A criterion for compatibility of conformal and projective structures

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Publication:2249767



Abstract: In a space-time, a conformal structure is defined by the distribution of light-cones. Geodesics are traced by freely falling particles, and the collection of all unparameterized geodesics determines the projective structure of the space-time. The article contains a formulation of the necessary and sufficient conditions for these structures to be compatible, i.e. to come from a metric tensor which is then unique up to a constant factor. The theorem applies to all dimensions and signatures.


The authors prove a nice and important theorem giving necessary and sufficient conditions for local compatibility of conformal and projective structures defined on a smooth manifold with a metric tensor and a linear connection. They prove also that if the first cohomology group of the manifold vanishes then these conditions give a global compatibility.











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