Lorentzian Legendrian mean curvature flow (Q358852)

Let \((M,g)\) be a Riemannian and \(L\) a smooth manifold. A family of immersions \(\varphi_t:L\rightarrow M\) is called a mean curvature flow if it satisfies \(\frac{d}{dt}\varphi_t=\mathbf{H}\) where \(\mathbf{H}\) is the mean curvature vector field of the immersion. The literature on mean curvature flows is extensive, especially in the codimension-one case. In higher codimensions, the Lagrangian mean curvature flow is of particular interest, because the class of Lagrangian submanifolds of a symplectic manifold is preserved by the mean curvature flow if the ambient manifold is Kähler-Einstein [\textit{K. Smoczyk}, Math. Z. 240, No. 4, 849--883 (2002; Zbl 1020.53045)]. A related class of submanifolds are the Legendrian submanifolds of a Sasaki manifold. The Legendrian condition is not preserved by the mean curvature flow, so a modified Legendrian mean curvature flow is considered instead [\textit{K. Smoczyk}, New York J. Math. 9, 23--47 (2003; Zbl 1019.53034)]. This has the property that the Legendrian condition is preserved by the flow if \(M\) is a Sasaki pseudo-Einstein manifold. Here the author considers the case, when the ambient space is a Lorentzian Sasaki manifold. These appear naturally in the study of Killing spinors in Lorentzian manifolds [\textit{H. Baum}, J. Geom. Phys. 34, No. 3--4, 270--286 (2000; Zbl 0965.53046)]. As in the Riemannian case, there is a natural Lorentzian Legendrian flow preserving the Legendrian condition. The author proves several convergence results for closed Legendrian initial curves \(\varphi:L\rightarrow M\) in a compact Lorentzian Sasaki manifold \((M,g,\zeta)\) with constant sectional curvature \(\sigma\) on the contact distribution \(\mathcal{D}\). (i) If the curvature \(k\) of the initial immersion \(\varphi\) satisfies \(k^2+\sigma-3\leq 0\), then the Lorentzian Legendrian flow has a smooth solution for \(t\in [0,\infty)\). Furthermore, if the rotation number \(\mathrm{rot}(L)=0\), then the curves converge in \(C^\infty\) to a closed Legendrian geodesic as \(t\rightarrow\infty\). If \(\mathrm{rot}(L)\neq 0\), then a subsequence of the flow converges in \(C^\infty\) to a closed Legendrian curve of constant nonzero curvature. (ii) If \(\sigma\leq 3\), \(\mathrm{rot}(L)=0\), and the Legendrian angle \(\alpha\) satisfies \(\mathrm{osc}(\alpha)\leq \pi\), then the Lorentzian Legendrian flow has a smooth solution for \(t\in[0,\infty)\) and the curves converge in \(C^\infty\) to a closed Legendrian geodesic. Finally, the author also proves a result for general Legendrian isotopies. Suppose \(L_0\) is a compact oriented Legendrian immersion into a Lorentzian \(\eta\)-Einstein manifold. Then under several technical assumptions one has a lower bound \(\mathrm{vol}(L_1)\geq c>0\) for any Legendrian immersion \(L_1\) which is Legendrian isotopic to \(L_0\).