The Fadell-Rabinowitz index and multiplicity of non-contractible closed geodesics on Finsler \(\mathbb{R} P^n\) (Q729958)

The author studies the existence of non-contractible closed geodesics on real projective space \(\mathbb{R}P^n\) with an irreversible Finsler metric \(F\). A Finsler metric \(F\) on a manifold \(M\) is called \textit{bumpy} if all closed geodesics \(c\) on \((M,F)\) are non-degenerate, i.e., \(1\not\in\sigma(P_c)\), \(P_c\) being the linearized Poincaré map of \(c\). The three main results of the paper are the following: Theorem 1. On every irreversible Finsler \(n\)-dimensional real projective space \((\mathbb{R}P^n,F)\) with reversibility \(\lambda\) and flag curvature \(K\) satisfying \({16\over 9}\big({\lambda\over{1+\lambda}}\big)^2<K\leq 1\) with \(\lambda<3\), there exist at least \(n-1\) non-contractible closed geodesics. Theorem 2. On every bumpy irreversible Finsler \(n\)-dimensional real projective space \((\mathbb{R}P^n,F)\) with reversibility \(\lambda\) and flag curvature \(K\) satisfying \({64\over 25}\big({\lambda\over{1+\lambda}}\big)^2<K\leq 1\) with \(\lambda<{5\over 3}\), there exist at least \(2[{n+1\over 2}]\) non-contractible closed geodesics. Theorem 3. On every irreversible Finsler \(n\)-dimensional real projective space \((\mathbb{R}P^n,F)\) with reversibility \(\lambda\) and flag curvature \(K\) satisfying \({4m^2\over (n-1)^2}\big({\lambda\over{1+\lambda}}\big)^2<K\leq 1\) with \({n-1\over2}\leq m<n-1\) and \(\lambda<{n-1\over 2m-n+1}\), there exist at least \(m+1\) non-contractible closed geodesics. The main ingredients of the proofs are the Fadell-Rabinowitz index theory of non-contractible closed geodesics on \((\mathbb{R}P^n,F)\) and the \(S^1\)-equivariant Poincaré series of the non-contractible component of the free loop space on \(\mathbb{R}P^n\).