The electric capacity of a conductor in the 3-dimensional Euclidean space $R^3 $ is defined as a ratio of a given positive charge on the conductor to the value of potential on the surface. This definition of the capacity is independent of the given charge. The capacity of a set as a mathematical notion was defined first by N. Wiener (1924) and was developed by O. Forstman, C. J. de La Vallee Poussin, and several other French mathematicians in connection with potential theory. This paper develops the theory of conformal invariants for Finsler manifolds. More precisely we prove: The capacity of a compact set and the capacity of the condenser of two closed sets are conformally invariant. By mean of the notion of capacity, we construct and study four conformal invariant functions $ ρ$, $ ν$, $μ$ and $λ$ which have similarities with the classical invariants on $S^n$, $ R^n $ or $H^n$. Their properties and especially their continuity are efficient tools for solving some problems of conformal geometry in the large.
We prove the Finsler analog of the conformal Lichnerowicz-Obata conjecture showing that a complete and essential conformal vector field on a non-Riemannian Finsler manifold is a homothetic vector field of a Minkowski metric.
The Finslerian unit ball is called the {\it Finsleroid} if the covering indicatrix is a space of constant curvature. We prove that Finsler spaces with such indicatrices possess the remarkable property that the tangent spaces are conformally flat with the conformal factor of the power dependence on the Finsler metric function. It is amazing but the fact that in such spaces the notion of the two-vector angle defined by the geodesic arc on the indicatrix can readily be induced from the Riemannian space obtained upon the conformal transformation, which opens up the straightforward way to induce al…
In this paper, we prove a global rigidity theorem for negatively curved Finsler metrics on a compact manifold of dimension n>2. We show that for such a Finsler manifold, if the flag curvature is a scalar function on the tangent bundle, then the Finsler metric is of Randers type. We also study the case when the Finsler metric is locally projectively flat.
The conformal properties of complex Finsler metrics are studied. We give a characterization of a compact complex Finsler manifold to be globally conformal Kähler. The critical points of the total holomorphic curvature and total Ricci curvature in the volume preserved conformal classes are studied. The stability of critical Kähler Finsler metrics is obtained. A Yamabe type problem for mean Ricci curvature is considered.
The paper aims to initiate a systematic study of conformal mappings between Finsler spacetimes and, more generally, between pseudo-Finsler spaces. This is done by extending several results in pseudo-Riemannian geometry which are necessary for field-theoretical applications and by proposing a technique which reduces a series of problems involving pseudo-Finslerian conformal vector fields to their pseudo-Riemannian counterparts. Also, we point out, by constructing classes of examples, that conformal groups of flat (locally Minkowskian) pseudo-Finsler spaces can be much richer than both flat Fins…
Applying concepts and tools from classical tangent bundle geometry and using the apparatus of the calculus along the tangent bundle projection ('pull-back formalism'), first we enrich the known lists of the characterizations of affine vector fields on a spray manifold and conformal vector fields on a Finsler manifold. Second, we deduce consequences on vector fields on the underlying manifold of a Finsler structure having one or two of the mentioned geometric properties.
The flag curvature is a natural extension of the sectional curvature in Riemannian geometry, and the S-curvature is a non-Riemannian quantity which vanishes for Riemannian metrics. There are (incomplete) non-Riemannian Finsler metrics on an open subset in R^n with negative flag curvature and constant S-curvature. In this paper, we are going to show a global rigidity theorem that every Finsler metric with negative flag curvature and constant S-curvature must be Riemannian if the manifold is compact. We also study the nonpositive flag curvature case.
For every Finsler metric $F$ we associate a Riemannian metric $g_F$ (called the Binet-Legendre metric). The transformation $F \mapsto g_F$ is $C^0$-stable and has good smoothness properties, in contrast to previous constructions. The Riemannian metric $g_F$ also behaves nicely under conformal or bilipshitz deformation of the Finsler metric $F$. These properties makes it a powerful tool in Finsler geometry and we illustrate that by solving a number of named Finslerian geometric problems. We also generalize and give new and shorter proofs of a number of known results. In particular we answer a q…
This paper states a formula for the difference of the Holmes-Thompson volumes of two simple Finsler manifolds of arbitrary dimension, in terms of the boundary distances and their derivatives. An application is a preconditioned filling minimality result.
