Nonlinear connections in synthetic differential geometry (Q1295582)

One of the most promising applications of synthetic differential geometry appears to be mechanics, in which nonlinear connections are of particular interest. In the present paper they are studied in a synthetic context, as a generalization of the linear (i.e., pointwise) ones, a treatment of which can be found in [\textit{R. Lavendhomme}, ``Basic Concepts of Synthetic Differential Geometry'' (1996; Zbl 0866.58001)]. Synthetic nonlinear connections thus correspond to a concrete formulation of tensor fields of type \((1,1)\) on the tangent bundle. To examine their relationship to semisprays, or second-order differential equations, an alternative synthetic version of the torsion for a nonlinear connection is provided. Under the assumption of two conjectures that are coming from classical considerations, the existence and uniqueness of a connection associated to a given semispray and strong torsion is then concluded.