Jacobi fields along a geodesic with random curvature. (Q1889549)

Basic results on geometric properties of manifolds and surfaces are generally considered in the context of contrasting the properties of manifolds of positive and negative curvatures. It is desirable to obtain some general results on the structure of manifolds with alternating curvature, but it is unclear how to determine which general properties might constitute a substantial theory. The authors approach this question by introducing probability techniques and in this paper they consider the behavior of Jacobi fields along geodesics. The concept of a renewable geodesic on which the curvature is a random process is defined. It is shown that the modulus of the Jacobi field along such a geodesic grows exponentially. The existence, with probability one, of infinitely many conjugate points is also proved. Thus, the behavior of the Jacobi fields on a manifold with random curvature has common features with both manifolds of negative and positive curvature.