Search results for "Mathematics - Differential Geometry"
showing 10 items of 140 documents
Rigidity and almost rigidity of Sobolev inequalities on compact spaces with lower Ricci curvature bounds
2021
We prove that if $M$ is a closed $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold, $n \ge 3$, with ${\rm Ric}\ge n-1$ and for which the optimal constant in the critical Sobolev inequality equals the one of the $n$-dimensional sphere $\mathbb{S}^n$, then $M$ is isometric to $\mathbb{S}^n$. An almost-rigidity result is also established, saying that if equality is almost achieved, then $M$ is close in the measure Gromov-Hausdorff sense to a spherical suspension. These statements are obtained in the ${\rm RCD}$-setting of (possibly non-smooth) metric measure spaces satisfying synthetic lower Ricci curvature bounds. An independent result of our analysis is the characterization of the best constant in the Sob…
Broken ray transform on a Riemann surface with a convex obstacle
2014
We consider the broken ray transform on Riemann surfaces in the presence of an obstacle, following earlier work of Mukhometov. If the surface has nonpositive curvature and the obstacle is strictly convex, we show that a function is determined by its integrals over broken geodesic rays that reflect on the boundary of the obstacle. Our proof is based on a Pestov identity with boundary terms, and it involves Jacobi fields on broken rays. We also discuss applications of the broken ray transform.
Extremal polynomials in stratified groups
2018
We introduce a family of extremal polynomials associated with the prolongation of a stratified nilpotent Lie algebra. These polynomials are related to a new algebraic characterization of abnormal subriemannian geodesics in stratified nilpotent Lie groups. They satisfy a set of remarkable structure relations that are used to integrate the adjoint equations.
Constant angle surfaces in 4-dimensional Minkowski space
2019
Abstract We first define a complex angle between two oriented spacelike planes in 4-dimensional Minkowski space, and then study the constant angle surfaces in that space, i.e. the oriented spacelike surfaces whose tangent planes form a constant complex angle with respect to a fixed spacelike plane. This notion is the natural Lorentzian analogue of the notion of constant angle surfaces in 4-dimensional Euclidean space. We prove that these surfaces have vanishing Gauss and normal curvatures, obtain representation formulas for the constant angle surfaces with regular Gauss maps and construct constant angle surfaces using PDE’s methods. We then describe their invariants of second order and show…
On the range of the attenuated ray transform for unitary connections
2013
We describe the range of the attenuated ray transform of a unitary connection on a simple surface acting on functions and 1-forms. We use this to determine the range of the ray transform acting on symmetric tensor fields.
Abelian varieties and theta functions associated to compact Riemannian manifolds; constructions inspired by superstring theory
2012
We look into a construction of principal abelian varieties attached to certain spin manifolds, due to Witten and Moore-Witten around 2000 and try to place it in a broader framework. This is related to Weil intermediate Jacobians but it also suggests to associate abelian varieties to polarized even weight Hodge structures. The latter construction can also be explained in terms of algebraic groups which might be useful from the point of view of Tannakian categories. The constructions depend on moduli much as in Teichm\"uller theory although the period maps in general are only real analytic. One of the nice features is how the index for certain differential operators canonically associated to …
Spectral rigidity and invariant distributions on Anosov surfaces
2014
This article considers inverse problems on closed Riemannian surfaces whose geodesic flow is Anosov. We prove spectral rigidity for any Anosov surface and injectivity of the geodesic ray transform on solenoidal 2-tensors. We also establish surjectivity results for the adjoint of the geodesic ray transform on solenoidal tensors. The surjectivity results are of independent interest and imply the existence of many geometric invariant distributions on the unit sphere bundle. In particular, we show that on any Anosov surface $(M,g)$, given a smooth function $f$ on $M$ there is a distribution in the Sobolev space $H^{-1}(SM)$ that is invariant under the geodesic flow and whose projection to $M$ i…
An Inverse Problem for the Relativistic Boltzmann Equation
2020
We consider an inverse problem for the Boltzmann equation on a globally hyperbolic Lorentzian spacetime $(M,g)$ with an unknown metric $g$. We consider measurements done in a neighbourhood $V\subset M$ of a timelike path $\mu$ that connects a point $x^-$ to a point $x^+$. The measurements are modelled by a source-to-solution map, which maps a source supported in $V$ to the restriction of the solution to the Boltzmann equation to the set $V$. We show that the source-to-solution map uniquely determines the Lorentzian spacetime, up to an isometry, in the set $I^+(x^-)\cap I^-(x^+)\subset M$. The set $I^+(x^-)\cap I^-(x^+)$ is the intersection of the future of the point $x^-$ and the past of th…
On one-dimensionality of metric measure spaces
2019
In this paper, we prove that a metric measure space which has at least one open set isometric to an interval, and for which the (possibly non-unique) optimal transport map exists from any absolutely continuous measure to an arbitrary measure, is a one-dimensional manifold (possibly with boundary). As an immediate corollary we obtain that if a metric measure space is a very strict $CD(K,N)$ -space or an essentially non-branching $MCP(K,N)$-space with some open set isometric to an interval, then it is a one-dimensional manifold. We also obtain the same conclusion for a metric measure space which has a point in which the Gromov-Hausdorff tangent is unique and isometric to the real line, and fo…
A sharp stability estimate for tensor tomography in non-positive curvature
2021
Funder: University of Cambridge