In the study of conformal geometry, the method of elliptic partial differential equations is playing an increasingly significant role. Since the solution of the Yamabe problem, a family of conformally covariant operators (for definition, see section 2) generalizing the conformal Laplacian, and their associated conformal invariants have been introduced. The conformally covariant powers of the Laplacian form a family $P_{2k}$ with $k \in \mathbb N$ and $k \leq \frac{n}{2}$ if the dimension $n$ is even. Each $P_{2k}$ has leading order term $(- Δ)^k$ and is equal to $ (- Δ) ^k$ if the metric is flat.
We compute the Hilbert polynomial and the Poincare function counting the number of fixed jet-order differential invariants of conformal metric structures modulo local diffeomorphisms, and we describe the field of rational differential invariants separating generic orbits of the diffeomorphism pseudogroup action. This resolves the local recognition problem for conformal structures.
For a hypersurface V of a conformal space, we introduce a conformal differential invariant I = h^2/g, where g and h are the first and the second fundamental forms of V connected by the apolarity condition. This invariant is called the conformal quadratic element of V. The solution of the problem of conformal rigidity is presented in the framework of conformal differential geometry and connected with the conformal quadratic element of V. The main theorem states: Let n \geq 4 and V and V' be two nonisotropic hypersurfaces without umbilical points in a conformal space C^n or a pseudoconformal spa…
We construct new families of conformally invariant differential operators acting on densities. We introduce a simple, direct approach which shows that all such operators arise via this construction when the degree is bounded by the dimension. The method relies on a study of well-known transformation laws and on Weyl's theory regarding identities holding ``formally'' vs. ``by substitution''. We also illustrate how this new method can strengthen existing results in the parabolic invariant theory for conformal geometries.
Let ${\cal F}_λ$ be the space of tensor densities on ${\bf R}^n$ of degree $λ$ (or, equivalently, of conformal densities of degree $-λn$) considered as a module over the Lie algebra $so(p+1,q+1)$. We classify $so(p+1,q+1)$-invariant bilinear differential operators from ${\cal F}_λ\otimes{\cal F}_μ$ to~${\cal F}_ν$. The classification of linear $so(p+1,q+1)$-invariant differential operators from ${\cal F}_λ$ to ${\cal F}_μ$ already known in the literature is obtained in a different manner.
We study conformal symmetry breaking differential operators which map differential forms on $\mathbb{R}^n$ to differential forms on a codimension one subspace $\mathbb{R}^{n-1}$. These operators are equivariant with respect to the conformal Lie algebra of the subspace $\mathbb{R}^{n-1}$. They correspond to homomorphisms of generalized Verma modules for ${\mathfrak so}(n,1)$ into generalized Verma modules for ${\mathfrak so}(n+1,1)$ both being induced from fundamental form representations of a parabolic subalgebra. We apply the F-method to derive explicit formulas for such homomorphisms. In par…
We consider codimension 2 sphere congruences in pseudo-conformal geometry that are harmonic with respect to the conformal structure of an orthogonal surface. We characterise the orthogonal surfaces of such congruences as either $S$-Willmore surfaces, quasi-umbilical surfaces, constant mean curvature surfaces in 3-dimensional space forms or surfaces of constant lightlike mean curvature in 3-dimensional lightcones. We then investigate Bryant's quartic differential in this context and show that generically this is divergence free if and only if the surface under consideration is either superconfo…
This paper introduces a complex representation for spacelike surfaces in the Lorentz-Minkowski space $L^4$, based in two complex valued functions which can be assumed to be holomorphic or anti-holomorphic. When the immersion is contained in quadrics of $L^4$, the representation then allows us to obtain interesting partial differential equations with holomorphic or anti-holomorphic parameters, within which we find the partial Riccati Equation. Using then theory of holomorphic complex functions we construct explicitly new local solutions for those PDEs together with its associated geometric solu…
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…
A conformal map from a Riemann surface to the Euclidean four-space is explained in terms of its twistor lift. A local factorization of a differential of a conformal map is obtained. As an application, the factorization of a differential provides an upper bound of the area of a super-conformal map around a branch point.
