No label defined (Q4466491)

A \(k\)th-order \(G\)-structure on a differentiable manifold \(M\) may be considered as a subbundle of the \(k\)th-order frame bundle \(F^k(M, GL_k)\) of \(M\). The author studies the bundle projection \(P^2\to P^1\) and the homomorphism projection \(G^2\to G^1\) of a second- and first-order \(G\)-structure on \(M\), \(P^2(M, G^2)\) and \(P^1(M, G^1)\), respectively. The existence of the second-order flat lifts is proved and certain characteristic classes are defined in terms of a gauge sequence worked out by the author in [Proc. (Conf. of DGA Brno, 1998), 273--283, Masaryk Univ., Brno, 1999] or [Second- order connections via gauge sequence, preprint; per bibs.]. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1034.53002].