Gibbs \(u\)-states for the foliated geodesic flow and transverse invariant measures (Q1678499)

Recall that a closed manifold \(M\) of dimension \(n\) possesses a {foliation} of dimension \(d\) (of \(C^\infty\)-class) if it is endowed with a finite foliated atlas \(\mathcal{A} =(U_i, \phi_i)_{i \in I}\), i.e., \((U_i)_{i \in I}\) is a finite open cover of \(M\) and \( \phi_i:U_i \longrightarrow P_i \times T_i\) is a \(C^\infty\)-diffeomorphism (where \(P_i\) and \(T_i\) are cubes of respective dimensions \(d\) and \(n-d\)), and when \(U_i \cap U_j \not=\emptyset\) then the changes of chart \(\phi_j \circ \phi_i\) are \(C^\infty\)-diffeomorphisms of suitable forms. A closed foliated manifold \((M,\mathcal{F})\) is endowed with a {leafwise metric} if each leaf \(L\) one can assign a \(C^\infty\)-Riemannian metric \(g_L\). When all metrics \(g_L\) have negative sectional curvature then the leafwise metric is said {negatively curved}. The unit {tangent bundle} of \(\mathcal{F}\) is the set \(\widehat{M}\) of unit vectors tangent to \(\mathcal{F}\). Then \(\widehat{M}\) is a manifold endowed with a foliation \(\widehat{\mathcal{F}}\) whose leaves are the unit tangent bundles of the leaves of \(\mathcal{F}\). Let us denote by \(G_t\) the {foliated geodesic flow}, by \(\mathcal{W}^s\) and \(\mathcal{W}^u\) the {stable} and {unstable} subfoliations of \(\widehat{\mathcal{F}}\) (see Section \(3\) for definitions). A {Gibbs \(u\)-state} is a probability measure on \(\widehat{M}\) which is invariant by the flow \(G_t\) and has Lebesgue disintegration for \(\mathcal{W}^u\). Similarly, one defines a {Gibbs \(s\)-state}. A {Gibbs \(su\)-state} is a probability measure which is both a Gibbs \(u\)-state and a Gibbs \(s\)-state. The present paper is well written and self-contained. The main result claims that a closed foliated manifold \((M,\mathcal{F})\) endowed with a negatively curved leafwise metric which admits a Gibbs \(su\)-state has a foliation \(\mathcal{F}\) that admits a transverse invariant measure. This gives a new sufficient condition for the existence of a transverse invariant measure. Among other results, introducing the notion of {\(\phi^u\)-harmonic measure}, the author establishes a canonical one-to-one correspondence between Gibbs \(u\)-states and \(\phi^u\)-harmonic measures. Studying the structure of the space of \(\phi^u\)-harmonic measures, an extension of a result due to \textit{S. Matsumoto} [Tohoku Math. J. (2) 64, No. 4, 569--592 (2012; Zbl 1317.53039)] is also provided.