On the growth rate of geodesic chords (Q1995633)

On a forward complete Finsler manifold \(M\), the number \(n(\ell, p,q)\), of geometrically distinct geodesics between \(p\) and \(q\), of length less or equal to \(\ell\), is investigated. It is shown that every forward complete Finsler manifold, of infinite fundamental group and not homotopy-equivalent to \(S^1\), has infinitely many geometrically distinct geodesics joining any given pair of points \(p\) and \(q\) \[ n(\ell, p, q)\to \infty, \ \ \text{as} \ \ \ell \to \infty , \ \ \forall \ p,q\in M. \] In a special case, when the first Betti number \(\beta_1(M; \mathbb Z) \geq 1\) and \(M\) is closed, the number of geometrically distinct geodesics between two points grows at least logarithmically. Without the closedness assumption \[ n(\ell, p, q)\geq \frac{\log(\log \ell)}{2\log 2}+b(q), \ \ \forall\ \ell>0, \ p,q\in M, \] for some continuous function \(b:M\to \mathbb R\).