Abstract
In pseudo-Riemannian geometry the spaces of space-like and time-like geodesics on a pseudo-Riemannian manifold have natural symplectic structures (just like in the Riemannian case), while the space of light-like geodesics has a natural contact structure. Furthermore, the space of all geodesics has a structure of a Jacobi manifold. We describe the geometry of these structures and their generalizations. We also introduce and study pseudo-Euclidean billiards, emphasizing their distinction from Euclidean ones. We present a pseudo-Euclidean version of the Clairaut theorem on geodesics on surfaces of revolution. We prove pseudo-Euclidean analogs of the Jacobi-Chasles theorems and show the integrability of the billiard in the ellipsoid and the geodesic flow on the ellipsoid in a pseudo-Euclidean space.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1364-1396 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Advances in Mathematics |
| Volume | 221 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 10 2009 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Mathematics