In Finsler geometry the complete lift vector fields have distinguished geometric significance. For example a vector field on a Finsler manifold is said to be conformal if its complete lift is conformal in usual sense. In this work we define a new Riemannian or Pseudo-Riemannian metric on TM derived from a Finsler metric on the base manifold M. This metric is in some senses more general than the other lift metrics defined previously on TM and then we study the complete lift vector fields on TM. More precisely we prove; Let (M,g) be a Finsler manifold, TM its tangent bundle and G a Riemannian me…
We establish the Bonnet-Myers theorem, Laplacian comparison theorem, and Bishop-Gromov volume comparison theorem for weighted Finsler manifolds as well as weighted Finsler spacetimes, of weighted Ricci curvature bounded below by using the weight function. These comparison theorems are formulated with $ε$-range introduced in our previous paper, that provides a natural viewpoint of interpolating weighted Ricci curvature conditions of different effective dimensions. Some of our results are new even for weighted Riemannian manifolds and generalize comparison theorems of Wylie-Yeroshkin and Kuwae-L…
In this paper, it is proved that any conformal vector field is homothetic on a locally projectively flat $(α,β)$-space of non-Randers type in dimension $n\ge 3$, and the local solutions of such a vector field are determined. While on a locally projectively flat Randers space, examples showthat the conformal vector fields are not necessarily homothetic.
Finsleroid-Finsler metrics form an important class of singular (y-local) Finsler metrics. They were introduced by G. S. Asanov [2] in 2006. As the special case of the general construction Asanov produced singular (y - local) examples of Landsberg spaces of dimension at least three that are not of Berwald type. The existence of regular (y - global) Landsberg metrics that are not of Berwald type is an open problem up to this day; for a detailed exposition of the so-called unicorn problem in Finsler geometry see D. Bao [3]. In this paper we are going to characterize the Finsleroid-Finsler metrics…
The present paper is a continuation of a foregoing paper [Tensor, N. S., 69 (2008), 155-178]. The main aim is to establish \emph{an intrinsic investigation} of the conformal change of the most important special Finsler spaces, namely, $C^{h}$-recurrent, $C^{v}$-recurrent, $C^{0}$-recurrent, $C_{2}$-like, quasi-$C$-reducible, $C$-reducible, Berwald space, $S^{v}$-recurrent, $P^*$-Finsler manifold, $R_{3}$-like, $P$-symmetric, Finsler manifold of $p$-scalar curvature and Finsler manifold of $s$-$ps$-curvature. Necessary and sufficient conditions for such special Finsler manifolds to be invariant…
In this paper, we first give two fundamental principles under a technique to characterize conformal vector fields of $(α,β)$ spaces to be homothetic and determine the local structure of those homothetic fields. Then we use the principles to study conformal vector fields of some classes of $(α,β)$ spaces under certain curvature conditions. Besides, we construct a family of non-homothetic conformal vector fields on a family of locally projectively Randers spaces.
The paper develops the Finsler-like geometry on the 1-jet space for the jet conformal Minkowski (JCM) metric, which naturally extends the Minkowski metric in the Chernov-Pavlov framework. To this aim there are determined the nonlinear connection, distinguished (d-) Cartan linear connection, d-torsions and d-curvatures. The field geometrical gravitational and electromagnetic d-models based on the JCM metric are discussed.
