Graded bundles and homogeneity structures (Q654794)

The authors introduce the concept of a graded bundle which is a natural generalization of the concept of a vector bundle. Standard examples are higher tangent bundles \(T^nQ\) playing a fundamental role in higher order Lagrangian formalisms. Graded bundles are graded manifolds in the sense that we can choose an atlas whose local coordinates are homogeneous functions of degrees \(0,1,\dots,n\). The graded bundles have a convenient equivalent description as homogeneity structures, i.e. manifolds with a smooth action of the multiplicative monoid \(({\mathbb R}_+^*)\) of the non-negative reals. The main result of this paper states that each homogeneity structure admits an atlas whose local coordinates are homogeneous. Considering a natural compatibility condition of homogeneity structures the authors formulate the concept of a double (\(r\)-tuple, in general) graded bundle -- a broad generalization of the concept of a double (\(r\)-tuple) vector bundle. Doubly graded bundles are proven to be locally trivial in the sense that one can find local coordinates which are simultaneously homogeneous with respect to both homogeneity structures.