Path-lifting properties of the exponential map with applications to geodesics

Abstract: We revisit certain path-lifting and path-continuation properties of abstract maps as described in the work of F. Browder and R. Rheindboldt in 1950-1960s, and apply their elegant theory to exponential maps. We obtain thereby a number of novel results of existence and multiplicity of geodesics joining any two points of a connected affine manifold, as well as

i t c a u s a l

geodesics connecting any two causally related points on a Lorentzian manifold. These results include a generalization of the well-known Hadamard-Cartan theorem of Riemannian geometry to the affine manifold context, as well as a new version of the so-called Lorentzian Hadamard-Cartan theorem using weaker assumptions than global hyperbolicity and timelike 1-connectedness required in the extant version. We also include a general discription of

i t p s e u d o c o n v e x i t y

and

i t d i s p r i s o n m e n t

of broad classes of geodesics in terms of suitable restrictions of the exponential map. The latter description sheds further light on the the relation between pseudoconvexity and disprisonment of a given such class on the one hand, and geodesic connectedness by members of that class on the other.

Review text

Let \((M^m, \nabla )\) be a smooth \(m\)-dimensional manifold endowed with an affine connection. The authors deal with the geodesic connectedness problem: if \(M\) is connected is it possible that any two points are connected through a geodesic segment? An important setting where this problem is very interesting is that of semi-Riemannian geometry with the corresponding Levi-Civita connection. The present approach is partially inspired by the work of \textit{J. K. Beem} and \textit{P. E. Parker} [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 155, 137--142 (1989; Zbl 0695.53022)], that gives conditions for the geodesic completeness in terms of \textit{disprisonment} and \textit{pseudoconvexity} of families of geodesics. The authors express these features in terms of the properness of the exponential map. Thus they are able to prove both an affine generalization and a Lorentzian version of the well-known Cartan-Hadamard theorem.

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