In this paper, we introduce and investigate a general transformation or change of Finsler metrics, which is referred to as a generalized $β$-conformal change: $$L(x,y) \longrightarrow\overline{L}(x,y) = f(e^{σ(x)}L(x,y),β(x,y)).$$ This transformation combines both $β$-change and conformal change in a general setting. The change, under this transformation, of the fundamental Finsler connections, together with their associated geometric objects, are obtained. Some invariants and various special Finsler spaces are investigated under this change. The most important changes of Finsler metrics exist…
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…
A geodesic circle in Finsler geometry is a natural extension of that in a Euclidean space. In this paper, we apply Lie derivatives and the Cartan $Y$-connection to study geodesic circles and (infinitesimal) concircular transformations on a Finsler manifold. We characterize a concircular vector field with some PDEs on the tangent bundle, and then we obtain respective necessary and sufficient conditions for a concircular vector field to be conformal and a conformal vector field to be concircular. We also show conditions for two conformally related Finsler metrics to be concircular, and obtain so…
In this paper we prove several multiplicity results of $t$-periodic light rays in conformally stationary spacetimes using the Fermat metric and the extensions of the classical theorems of Gromoll-Meyer and Bangert-Hingston to Finsler manifolds. Moreover, we exhibit some stationary spacetimes with a finite number of $t$-periodic light rays and compute a lower bound for the period of the light rays when the flag curvature of the Fermat metric is $η$-pinched.
In this paper, we prove that lightlike geodesics of a pseudo-Finsler manifold and its focal points are preserved up to reparametrization by anisotropic conformal changes, using the Chern connection and the anisotropic calculus and the fact that geodesics are critical points of the energy functional and Jacobi fields, the kernel of its index form. This result has applications to the study of Finsler spacetimes.
In this paper, we investigate the two-dimensional complex Finsler manifolds. The tools of this study are the complex Berwald frames and the Chern-Finsler connection with respect to these frames.
We show that a non-compact (forward) complete Finsler manifold whose Holmes- Thompson volume is infinite admits no non-trivial convex functions. We apply this result to some Finsler manifolds whose Busemann function is convex.
On the product of two Finsler manifolds M1 M2, we consider the twisted metric F which is construct by using Finsler metrics F1 and F2 on the manifolds M1 and M2, respectively. We introduce horizontal and vertical distributions on twisted product Finsler manifold and study Creducible and semi-C-reducible properties of this manifold. Then we obtain the Riemannian curvature and some of non-Riemannian curvatures of the twisted product Finsler manifold such as Berwald curvature, mean Berwald curvature and we find the relations between these objects and their corresponding objects on M1 and M2. Fina…
In this paper, we consider Cheeger's constant and the first eigenvalue of the nonlinear Laplacian on closed Finsler manifolds. Being based on these, we establish Cheeger's inequality and Buser's inequality for closed Finsler manifolds.
In this paper, we consider doubly warped product (DWP) Finsler manifolds with some non-Riemannian curvature properties. First, we study Berwald and isotropic mean Berwald DWP-Finsler manifolds. Then we prove that every proper Douglas DWP-Finsler manifold is Riemannian. We show that a proper DWP-manifold is Landsbergian if and only it is Berwaldian. In continue, we prove that every relatively isotropic Landsberg DWP-manifold is a Landsberg manifold. We show that a relatively isotropic mean Landsberg warped product manifold is a weakly Landsberg manifold. Finally, we show that there is no any lo…
We obtain a partial parallelism of the complex structure on Kähler Finsler manifolds. As applications, we prove Synge-Tsukamoto theorem and Bonnet-Myers theorem for positively curved Kähler Finsler manifolds. Moreover, we generalize a comparison theorem due to Ni-Zheng by introducing the notion of orthogonal Ricci curvature to Kähler Finsler geometry.
In this paper, we first establish several theorems about the estimation of distance function on real and strongly convex complex Finsler manifolds and then obtain a Schwarz lemma from a strongly convex weakly Kähler-Finsler manifold into a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold. As applications, we prove that a holomorphic mapping from a strongly convex weakly Kähler-Finsler manifold into a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold is necessary constant under an extra condition. In particular, we prove that a holomorphic mapping from a complex Minkowski space into a strongly pseud…
In the present paper, we investigate Busemann functions in a general Finsler setting as well as in asymptotically harmonic Finsler manifolds. In particular, we show Busemann functions are smooth on asymptotically harmonic Finsler manifolds.