For a finite reflection subgroup $G\leq O(n+1,1,\mR)$ of the conformal group of the sphere with standard conformal structure $(S^n,[g_0])$, we geometrically derive differential-difference Dunkl version of the series of conformally invariant differential operators with symbols given by powers of Laplace operator. The construction can be regarded as a deformation of the Fefferman-Graham ambient metric construction of GJMS operators.
Let $(M, \bar g)$ be an $n$-dimensional complete Riemannian manifold. In this paper, we considers the following conformal scalar curvature rigidity problem: Given a compact smooth domain $Ω$ with $\partial Ω$, can one find a conformal metric $g$ whose scalar curvature $R[g]\ge R[\bar g]$ on $Ω$ and the mean curvature $H[g] \ge H[ \bar g]$ on $\partial Ω$ with $\bar g = g$ on $\partial Ω$? We prove that $\bar g = g$ on some smooth domains in a general Riemannian manifold, which is an extension of the previous results given by Qing and Yuan, and Hang and Wang.
This is the original manuscript dated March 9th 1983, typeset by the Editors for the Proceedings of the Midwest Geometry Conference 2007 held in memory of Thomas Branson. Stephen Paneitz passed away on September 1st 1983 while attending a conference in Clausthal and the manuscript was never published. For more than 20 years these few pages were circulated informally. In November 2004, as a service to the mathematical community, Tom Branson added a scan of the manuscript to his website. Here we make it available more formally. It is surely one of the most cited unpublished articles. The differe…
Let $M$ be either a projective manifold $(M,Pi)$ or a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $(M,g).$ We extend, intrinsically, the projective/conformal Schwarzian derivatives that we have introduced recently, to the space of differential operators acting on symmetric contravariant tensor fields of any degree on $M.$ As operators, we show that the projective/conformal Schwarzian derivatives depend only on the projective connection $Pi$ and the conformal class $[g]$ of the metric, respectively. Furthermore, we compute the first cohomology group of $Vect(M)$ with coefficients into the space of symmetric con…
The classical Rankin-Cohen brackets are bi-differential operators from $C^\infty(\mathbb R)\times C^\infty(\mathbb R)$ into $ C^\infty(\mathbb R)$. They are covariant for the (diagonal) action of ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb R)$ through principal series representations. We construct generalizations of these operators, replacing $\mathbb R$ by $\mathbb R^n,$ the group ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb R)$ by the group ${\rm SO}_0(1,n+1)$ viewed as the conformal group of $\mathbb R^n,$ and functions by differential forms.
Let (M, g) be an (n + 1)-dimensional asymptotically locally hyperbolic (ALH) manifold with a conformal compactification whose conformal infinity is ($\partial$M, [$γ$]). We will first observe that Ch(M, g) $\le$ n, where Ch(M, g) is the Cheeger constant of M. We then prove that, if the Ricci curvature of M is bounded from below by --n and its scalar curvature approaches --n(n+1) fast enough at infinity, then Ch(M, g) = n if and only Y($\partial$M, [$γ$]) $\ge$ 0, where Y($\partial$M, [$γ$]) denotes the Yamabe invariant of the conformal infinity. This gives an answer to a question raised by J. …
On locally conformally flat manifolds we describe a construction which maps generalised conformal Killing tensors to differential operators which may act on any conformally weighted tensor bundle; the operators in the range have the property that they are symmetries of any natural conformally invariant differential operator between such bundles. These are used to construct all symmetries of the conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian (often called the GJMS operators) on manifolds of dimension at least 3. In particular this yields all symmetries of the powers of the Laplacian $Δ^k$, $k\in…
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…
We compute the quotient of the self-duality equation for conformal metrics by the action of the diffeomorphism group. We also determine Hilbert polynomial, counting the number of independent scalar differential invariants depending on the jet-order, and the corresponding Poincaré function. We describe the field of rational differential invariants separating generic orbits of the diffeomorphism pseudogroup action, resolving the local recognition problem for self-dual conformal structures.
