Hopf-Rinow theorem in the Sato Grassmannian (Q952499)

The authors consider the connected component of an infinite projection \(p\) in \(\mathcal{H}\) in the Hilbert-Schmidt restricted Grassmannian, denoted \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\), corresponding to the polarization \(\mathcal{H}=p(\mathcal{H})\oplus p(\mathcal{H})^\perp\). The restricted Grassmannian, also known in the literature as the Sato Grassmannian, is related to several areas of mathematics and physics, such as loop theory, integrable systems, group representation theory, string theory. The main purpose in this article is the study of the geometric features of \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\). The most interesting result establishes the validity of the Hopf-Rinow theorem for \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\): any pair of points in \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\) can be joined by minimal geodesics. Also, there are minimal geodesics which have arbitrary length. These results are easily extended to the other components of the restricted Grassmannian. In order to prove the main result, the authors first need to show that \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\) is a differentiable manifold. This is known, although they give a simple proof that \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\) is a smooth submanifold of an affine Hilbert space. Moreover, \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\) is a homogeneous reductive space. Secondly, they introduce a natural metric, endowed by the trace inner product in every tangent space, and finally consider its Levi-Civita connection. This connection was considered before [\textit{Ö. Pekonen}, Manuscr. Math. 63, No.~1, 21--27 (1989; Zbl 0682.58010)]. The authors prove that this connection coincides with a linear connection induced by the reductive structure, thus simplifying the computation of the geodesics curves. As a further result, they replace the 2-norm endowed by the trace inner product by the \(k\)-Schatten norm with \(k > 2\), and prove that the geodesics are also minimal for these norms, up to a critical value of \(t\), which is estimated also in terms of the usual operator norm. In both settings, \(k=2\) and \(k>2\), the minimality results are proved first in the classical Banach-Lie group \(U_2(\mathcal{H})\), and then derived for \(Gr_{res}^0 (p)\) via a natural immersion of projections as unitaries.