Here, an extension of the Obata-Tanno's theorem to Finsler geometry is established and the following rigidity result is obtained; Every complete connected Finsler manifold of positive constant flag curvature is isometrically homeomorphic to an $n$-sphere equipped with a certain Finsler metric, and vise versa.
Here, by extending the definition of circle to Finsler geometry, we show that, every circle-preserving local diffeomorphism is conformal. This result implies that in Finsler geometry, the definition of concircular change of metrics, a priori, does not require the conformal assumption.
We give a new and complete proof of the following theorem, discovered by Detlef Laugwitz: (forward) complete and connected finite dimensional Finsler manifolds admitting a proper homothety are Minkowski vector spaces. More precisely, we show that under these hypotheses the Finsler manifold is isometric to the tangent Minkowski vector space of the fixed point of the homothety via the exponential map of the canonical spray of the Finsler manifold.
Studying various functionals and associated gradient ows are known problems in differential geometry. The perpose of this article is to provide a general overview of curvature functionals in Finsler geometry and use their information for introducing different gradient ows on Finsler manifolds.
Here, the concept of electric capacity on Finsler spaces is introduced and the fundamental conformal invariant property is proved, i.e. the capacity of a compact set on a connected non-compact Finsler manifold is conformal invariant. This work enables mathematicians and theoretical physicists to become more familiar with the global Finsler geometry and one of its new applications.
In this paper, we introduce horizontal and vertical warped product Finsler manifold. We prove that every C-reducible or proper Berwaldian doubly warped product Finsler manifold is Riemannian. Then, we find the relation between Riemmanian curvatures of doubly warped product Finsler manifold and its components, and consider the cases that this manifold is flat or has scalar flag curvature. We define the doubly warped Sasaki-Matsumoto metric for warped product manifolds and find a condition under which the horizontal and vertical tangent bundles are totally geodesic. Also, we obtain some conditio…
The aim of the present paper is to establish a global theory of conformal changes in Finsler geometry. Under this change, we obtain the relationships between the most important geometric objects associated to $(M,L)$ and the corresponding objects associated to $(M,\tilde{L})$, $\widetilde{L}=e^{σ(x)} L$ being the Finsler conformal transformation. We have found explicit global expressions relating the two associated Cartan connections $\nabla$ and $\widetilde{\nabla}$, the two associated Berwald connections $D$ and $\widetilde{D}$ and the two associated Barthel connections $Γ$ and $\widetildeΓ$…
In this paper, we mainly establish a Cheeger type finiteness theorem for Berwald manifolds. In order to do this, we study the injectivity radius and the convex radius of a Finsler manifold. A Cheeger type estimate on injectivity radii for Finsler manifolds is given and the existence of the center of mass of a Berwald manifold is proved.
We provide an extension of Obata's theorem to Finsler geometry and establish some rigidity results based on a second order differential equation. Mainly, we prove that every complete connected Finsler manifold of positive constant flag curvature is isometrically homeomorphic to an Euclidean sphere endowed with a certain Finsler metric and vice versa. Based on these results, we present a classification of Finsler manifolds which admit a transnormal function. Specifically, we show that if a complete Finsler manifold admits a transnormal function with exactly two critical points, then it is homeo…
We establish some important inequalities under a lower weighted Ricci curvature bound on Finsler manifolds. Firstly, we establish a relative volume comparison of Bishop-Gromov type. As one of the applications, we obtain an upper bound for volumes of the Finsler manifolds. Further, when the S-curvature is bounded on the whole manifold, we obtain a theorem of Bonnet-Myers type on Finsler manifolds. Finally, we obtain a sharp Poincaré-Lichnerowicz inequality by using integrated Bochner inequality, from which we obtain a sharp lower bound for the first eigenvalue on the Finsler manifolds.
