New results on noncompact harmonic manifolds

DOI10.4171/CMH/265zbMATH Open1287.53056arXiv0910.3872MaRDI QIDQ439893FDOQ439893

Gerhard Knieper

Publication date: 17 August 2012

Published in: Commentarii Mathematici Helvetici (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The Lichnerowicz conjecture asserts that all harmonic manifolds are either flat or locally symmetric spaces of rank~1. This conjecture has been proved by Z. Szab'{o} cite{Sz} for harmonic manifolds with compact universal cover. E. Damek and F. Ricci cite{DR} provided examples showing that in the noncompact case the conjecture is wrong. However, such manifolds do not admit a compact quotient. In this paper we study, using a notion of rank, the asymptotic geometry and the geodesic flow on simply connected nonflat and noncompact harmonic manifolds denoted by $X$. In the first part of the paper we show that the following assertions are equivalent. The volume growth is purely exponential, the rank of $X$ is one, the geodesic flow is Anosov with respect to the Sasaki metric, $X$ is Gromov hyperbolic. In the second part of the paper we show that the geodesic flow is Anosov if $X$ is a nonflat harmonic manifold with no focal points. In the course of the proof we obtain that certain partially hyperbolic flows on arbitrary Riemannian manifolds without focal points are Anosov, which is of interest beyond harmonic manifolds. Combining the results of this paper with the rigidity theorem's of cite{BCG}, cite{BFL} and cite{FL}, we confirm the Lichnerowicz conjecture for all compact harmonic manifolds without focal points or with Gromov hyperbolic fundamental groups.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0910.3872

zbMATH Keywords

geodesic flowhorosphereconjugate pointsexponential volume growthharmonic manifoldLichnerowicz conjecture

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Smooth ergodic theory, invariant measures for smooth dynamical systems (37C40) Uniformly hyperbolic systems (expanding, Anosov, Axiom A, etc.) (37D20) Foliations (differential geometric aspects) (53C12) Global geometric and topological methods (à la Gromov); differential geometric analysis on metric spaces (53C23) Rigidity results (53C24) Differential geometric aspects of harmonic maps (53C43)

Cited In (18)

• The marked length spectrum of Anosov manifolds
• Harmonic functions on rank one asymptotically harmonic manifolds
• Busemann functions in a harmonic manifold
• New proof of the Hörmander multiplier theorem on compact manifolds without boundary
• Submanifolds, isoperimetric inequalities and optimal transportation
• The shifted wave equation on non-flat harmonic manifolds
• Entropy rigidity of symmetric spaces without focal points
• Information geometry of Busemann-barycenter for probability measures
• Differential operators on non-compact harmonic manifolds
• Integral geometric properties of non-compact harmonic spaces
• Boundaries of non-compact harmonic manifolds
• The Fourier transform on harmonic manifolds of purely exponential volume growth
• Harmonic manifolds of hypergeometric type and spherical Fourier transform
• Harmonic Hadamard manifolds and Gauss hypergeometric differential equations
• Minimal codimension one foliation of a symmetric space by Damek-Ricci spaces
• Geodesic stretch, pressure metric and marked length spectrum rigidity
• Harmonic manifolds and tubes
• Dynamics of \(L^p\) multipliers on harmonic manifolds

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