The Hopf-Rinow theorem and the Mañé critical value for magnetic geodesics on odd-dimensional spheres (Q6968089)

The authors consider magnetic geodesics on odd-dimensional spheres. The context is as follows: \((M,g)\) is a closed connected Riemannian manifold with \(\sigma \in \Omega^2(M)\). The form \(\sigma\) is called the magnetic field and a ``magnetic system'' consists of \((M,g,\sigma)\). The Lorentz force \(Y: TM \rightarrow TM\) is a skew-symmetric bundle endomorphism with \(g_q(Y_q, v) = \sigma_q(u, v)\) for all \(q\in M, u,v \in T_q M\).\N\NA magnetic geodesic of \((M,g,\sigma)\) is a smooth curve \(\gamma: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow M\) that satisfies \(\nabla_{\dot{\gamma}} = Y_\gamma \dot{\gamma}\), where \(\nabla\) is the Levi-Civita connection of the metric \(g\). The authors suggest that the latter equation should be considered as a linear perturbation of the geodesic equation. That leads to a consideration of the differences and similarities between standard and magnetic geodesics.\N\NThe Hopf-Rinow theorem says that every two points on a connected and geodesically complete manifold can be connected by a standard geodesic. It then follows that every two points on the manifold \(M\) here are connected by a standard geodesic. The authors explore the question of whether this is true for magnetic geodesics having a prescribed kinetic energy\N\NThe Mañé critical value of the system is computed, and it is shown that the value of the system energy is supercritical if and only if all pairs of points on the sphere can be connected by a magnetic geodesic having that value for the energy.