On the geodesics in the orthonormal frame bundle of a Riemannian manifold (Q2466289)

The linear frame bundle \(P(M)\) of a given Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\) can be endowed with the Sasaki-Mok metric. The orthonormal frame bundle \(F(M)\), considered as a submanifold of \(P(M)\), can be endowed with the induced metric which is also called the Sasaki-Mok metric. Using a globally defined vector frame field of \(F(M)\), the author derives a simple version of the geodesic equation and investigates properties of the geodesics in \(F(M).\) The orthogonal group \(O(n + 1),\) endowed with the standard metric induced by the negative Killing form, is conformal to the orthogonal frame bundle \(F(S^n(\sqrt 2))\) (Proposition 3.1). This offers a useful viewpoint to study geometrical properties of \(O(n + 1).\) In the case of the 2-sphere \(S^2(\sqrt 2)),\) the author obtains a generalization of a result of Klingenberg and Sasaki from which it follows that every complete geodesic of \(O(3)\) is periodic. The natural question then is how to characterize the periodicity of geodesics in a general \(O(n + 1).\) The author gives a complete solution for \(O(4)\) by using a globally defined vector frame field over \(S^3(\sqrt 2)\) which simplifies the geodesic equation into a linear system.