We prove that, for a Finsler space, if the weighted Ricci curvature is bounded below by a positive number and the diam attains its maximal value, then it is isometric to a standard Finsler sphere. As an application, we show that the first eigenvalue of the Finsler-Laplacian attains its lower bound if and only if the Finsler manifold is isometric to a standard Finsler sphere, and moreover, we obtain an explicit 1-st eigenfunction on the sphere.
In this paper, we get an inequality in terms of holomorphic sectional curvature of complex Finsler metrics. As applications, we prove a Schwarz Lemma from a complete Riemannian manifold to a complex Finsler manifold. We also show that a strongly pseudoconvex complex Finsler manifold with semi-positive but not identically zero holomorphic sectional curvature has negative Kodaira dimension under an extra condition.
An (I,J,K)-generalized Finsler structure on a 3-manifold is a generalization of a Finslerian structure, introduced in order to separate and clarify the local and global aspects in Finsler geometry making use of the Cartan's method of exterior differential systems. In this paper, we show that there is a close relation between (I,J,1)-generalized Finsler structures and a class of contact circles, namely the so-called Cartan structures. This correspondence allows us to determine the topology of 3-manifolds that admit (I, J, 1)-generalized Finsler structures and to single out classes of (I, J, 1)-…
A Finsler function $F$ is affinely rigid if its canonical spray is uniquely metrizable, in the sense that if $\bar F$ is another Finsler function whose canonical spray is $S$, then $d(F/\bar F)=0$. In this short note we explore some sufficient conditions for a Finsler function to be affinely rigid, and discuss open problems.
In this paper, we study the sharp constants of quantitative Hardy and Rellich inequalities on nonreversible Finsler manifolds equipped with arbitrary measures. In particular, these inequalities can be globally refined by adding remainder terms like the Brezis-Vázquez improvement, if Finsler manifolds are of strictly negative flag curvature, vanishing S-curvature and finite uniformity constant. Furthermore, these results remain valid when Finsler metrics are reversible.
Recently, we developed a method for the study of holonomy properties of non-Riemannian Finsler manifolds and obtained that the holonomy group can not be a compact Lie group, if the Finsler manifold of dimension $> 2$ has non-zero constant flag curvature. The purpose of this paper is to move further, exploring the holonomy properties of projectively flat Finsler manifolds of non-zero constant flag curvature. We prove in particular that projectively flat Randers and Bryant-Shen manifolds of non-zero constant flag curvature have infinite dimensional holonomy group.
Based on a self-contained, coordinate-free exposition of the necessary concepts and tools of spray and Finsler geometry (with detailed proofs), we derive new results among others on the consequences of the direction-independence of the Landsberg tensor and the stretch tensor of a Finsler manifold. We show that an at least 3-dimensional Finsler manifold with vanishing projected Berwald tensor is a Berwald manifold. To obtain consequences in two dimensions, we transcript Berwald's classical theory on 2-dimensional Finsler manifolds in our setup. We prove criteria and necessary conditions for Fin…
This paper considers fundamental issues related to Finslerian isometries, submetries, distance and geodesics. It is shown that at each point of a Finsler manifold there is a distance coordinate system. Using distance coordinates, a simple proof is given for the Finslerian version of the Myers-Steenrod theorem and for the differentiability of Finslerian submetries.
The aim of this paper is to show that holonomy properties of Finsler manifolds can be very different from those of Riemannian manifolds. We prove that the holonomy group of a positive definite non-Riemannian Finsler manifold of non-zero constant curvature with dimension >2 cannot be a compact Lie group. Hence this holonomy group does not occur as the holonomy group of any Riemannian manifold. In addition, we provide an example of left invariant Finsler metric on the Heisenberg group, so that its holonomy group is not a (finite dimensional) Lie group. These results give a positive answer to the…
Fundamental function in Finsler manifold defines a metrices that depend on a point and a direction. At any point tangent space is a Riemannian and an indicatrix is a convex hypersurface. In this paper a mean curvature of the indicatrix is expressed in terms of fundamental function.
