The metric completion of the space of vector-valued one-forms (Q6174797)

This paper studies the metric completion of the space of vector-valued one-forms. It is known that the space of full-ranked one-forms on a smooth, orientable compact manifold is metrically incomplete with respect to the induced geodesic distances of the generalized Ebin metric. The interest in the generalized Ebin metric stems from its possible application in the shape analysis of curves and surfaces. By investigating the induced metric structure of the generalized Ebin metric, an equality between the induced geodesic distances of the generalized Ebin metric on the space of full-ranked one-forms and the corresponding Riemannian metric defined on each fiber is established. Consequently, a concrete characterization of the metric completion of the space of full-ranked one-forms is given. It is also shown that the space of Riemannian metrics, equipped with the geodesic distance induced by a multiple of the Ebin metric, is isometric to a quotient of the space of full-ranked one-forms with the geodesic distance induced by the generalized Ebin metric. It is remarkable to note that such an isometry provides an analogy of the relationship between the space of positive definite symmetric matrices and the space of full-rank matrices. The authors employ standard analytical techniques in the proofs of their results, and they also include some materials in the appendix to aid the comprehension of the paper.