Finsler metrics and semi-symmetric compatible linear connections

Abstract

Finsler metrics are direct generalizations of Riemannian metrics such that the quadratic Riemannian indicatrices in the tangent spaces of a manifold are replaced by more general convex bodies as unit spheres. A linear connection on the base manifold is called compatible with the Finsler metric if the induced parallel transports preserve the Finslerian length of tangent vectors. Finsler manifolds admitting compatible linear connections are called generalized Berwald manifolds Wagner (Dokl Acad Sci USSR (N.S.) 39:3–5, 1943). Compatible linear connections are the solutions of the so-called compatibility equations containing the components of the torsion tensor as unknown quantities. Although there are some theoretical results for the solvability of the compatibility equations (monochromatic Finsler metrics Bartelmeß and Matveev (J Diff Geom Appl 58:264–271, 2018), extremal compatible linear connections and algorithmic solutions Vincze (Aequat Math 96:53–70, 2022)), it is very hard to solve them in general because compatible linear connections may or may not exist on a Finsler manifold and may or may not be unique. Therefore special cases are of special interest. One of them is the case of the so-called semi-symmetric compatible linear connection with decomposable torsion tensor. It is proved Vincze (Publ Math Debrecen 83(4):741–755, 2013 (see also Vincze (Euro J Math 3:1098–1171, 2017))) that such a compatible linear connection must be uniquely determined. The original proof is based on averaging in the sense that the 1-form in the decomposition of the torsion tensor can be expressed by integrating differential forms on the tangent manifold over the Finslerian indicatrices. The integral formulas are very difficult to compute in practice. In what follows we present a new proof for the uniqueness by using linear algebra and some basic facts about convex bodies. We present an explicit formula for the solution without integration. The method has a new contribution to the problem as well: necessary conditions of the solvability are formulated in terms of intrinsic equations without unknown quantities.