On certain geodesic conjugacies of flat cylinders (Q2401137)

This article investigates rigidity questions for surfaces in the sense of [\textit{J.-P. Otal}, Ann. Math. (2) 131, No. 1, 151--162 (1990; Zbl 0699.58018); \textit{C. B. Croke}, Comment. Math. Helv. 65, No. 1, 150--169 (1990; Zbl 0704.53035)]. Consider the generic cylinder \(S^1 \times \mathbb{R}\) and two classes of metrics on it: the class of rotationally symmetric metrics and the class of metrics without conjugate points. In both cases, consider a generic cylinder with its metric and a flat cylinder. The main result is that, whenever there is a homeomorphism between the related tangent bundles which commutes with the geodesic flows (i.e., the two surfaces are \(C^0\)-geodesic conjugate), then they are actually isometric (i.e., \(C^0\)-conjugacy rigidity holds). First, let us consider the generic cylinder with a rotationally symmetric metric on it. By hypothesis there is a \(C^0\)-geodesic conjugacy with a flat cylinder (which is determined, up to isometry, by its radius). Thus, by using Clairaut's relation one can show that there are no slant closed geodesics in the generic cylinder, i.e., there are no closed geodesics which do not have constant height. The result follows by proving that if all closed geodesics have constant height then the generic cylinder is isometric to a circular right cylinder of radius one. The second case of the theorem is proven in two steps. First, the authors show that the \(C^0\)-geodesic conjugacy along the nonexistence of conjugate points imply that the fundamental group of the surface must be \(\mathbb{Z}\); second, they show that the ends of the generic cylinder open out less than linearly thus, by \textit{V. Bangert} and \textit{P. Emmerich} [J. Differ. Geom. 94, No. 3, 367--385 (2013; Zbl 1278.53038)], it is flat. Since the two cylinders are both flat and have the same length spectrum, they are isometric.