Progress in the theory of singular Riemannian foliations

Abstract

A singular foliation is called a singular Riemannian foliation (SRF) if every geodesic that is perpendicular to one leaf is perpendicular to every leaf it meets. A typical example is the partition of a complete Riemannian manifold into orbits of an isometric action.In this survey, we provide an introduction to the theory of SRFs, leading from the foundations to recent developments. Sketches of proofs are included and useful techniques are emphasized. We study the local structure of SRFs in general and under curvature conditions in particular. We also review the solution of the Palais–Terng problem on integrability of the horizontal distribution. Important special classes of SRFs, like polar and variationally complete foliations and their relations, are treated. A characterization of SRFs whose leaf space is an orbifold is given. Moreover, desingularizations of SRFs are studied and applications, e.g., to Molinoʼs conjecture, are presented.