\(k\)-parameter geodesic variations (Q451026)

Recall that a ``semispray'' on a smooth manifold \(M\) is a vector field \(H\) on \(TM\) (i.e., a section of \(TTM\)) such that \(d(\pi_{TM})_v H_v=v\) for all \(v\in TM\), where \(\pi_{TM}: TM\to M\) is the tangent bundle projection. Regular semisprays, also called ``sprays'', are semisprays whose integral curves \(t\to\gamma_H(t,v)\) satisfy \(\gamma_H(\lambda t,v)=\gamma_H(t,\lambda v)\) for \(\lambda>0\). For example, when \(M\) is equipped with a Riemannian metric, the geodesic vector field on \(TM\) is a spray (called the geodesic spray), and its integral curves are geodesics parameterized by arclength. The ``complete lift'' of a semispray \(S\) on \(M\) is a semispray \(S^{(1)}\) on \(TM\). In the case of the geodesic spray, its complete lift is a semispray on \(TM\) whose integral curves are Jacobi fields. In the paper under review, a notion of ``iterated complete lifts'' of a semispray \(S\) on \(M\) is introduced; these are semisprays \(S^{(k)}\) on iterated tangent bundles \(T^{(k)}M\). The main results of the paper are iterated versions of the above statement relating Jacobi fields with the integral curves of the complete lift of the geodesic spray. No applications are discussed.