Generalized Finsler structures on closed 3-manifolds
A Finsler structure \(F\) on a real \(n\)-dimensional manifold \(M\) is a function \(F\) from the tangent bundle \(TM\) to \([0, \infty)\) that is positive and smooth on \(TM\backslash \{0 \}\), has the homogeneity property \(F(x, \lambda v)=\lambda F(x, v)\) for all \(\lambda>0\) and all \(v\in T_x M\), and has the strong convexity condition, namely that the Hessian matrix \((g_{ij})\) given by \[ g_{ij} =\frac{1}{2} \frac{\partial^2 F^2}{\partial y^i \partial y^j} (x,y) \] is positive definite at any point \((x,y)\in TM\backslash \{0\}\). Thus, the function \(F\) determines and is determined by the unit tangent bundle \(\Sigma\subset TM\). In particular, if \(M\) is \(2\)-dimensional, then a Finsler structure \((M, F)\) gives rise to a smooth hypersurface \(\Sigma\) of dimension \(3\) in \(TM\) for which the canonical projection \(\pi: \Sigma\to M\) is a surjective submersion such that for each \(x\in M\) the fiber \(\pi^{-1}(x)\) is strictly convex in \(T_x M\). A \((I, J, K)\)-generalized Finsler structure which was introduced by Bryant is a \(3\)-dimensional manifold \(\Sigma\) equipped with a coframing \(\omega=(\omega^1, \omega^2, \omega^3)\) satisfying the structure equations \[ d\omega^1=-I \omega^1 \wedge \omega^3 + \omega^2 \wedge \omega^3,\;d\omega^2=- \omega^1 \wedge \omega^3,\;d\omega^3= K\omega^1 \wedge \omega^2 -J \omega^1 \wedge \omega^3, \] where \(I, J, K\) are smooth functions on \(\Sigma\) [\textit{R. L. Bryant}, Contemp. Math. 196, 27--41 (1996; Zbl 0864.53054)]. It is easy to see that for a \((I, J, K)\)-generalized Finsler structure on \(\Sigma\), two \(1\)-forms \(\omega^1\) and \(\omega^2\) are always contact forms. Recall that a \(3\)-dimensional manifold \(\Sigma\) is said to admit a contact circle if it admits a pair \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\) of contact forms such that the linear combination \(\lambda_1\alpha^1 +\lambda_2\alpha^2\) with \(\lambda_1^2+\lambda_2^2=1\) is again a contact form. Moreover, a contact circle \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\) is called taut if the contact forms \(\lambda_1\alpha^1 +\lambda_2\alpha^2\) define the same volume form for all pairs \((\lambda_1, \lambda_2)\) with \(\lambda_1^2+\lambda_2^2=1\). It is easy to see that a contact circle \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\) is taut if and only if the following conditions are satisfied: \[ \alpha^1\wedge d\alpha^1=\alpha^2 \wedge d \alpha^2 \neq 0,\;\alpha^1\wedge d\alpha^2 +\alpha^2 \wedge d \alpha^1=0. \] It turns out that \(\Sigma\) admits a taut contact circle if and only if it is diffeomorphic to the quotient of a Lie group \(G\) by a discrete subgroup \(\Gamma\), acting by left multiplication, where \(G\) is one of the following: (1) \(S^3=\mathrm{SU}(2)\), (2) \(\widetilde{\mathrm{SL}}_2\), the universal cover of \(\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})\), (3) \(\widetilde{E}_2\), the universal cover of the group of orientation-preserving isometries of \(\mathbb{R}^2\) [\textit{H. Geiges} and \textit{J. Gonzalo}, Invent. Math. 121, No. 1, 147--209 (1995; Zbl 1002.53501)]. As a special case of contact circles, \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\) is called a Cartan structure on \(\Sigma\) if the following conditions holds: \[ \alpha^1\wedge d\alpha^1=\alpha^2 \wedge d \alpha^2 \neq 0,\;\alpha^1\wedge d\alpha^2 =\alpha^2 \wedge d \alpha^1=0. \] It can be shown that for a Cartan structure \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\), there is a unique \(1\)-form \(\eta\) on \(\Sigma\) such that \[ d\alpha^1 = \alpha^2 \wedge \eta, \;\;d\alpha^2 = \eta\wedge \alpha^1. \] The Cartan structure \((\alpha^1, \alpha^2)\) is called a \(\mathcal{K}\)-\textit{Cartan structure} if, in addition, the unique \(1\)-form \(\eta\) above satisfies \(d\eta=\mathcal{K} \alpha^1\wedge \alpha^2\). The paper under review shows that an \((I, J, 1)\)-generalized Finsler structure on \(\Sigma\) naturally induces a \(\mathcal{K}\)-contact structure and that the converse is also true. As a consequence, it easily follows that \(\Sigma\) admits an \((I, J, 1)\)-generalized Finsler structure if and only if it is diffeomorphic to the quotient of a Lie group \(G\) by a discrete subgroup \(\Gamma\), acting by left multiplication, where \(G\) is one of the following: (1) \(S^3=\mathrm{SU}(2)\), (2) \(\widetilde{\mathrm{SL}}_2\), the universal cover of \(\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})\), (3) \(\widetilde{E}_2\), the universal cover of the group of orientation-preserving isometries of \(\mathbb{R}^2\). Finally, the paper also shows how to construct explicit non-trivial \((I, J, 1)\)-generalized Finsler structures on each quotient manifold from (1)--(3) above.
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