Let $(X^{n},g_+) $ $(n\geq 3)$ be a Poincaré-Einstein manifold which is $C^{3,α}$ conformally compact with conformal infinity $(\partial X, [\hat{g}])$. On the conformal compactification $(\overline{X}, \bar g=ρ^2g_+)$ via some boundary defining function $ρ$, there are two types of Yamabe constants: $Y(\overline{X},\partial X,[\bar g])$ and $Q(\overline{X},\partial X,[\bar g])$. (See definitions (\ref{def.type1}) and (\ref{def.type2})). In \cite{GH}, Gursky and Han gave an inequality between $Y(\overline{X},\partial X,[\bar g])$ and $Y(\partial X,[\hat{g}])$. In this paper, we first show that …
The aim of this paper is to describe the geometry of conformal structures in Lorentzian signature, which admit a lightlike conformal Killing vector field whose corresponding adjoint tractor acts as complex structure on the standard tractor bundle of conformal geometry. Key to the treatment of this problem is CR-geometry and the Fefferman construction. In fact, we will consider here partially integrable CR-structures and a slightly generalised Fefferman construction for these, which we call the $\ell$-Fefferman construction. We show that a certain class of $\ell$-Fefferman metrics on partially …
We present a novel approach to the classification of conformally equivariant differential operators on spinors in the case of homogeneous conformal geometry. It is based on the classification of solutions for a vector-valued system of partial differential equations, associated to $\mathcal{D}$-modules for the homogeneous conformal structure and controlled by the spin Howe duality for the orthogonal Lie algebras.
On a 6-dimensional, conformal, oriented, compact manifold $M$ without boundary, we compute a whole family of differential forms $Ω_6(f,h)$ of order 6, with $f,h \in C^\infty(M).$ Each of these forms will be symmetric on $f,$ and $h,$ conformally invariant, and such that $\int_M f_0 Ω_6(f_1,f_2)$ defines a Hochschild 2-cocycle over the algebra $C^\infty(M).$ In the particular 6-dimensional conformally flat case, we compute the unique one satisfying $\Wres(f_0[F,f][F,h]) = \int_M f_0Ω_6(f,h)$ for $(\cH,F)$ the Fredholm module associated by A. Connes \cite{Con1} to the manifold $M,$ and $\Wres$ t…
The purpose of the present paper is to study the differential geometric properties of a quaternion CR-submanifold in a locally conformal quaternion Kaehler manifold.
We provide five examples of conformal geometries which are naturally associated with ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The first example describes a one-to-one correspondence between the Wuenschmann class of 3rd order ODEs considered modulo contact transformations of variables and (local) 3-dimensional conformal Lorentzian geometries. The second example shows that every point equivalent class of 3rd order ODEs satisfying the Wuenschmann and the Cartan conditions define a 3-dimensional Lorentzian Einstein-Weyl geometry. The third example associates to each point equivalence class of 3rd o…
We consider the problem of finding complete conformal metrics with prescribed curvature functions of the Einstein tensor and of more general modified Schouten tensors. To achieve this, we reveal an algebraic structure of a wide class of fully nonlinear equations. Our method is appropriate and delicate as shown by a topological obstruction. Finally, we discuss Hessian equations and Weingarten equations by confirming a key assumption.
We show that, for both the conformal and projective groups, all the differential invariants of a generic surface in three-dimensional space can be written as combinations of the invariant derivatives of a single differential invariant. The proof is based on the equivariant method of moving frames.
