Volume-Minimizing Foliations on Spheres

Abstract

The volume of a k-dimensional foliation $${\cal F}$$ in a Riemannian manifold M n is defined as the mass of the image of the Gauss map, which is a map from M to the Grassmann bundle of k-planes in the tangent bundle. Generalizing the construction by Gluck and Ziller (Comment. Math. Helv. 61 (1986), 177–192), ‘singular’ foliations by 3-spheres are constructed on round spheres S4n+3, as well as a singular foliation by 7-spheres on S15, which minimize volume within their respective relative homology classes. These singular examples, even though they are not homologous to the graph of a foliation, provide lower bounds for volumes of regular three-dimensional foliations of S4n+3 and regular seven-dimensional foliations of S15, since the double of these currents will be homologous to twice the graph of any smooth foliation by 3-manifolds.