On the total absolute curvature of manifolds immersed in Riemannian manifolds. III (original) (raw)

On the Total Curvature of Immersed Manifolds, II: Mean Curvature and Length of Second Fundamental Form

American Journal of Mathematics, 1972

an (n -fp) -dimensional Eiemannian manifold Nn+p. Let h be the second fundamental form of this immersion; it is a certain symmetric bilinear mapping T^XTx-* Tw-L for x ? M, where T^ is the tangent space of M at x and IVthe normal space to M at x. We let 8 denote the length of h, H the mean curvature vector of this immersion, and a the length of H. If a = 0 identically on M, then M is called a minimal submanifold of Nn+p. In the first paper of this series [1], the author proved that the integral of an satisfies

Scalar Curvatures on 0{M), G2{M)

2010

We show that every C00/: G2(M) -► R, M" a compact connected riemannian manifold n > 3, is the scalar curvature function of some complete riemannian metric on G2(M), the grassmann bundle of 2 planes over M, except possibly when K = constant > 0. A similar result holds for 0(M) bundle of orthonormal frames on M. This note is an application of Theorem A of [3] and O'Neill's formula for the curvature of a riemannian submersion [5], [4] and [1]. Theorem C of [3] gives an affirmative answer to the question described in the abstract if f(P) < 0 for at least one 2-plane section P tangent to M. Preliminaries. Let (Mn,ds2) be a compact riemannian manifold and let 0(M) be the principal 0(n) bundle of ds -orthonormal frames on M. Choose a connection of it: OM —> M. We assume the setting of [1, Section 1]. (See also [4].) Briefly, let <, > be the bi-invariant metric on 0(n) defined via the positive definite B (killing form) on the lie algebra G of 0(n), and y the c...

Introduction to Differential Geometry

2011

Classical differential geometry is often considered as an “art of manipulating with indices”. In these lectures we develop a more geometric approach by explaining the true mathematical meaning of all introduced notions. Where possible, we try to avoid coordinates totally. But the correspondence to the traditional coordinate presentation is also explained. The usage of invariant language not only simplifies many arguments but also reduces the amount of computations in particular problems. The best example is a simple formula for the Gaussian curvature of a surface based on the concept of connection 1-form.

The curvature: a variational approach

The curvature discussed in this paper is a far reaching generalisation of the Riemannian sectional curvature. We give a unified definition of curvature which applies to a wide class of geometric structures whose geodesics arise from optimal control problems, including Riemannian, sub-Riemannian, Finsler and sub-Finsler spaces. Special attention is paid to the sub-Riemannian (or Carnot-Carathéodory) metric spaces. Our construction of curvature is direct and naive, and similar to the original approach of Riemann. In particular, we extract geometric invariants from the asymptotics of the cost of optimal control problems. Surprisingly, it works in a very general setting and, in particular, for all sub-Riemannian spaces. Contents Chapter 1. Introduction v 1.1. Structure of the paper viii 1.2. Statements of the main theorems viii 1.3. The Heisenberg group x Part 1. Statements of the results Chapter 2. General setting 2.1. Affine control systems 2.2. End-point map 2.3. Lagrange multipliers rule 2.4. Pontryagin Maximum Principle 2.5. Regularity of the value function Chapter 3. Flag and growth vector of an admissible curve 3.1. Growth vector of an admissible curve 3.2. Linearised control system and growth vector 3.3. State-feedback invariance of the flag of an admissible curve 3.4. An alternative definition Chapter 4. Geodesic cost and its asymptotics 4.1. Motivation: a Riemannian interlude 4.2. Geodesic cost 4.3. Hamiltonian inner product 4.4. Asymptotics of the geodesic cost function and curvature 4.5. Examples Chapter 5. Sub-Riemannian geometry 5.1. Basic definitions 5.2. Existence of ample geodesics 5.3. Reparametrization and homogeneity of the curvature operator 5.4. Asymptotics of the sub-Laplacian of the geodesic cost 5.5. Equiregular distributions 5.6. Geodesic dimension and sub-Riemannian homotheties 5.7. Heisenberg group 5.8. On the "meaning" of constant curvature Part 2. Technical tools and proofs Chapter 6. Jacobi curves 6.1. Curves in the Lagrange Grassmannian 6.2. The Jacobi curve and the second differential of the geodesic cost 6.3. The Jacobi curve and the Hamiltonian inner product 6.4. Proof of Theorem A 6.5. Proof of Theorem D Chapter 7. Asymptotics of the Jacobi curve: equiregular case 7.1. The canonical frame 7.2. Main result iii 7.3. Proof of Theorem 7.4 7.4. Proof of Theorem B 7.5. A worked out example: 3D contact sub-Riemannian structures Chapter 8. Sub-Laplacian and Jacobi curves 8.1. Coordinate lift of a local frame 8.2. Sub-Laplacian of the geodesic cost 8.3. Proof of Theorem C

The structure of the curvature tensor of an open manifold of nonnegative curvature

According to Cheeger - Gromoll an open manifold V of nonnegative sectional curvature is diffeomorphic to the normal bundle of some compact tottally geodesic submanifold S (called the "soul" of V). We prove that "vertizontal" sectional curvatures of V at points with the distance r to S vanish with all their derivatives on r as r goes to zero, if the directions of rays issuing from S span the normal space to S. This implies the (one point positive) Cheeger - Gromoll conjecture for analytic manifolds.