Generalized linear connections on real manifolds (Q1200411)

The present paper is addressed mainly to theoretical physicists and its purpose is to give an account of the basic aspects of the theory of generalized linear connections due to T. Otsuki. Although Otsuki originally used the tangent and cotangent bundles of order 2, the present approach is based on techniques involving only the bundle of linear frames of a manifold. This framework, according to the author, seems to be fairly well-known to most of the present day theoretical physicists. The main theme of the paper is completed with a brief discussion of some further investigations in the same context.