Outer curvature and conformal geometry of an imbedding (Q1184374)

Let \(M\) be a \(p\)-dimensional space-like or time-like submanifold imbedded in an \(n\)-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifold \(N\). Denote by \(K^ \sigma_{\mu\nu}\) and \(g\) the coefficients of the second fundamental form and the metric tensor of \(M\). The author defines the conformation tensor \(C^ \sigma_{\mu\nu}\) to be the tensor given by \(K^ \sigma_{\mu\nu}-{1\over p}( \text{trace} K^ \sigma)g_{\mu\nu}\); and hence the submanifold has vanishing conformation tensor if and only if it is totally umbilical. The author calls the projected covariant derivative of the second fundamental form as the third fundamental tensor. In this paper the author studies the relations between the Riemannian curvature tensor, the first fundamental form, the second fundamental form, the third fundamental form, the conformation tensor, and the conformal changes of the metric tensor. In particular, he studies basic properties of submanifolds with vanishing conformation tensor, in conformally flat spaces.