This paper completes the construction of arbitrary order conformally invariant differential operators in higher spin spaces. Jan Slovák has classified all conformally invariant differential operators on locally conformally flat manifolds. We complete his results in higher spin theory by giving explicit expressions for arbitrary order conformally invariant differential operators, where by conformally invariant we mean equivariant with respect to the conformal group of $\mathbb{S}^m$ acting in Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^m$. We name these the fermionic operators when the order is odd and bosonic…
We use conformal, but ghostful, Weyl gravity to study its ghost-free, second derivative, partially massless (PM) spin 2 component in presence of Einstein gravity with positive cosmological constant. Specifically, we consider both gravitational- and self- interactions of PM via the fully non-linear factorization of conformal gravity's Bach tensor into Einstein times Schouten operators. We find that extending PM beyond linear order suffers from familiar higher-spin consistency obstructions: it propagates only in Einstein backgrounds, and the conformal gravity route generates only the usual safe,…
We completely resolve the boundary value problem for differential forms and conformally Einstein infinity in terms of the dual Hahn polynomials. Consequently, we produce explicit formulas for the Branson-Gover operators on Einstein manifolds and prove their representation as a product of second order operators. This leads to an explicit description of $Q$-curvature and gauge companion operators on differential forms.
On conformal manifolds of even dimension $n\geq 4$ we construct a family of new conformally invariant differential complexes. Each bundle in each of these complexes appears either in the de Rham complex or in its dual. Each of the new complexes is elliptic if the signature is Riemannian. We also construct gauge companion operators which complete the exterior derivative to a conformally invariant and (in the case of Riemannian signature) elliptically coercive system. These (operator,gauge) pairs are used to define finite dimensional conformally stable form subspaces which are are candidates for…
We give an explicit description of the full asymptotic expansion of the Schwartz kernel of the complex powers of $m$-Laplace type operators $L$ on compact Riemannian manifolds in terms of Riesz distributions. The constant term in this asymptotic expansion turns turns out to be given by the local zeta function of $L$. In particular, the constant term in the asymptotic expansion of the Green's function $L^{-1}$ is often called the mass of $L$, which (in case that $L$ is the Yamabe operator) is an important invariant, namely a positive multiple of the ADM mass of a certain asymptotically flat man…
We clarify how close a second order fully nonlinear equation can come to uniform ellipticity, through counting large eigenvalues of the linearized operator. This suggests an effective and novel way to understand the structure of fully nonlinear equations of elliptic and parabolic type. As applications, we solve a fully nonlinear version of the Loewner-Nirenberg problem and a noncompact complete version of fully nonlinear Yamabe problem. Our method is delicate as shown by a topological obstruction.
Rapid progress has been made recently on symmetry breaking operators for real reductive groups. Based on Program A-C for branching problems (T.Kobayashi [Progr.Math.2015]), we illustrate a scheme of the classification of (local and nonlocal) symmetry breaking operators by an example of conformal representations on differential forms on the model space $(X,Y)=(S^n, S^{n-1})$, which generalizes the scalar case (Kobayashi--Speh [Memoirs of Amer.Math.Soc. 2015]) and the case of local operators (Kobayashi--Kubo--Pevzner [Lecture Notes in Math. 2016]). Some applications to automorphic form theory, m…
We present Bernstein-Sato identities for scalar-, spinor- and differential form-valued distribution kernels on Euclidean space associated to conformal symmetry breaking operators. The associated Bernstein-Sato operators lead to partially new formulae for conformal symmetry breaking differential operators on functions, spinors and differential forms.
