On completeness of groups of diffeomorphisms (Q2628339)

The article under review studies completeness properties of Sobolev diffeomorphism groups \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) endowed with strong Riemannian metrics for \(M\) either \(\mathbb{R}^d\) or a compact manifold without boundary. Among the main results of the paper, it is proved that for \(s \mathrm{dim } M /2 +1\) the group \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) is geodesically and metrically complete. Further, elements in the same connected component of \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) can be joined by a minimal geodesic. As an application, the authors establish result on groups of diffeomorphism and Karcher means used in the context of diffeomorphic image matching. The article commences with an introduction outlining the papers results in relation to the state of the art in the field. In particular, a historical overview on Riemannian geometry on diffeomorphism groups (e.g.\ Euler-Arnold theory, Ebin and Marsdens work) is provided together with some comments on the application in image matching (building on work by \textit{A. Trouvé} [``Diffeomorphisms groups and pattern matching in image analysis'', Int. J. Comput. Vis. 28, No. 3, 213--221 (1998; \url{doi:10.1023/a:1008001603737})], cf.\ also \textit{L. Younes} [Shapes and diffeomorphisms. Berlin: Springer (2010; Zbl 1205.68355)]. After presenting a quick review of the group \(\mathcal{D}^s (\mathbb{R}^d)\) of Sobolev diffeomorphisms in Section 2, the authors investigate flows of \(L^1\)-vector fields on \(H^s (\mathbb{R}^d , \mathbb{R}^d)\). Section 3 provides the necessary background and auxiliary tools for this investigation. Then existence and continuity of the flow map \[ \mathrm{Fl} : L^1 (I, \mathfrak{X}^d (\mathbb{R}^d)) \rightarrow C(I,\mathcal{D}^s (\mathbb{R}^d)) \] is investigated in Section 4. Here \(\mathfrak{X}^d (\mathbb{R}^d)\) denotes the space of Sobolev type vector fields and \(I\) is a compact interval contianing \(0\). As the flow map is defined on \(L^1\) functions the investigation leads to Carathéodory type differential equations, for which a brief recollection is included as Appendix A in the article. Generalising a method by \textit{H. Inci} [On well-posedness of the incompressible Euler equation. Zurich: Univ. Zurich (PhD Thesis) (2012); \url{arXiv:1301.5997}], the authors establish existence and continuity of the flow map for \(s d/2 +1\). In Section 5, the previous results are then adapted to obtain suitable versions of existence and uniqueness of a flow map for a compact manifold \(M\) without boundary. Namely, the authors prove (Theorem 5.8) that for \(s \mathrm{dim } M /2 +1\) and every \(t\in I\) the flow map \[ \mathrm{Fl}_t : L^1 (I, \mathfrak{X}^s (M)) \rightarrow \mathcal{D}^s (M), u \mapsto \mathrm{Fl} (u)(t) \] is continuous. In Section 6, right-invariant Riemannian metrics on \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) are constructed from metrics on the tangent space of the identity of the form \[ \langle u,v\rangle_{H^s} = \int_M g(u,Lv) d\mu \quad u,v \in \mathfrak{X}^s (M) \] where \(L\) is a positive, self-adjoint, elliptic operator of order \(2s\). Since \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) is only a topological group, one obtains in general only continuous Riemannian metrics. The completeness results in Section 8 are then established under the hypothesis that \(G^s\) is a smooth Riemannian metric (e.g.\ \(s\) is an integer and \(L= \mathrm{id} + \Delta\), where \(\Delta\) is th positive definite Hodge Laplacian). If this hypothesis is satisfied, then elements in the same connected component can be joined by minimizing geodesics and \(\mathcal{D}^s (M)\) becomes a metrically and geodesically complete space (Corollary 7.6). Finally, Section 8 outlines applications of this theory to diffeomorphic image matching. For example, the authors prove that the identity component of \(\mathcal{D}^s (\mathbb{R}^d)\) coincides with a certain group of Sobolev diffeomorphisms introduced by Trouvé [loc. cit.].