manifold having a non-vanishing first integral cohomology group. We improve this result in two directions: topologically and analytically. From the analytical point of view we generalise it to a broader class of functionals; from the topological point of view we allow the parameter space to be a metrisable Banach manifold. Our methods are in particular powerful if the parameter space is simply connected. As an application of our …
We prove a spectral flow formula for one-parameter families of Hamiltonian systems under homoclinic boundary conditions, which relates the spectral flow to the relative Maslov index of a pair of curves of Lagrangians induced by the stable and unstable subspaces, respectively. Finally, we deduce sufficient conditions for bifurcation of homoclinic trajectories of one-parameter families of nonautonomous Hamiltonian vector fields.
We study bifurcation for the constant scalar curvature equation along a one-parameter family of Riemannian metrics on the total space of a harmonic Riemannian submersion. We provide an existence theorem for bifurcation points and a criterion to see that the conformal factors corresponding to the bifurcated metrics must be indeed constant along the fibers. In the case of the canonical variation of a Riemannian submersion with totally geodesic fibers, we characterize discreteness of the set of all degeneracy points along the family and give a sufficient condition to guarantee that bifurcation ne…
Let Riemannian metrics $g$ and $\bar g$ on a connected manifold $M^n$ have the same geodesics (considered as unparameterized curves). Suppose the eigenvalues of one metric with respect to the other are all different at a point. Then, by the famous Levi-Civita's Theorem, the metrics have a certain standard form near the point. Our main result is a generalization of Levi-Civita's Theorem for the points where the eigenvalues of one metric with respect to the other bifurcate.