We give a complete classification of conformally covariant differential operators between the spaces of $i$-forms on the sphere $S^n$ and $j$-forms on the totally geodesic hypersphere $S^{n-1}$. Moreover, we find explicit formulæ for these new matrix-valued operators in the flat coordinates in terms of basic operators in differential geometry and classical orthogonal polynomials. We also establish matrix-valued factorization identities among all possible combinations of conformally covariant differential operators. The main machinery of the proof is the "F-method" based on the "algebraic Fouri…
Let $(M,g)$ be a smooth compact Riemannian manifold of dimension $n$ with smooth boundary $\partial M$. Suppose that $(M,g)$ admits a scalar-flat conformal metric. We prove that the supremum of the isoperimetric quotient over the scalar-flat conformal class is strictly larger than the best constant of the isoperimetric inequality in the Euclidean space, and consequently is achieved, if either (i) $n\ge 12$ and $\partial M$ has a nonumbilic point; or (ii) $n\ge 10$, $\partial M$ is umbilic and the Weyl tensor does not vanish at some boundary point.
We discuss contact invariant structures on the space of solutions of a third-order ordinary differential equation. Associated to any third-order differential equation modulo contact transformations, Chern introduced a degenerate conformal Lorentzian metric on the space of 2-jets of functions of one variable. When the Wuenschmann invariant vanishes, the degenerate metric descends to a proper conformal Lorentzian metric on the space of solutions. In the general case, when the Wuenschmann invariant is not zero, we define the notion of a causal geometry, and show that the space of solutions suppor…
There is a class of Laplacian like conformally invariant differential operators on differential forms $L^\ell_k$ which may be considered the generalisation to differential forms of the conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian known as the Paneitz and GJMS operators. On conformally Einstein manifolds we give explicit formulae for these as explicit factored polynomials in second order differential operators. In the case the manifold is not Ricci flat we use this to provide a direct sum decomposition of the null space of the $L^\ell_k$ in terms of the null spaces of mutually commuting second…
FLRW embeddings in $\mathbb{R}^{n+2}$, differential geometry and conformal photon propagator
Université Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；Université de Corse – CNRS UMR 6134 SPE（科西嘉大学 - 法国国家科学研究中心 SPE联合研究单位）；APC-Astroparticule et Cosmologie (UMR-CNRS 7164)（天体粒子与宇宙学研究所 (UMR-CNRS 7164)）
Let $(M,g)$ be a smooth compact Riemannian manifold of dimension $n$ with smooth boundary $\partial M$, admitting a scalar-flat conformal metric. We prove that the supremum of the isoperimetric ratio over the scalar-flat conformal class is strictly larger than the best constant of the isoperimetric inequality in the Euclidean space, and consequently is achieved, if either (i) $9\le n\le 11$ and $\partial M$ has a nonumbilic point; or (ii) $7\le n\le 9$, $\partial M$ is umbilic and the Weyl tensor does not vanish identically on the boundary. This is a continuation of the work \cite{Jin-Xiong} b…
Let $g_0$ be a smooth Riemannian metric on a closed manifold $M^n$ of dimension $n\geq 3$. We study the existence of a smooth metric $g$ conformal to $g_0$ whose Schouten tensor $A_g$ satisfies the differential inclusion $λ(g^{-1}A_g)\inΓ$ on $M^n$, where $Γ\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ is a cone satisfying standard assumptions. Inclusions of this type are often assumed in the existence theory for fully nonlinear elliptic equations in conformal geometry. We assume the existence of a continuous metric $g_1$ conformal to $g_0$ satisfying $λ(g_1^{-1}A_{g_1})\in\bar{Γ'}$ in the viscosity sense on $M^n$, to…
This is the last part of a series of articles on a family of geometric structures (PACS-structures) which all have an underlying almost conformally symplectic structure. While the first part of the series was devoted to the general study of these structures, the second part focused on the case that the underlying structure is conformally symplectic (PCS-structures). In that case, we obtained a close relation to parabolic contact structures via a concept of parabolic contactification. It was also shown that special symplectic connections (and thus all connections of exotic symplectic holonomy) …
Let $a>b>0$ and $f$ be a conformal map from $B_a\setminus B_b\subseteq R^2$ into $\R^n$, with $|\nabla f|^2=2e^{2u}$. Then $(e_1, e_2)$ with $e_1=e^{-u}\frac{\partial f}{\partial r},$ and $e_2=r^{-1}e^{-u}\frac{\partial f}{\partialθ}$ is a moving frame on $f(B_a\setminus B_b)$. It satisfies the following equation $$d\star<de_1, e_2>=0,$$ where $\star$ is the Hodge star operator on $R^2$ with respect to the standard metric. We will study the Dirichret energy of this frame and give some applications.
