The second closed geodesic, the fundamental group, and generic Finsler metrics (Q2163321)

The authors prove that any connected compact Riemannian or Finsler manifold \(M\) of dimension at least \(3\) has infinitely geometrically distinct closed geodesics, as long as either \begin{itemize} \item \(M\) has dimension \(3\) and \(\pi_1(M)\) is infinite, or \item \(M=M_1\# M_2\) is a connected sum, \(M_1\) not simply connected, \(M_2\) not homeomorphic to the sphere, and either \(\pi_1(M_2)\ne 0\) or \(b_1(M_1)>0\). \end{itemize}