Infinitesimal Isometries Along Curves and Generalized Jacobi Equations

Abstract

On a Riemannian manifold, a solution of the Killing equation is an infinitesimal isometry. Since the Killing equation is overdetermined, infinitesimal isometries do not exist in general. A completely determined prolongation of the Killing equation is a PDE on the bundle of 1-jets of vector fields. Restricted to a curve, this becomes an ODE that generalizes the Jacobi equation. A solution of this ODE is called an infinitesimal isometry along the curve, which we show to be an infinitesimal rigid variation of the curve. We define Killing transport to be the associated linear isometry between fibers of the bundle along the curve, and show that it is parallel translation for a connection on the bundle related to the Riemannian connection. Restricting to dimension two, we study the holonomy of this connection, prove the Gauss–Bonnet theorem by means of Killing transport, and determine the criteria for local existence of infinitesimal isometries.