The functional definition of generalized geodesics
Functional equations for functions with more general domains and/or ranges (39B52) Functional inequalities, including subadditivity, convexity, etc. (39B62) Linear and affine connections (53B05) Other connections (53B15) Local Riemannian geometry (53B20) Connections (general theory) (53C05) Geodesics in global differential geometry (53C22) Flatness and tameness of topological manifolds (57N45)
Let \(M\) be a finite dimensional topological manifold, \(D\) an open subset of \(M^2\), containing the diagonal and \(I\) an open real interval and let \(f: D\times[0,1] \to M\) satisfy the equation \(f(a,b,(1-\gamma)\alpha+\gamma\beta)=f(f(a,b,\alpha),f(a,b,\beta),\gamma)\) and the boundary conditions \(f(a,b,0)=a\), \(f(a,b,1)=b\) for all \((a,b)\in D\), \((\alpha,\beta,\gamma)\in [0,1]^3.\) The author calls a function \(g: I\to M\) a generalized geodesic if, for somewhat restricted pairs \((\alpha, \beta) \in I^2\) and for all \(\gamma\in [0,1],\) the functional equation \(g((1-\gamma)\alpha+ \gamma\beta)=f(g(\alpha),g(\beta),\gamma)\). A proof is offered that this family of functions contains the geodesics in the usual sense but also other mappings.
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