Geometrical and physical characteristics of a class of conformal mappings (Q414528)

Following K. Yano, concircular transformations are conformal transformations \(\overline g= f^{-2}g\) such that \(\text{Hess}_g(f)\) is a scalar multiple of \(\overline g\). If \(g\) is Einstein then \(\overline g\) is Einstein if and only if the transformation is concircular. In the paper under review, the more general concept of a quasi-concircular mapping is introduced by requiring that \(\text{Hess}_g(f)\) is a scalar multiple of \(g\) plus two extra terms of type \(A\otimes A\) and \(B\otimes B\) with 1-forms \(A\) and \(B\). Then it is shown that such a quasi-concircular mapping takes generalized quasi-Einstein metrics to generalized quasi-Einstein metrics, in the sense of \textit{M. C. Chaki} [Publ. Math. 58, No. 4, 683--691 (2001; Zbl 1062.53035)]. A certain tensor \(G\) is introduced which is preserved precisely under quasi-concircular transformations. The level hypersurfaces are shown to be generalized quasi-umbilical. Finally, the concept is studied for recurrent spaces in the sense of Ruse.