In this article, we prove several results about the extension to the boundary of conformal immersions from an open subset $Ω$ of a Riemannian manifold $L$, into another Riemannian manifold $N$ of the same dimension. In dimension $n \geq 3$, and when the $(n-1)$-dimensional Hausdorff measure of $\partial Ω$ is zero, we completely classify the cases when $\partial Ω$ contains essential singular points, showing that $L$ and $N$ are conformally flat and making the link with the theory of Kleinian groups.
Conformal surface parameterization is useful in graphics, imaging and visualization, with applications to texture mapping, atlas construction, registration, remeshing and so on. With the increasing capability in scanning and storing data, dense 3D surface meshes are common nowadays. While meshes with higher resolution better resemble smooth surfaces, they pose computational difficulties for the existing parameterization algorithms. In this work, we propose a novel parallelizable algorithm for computing the global conformal parameterization of simply-connected surfaces via partial welding maps.…
In this paper we introduce a new family of operator-valued distributions on Euclidian space acting by convolution on differential forms. It provides a natural generalization of the important Riesz distributions acting on functions, where the corresponding operators are $(-Δ)^{-α/2}$, and we develop basic analogous properties with respect to meromorphic continuation, residues, Fourier transforms, and relations to conformal geometry and representations of the conformal group.
We will study a linear first order system, a connection $\db$ problem, on a vector bundle equipped with a connection, over a Riemann surface. We show optimal conditions on the connection forms which allow one to find a holomorphic frame, or in other words to prove the optimal regularity of our solution. The underlying geometric principle, Theorem \ref{theorem KM}, is classical and well known \cite[Theorem 1]{KM}; it gives necessary and sufficient conditions for a connection to induce a holomorphic structure on a vector bundle over a complex manifold. Here we explore the limits of this statemen…
An differential field $(F;\partial_1,...,\partial_m)$ of characteristic zero, a subgroup $H$ of affine group $ GL(n,C)\propto C^n$ with respect to its identical representation in $F^n$ and the following two fields of differential rational functions in $x=(x_1,x_2,...,x_n)$-column vector, $$C< x, \partial >^H=\{f^{\partial}< x> \in C< x, \partial> : f^{\partial}< hx+ h_0> = f^{\partial}< x> {whenever} (h,h_0)\in H \},$$ $$C< x, \partial>^{(GL^{\partial}(m,F),H)}=\{f^{\partial}< x> \in C< x, \partial> : f^{g^{-1}\partial}< hx+ h_0> = f^{\partial}< x> {whenever} g\in GL^{\partial}(m,F) {and} (h,h…
We study higher form Proca equations on Einstein manifolds with boundary data along conformal infinity. We solve these Laplace-type boundary problems formally, and to all orders, by constructing an operator which projects arbitrary forms to solutions. We also develop a product formula for solving these asymptotic problems in general. The central tools of our approach are (i) the conformal geometry of differential forms and the associated exterior tractor calculus, and (ii) a generalised notion of scale which encodes the connection between the underlying geometry and its boundary. The latter al…
Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院计算技术研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
One of the most challenging problems in the domain of 2-D image or 3-D shape is to handle the non-rigid deformation. From the perspective of transformation groups, the conformal transformation is a key part of the diffeomorphism. According to the Liouville Theorem, an important part of the conformal transformation is the Mobius transformation, so we focus on Mobius transformation and propose two differential expressions that are invariable under 2-D and 3-D Mobius transformation respectively. Next, we analyze the absoluteness and relativity of invariance on them and their components. After tha…
