On conformal vector fields on Randers manifolds (Q1933958)

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On conformal vector fields on Randers manifolds
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    On conformal vector fields on Randers manifolds (English)
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    28 January 2013
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    In an \(n\)-dimensional Finsler manifold \((M,F)\), a diffeomorphism \(\varphi\) is called a conformal transformation if it satisfies \(F(\varphi(x),\varphi_\ast(y))= e^{2c(x)}F(x,y)\), where \(y\in T_xM\), \(c(x)\) is a function on \(M\) and \(\varphi_\ast:T_xM\longrightarrow T_{\varphi(x)}M\) is the tangent map at a point \(x\). A vector field \(V\) on a Finsler manifold \((M,F)\) is called a conformal vector field if the \(1\)-parameter transformation \(\varphi_t\) generated by \(V\) is a conformal transformation on \((M,F)\). A special family of Finsler metrics is the family of Randers metrics \(F=\alpha+\beta\), where \(\alpha=\sqrt{a_{ij}y^iy^j}\) is a Riemannian metric and \(\beta=b_iy^i\) is a \(1\)-form with \(\|\beta_x\|_{\alpha}<1\). In this paper, the authors study conformal vector fields on a Randers manifold. They give several equivalent characterizations for conformal vector fields on a Randers manifold and establish the relationships between the curvatures of a given Randers metric \(F\) and that of the new metric \(\tilde{F}\) defined by \(F(x,\frac{y}{\widetilde{F}(x,y)}-V_x)=1\), \(y\in T_xM\), where \(V\) is a conformal vector field on \((M,F)\). Finally, they determine the conformal vector fields on a Randers manifold of weakly isotropic flag curvature.
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    Randers metric
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    conformal vector field
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    flag curvature
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    navigation problem
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