A class of semibasic vector 1-forms on Finsler manifolds (Q484588)

The authors define a Finsler structure on a manifold \(M\) by a non-negative (energy) function \(E : TM \to \mathbb{R}^{\geq 0}\) on the tangent bundle, homogeneous of degree 2, which is positive and smooth outside the zero section, vanishes on the zero section and such that the associated 2-form \(\omega= d d_J E\) is non-degenerate. Here \(d_J := d \circ J + J \circ J\) and \(J\) is the canonical vertical endomorphism of \(T(TM)\) whose image and kernel is the vertical subbundle \(T^v(TM)\). A field of endomorphism \(h\) on \(T(TM)\) is called semibasic if \(Jh= h, \, (T^v(TM))=0\). An Ehresmann connection on \(M\) is defined as a field of endomorphism \(h\) on \(TM\) such that \(h \circ J = 0,\, J \circ h =J\). It is called conservative if \(d_h E := h dE=0\). The authors characterize conservative semibasic Ehresmann connections in terms of semibasic endomorphisms and, using the correspondence between torsion-free semibasic fields of endomorphisms and the subset of vertical vector fields, they construct a class of semisprays that generate the Ehresmann connections.