# nLab geodesic

Contents

### Context

#### Riemannian geometry

Riemannian geometry

## Applications

#### Differential geometry

synthetic differential geometry

Introductions

from point-set topology to differentiable manifolds

Differentials

V-manifolds

smooth space

Tangency

The magic algebraic facts

Theorems

Axiomatics

cohesion

tangent cohesion

differential cohesion

$\array{ && id &\dashv& id \\ && \vee && \vee \\ &\stackrel{fermionic}{}& \rightrightarrows &\dashv& \rightsquigarrow & \stackrel{bosonic}{} \\ && \bot && \bot \\ &\stackrel{bosonic}{} & \rightsquigarrow &\dashv& \mathrm{R}\!\!\mathrm{h} & \stackrel{rheonomic}{} \\ && \vee && \vee \\ &\stackrel{reduced}{} & \Re &\dashv& \Im & \stackrel{infinitesimal}{} \\ && \bot && \bot \\ &\stackrel{infinitesimal}{}& \Im &\dashv& \& & \stackrel{\text{étale}}{} \\ && \vee && \vee \\ &\stackrel{cohesive}{}& ʃ &\dashv& \flat & \stackrel{discrete}{} \\ && \bot && \bot \\ &\stackrel{discrete}{}& \flat &\dashv& \sharp & \stackrel{continuous}{} \\ && \vee && \vee \\ && \emptyset &\dashv& \ast }$

Models

Lie theory, ∞-Lie theory

differential equations, variational calculus

Chern-Weil theory, ∞-Chern-Weil theory

Cartan geometry (super, higher)

# Contents

## Idea

On a Riemannian manifold $(X,g)$, a geodesic (or geodesic line, geodesic path) is a path $x : I \to X$, for some (possibly infinite) interval $I$, which locally minimizes distance.

## Definition

One way to define a geodesic is as a critical point of the functional of length

$(x : I \to M) \mapsto \int_I \sqrt{g(\stackrel{\cdot}{x}(t),\stackrel{\cdot}{x}(t))} dt$

on the appropriate space of curves $I \to X$, where $g$ is the metric tensor. This implies that it satisfies the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations, which in this case means that the covariant derivative (for the Levi-Civita connection)

$\nabla_{\stackrel{\cdot}{x}} \stackrel{\cdot}{x} = 0$

vanishes.

In local coordinates, with Christoffel symbols $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ the Euler-Lagrange equations for geodesics form a system

$\frac{d^2 x^i}{dt^2} + \sum_{jk} \Gamma^i_{jk}(x) \frac{d x^j}{dt} \frac{d x^k}{dt} = 0.$

So this means that a curve is a geodesic if at every point its tangent vector is the parallel transport of the tangent vector at the start point along the curve.

## Minimizing geodesics

A geodesic may not globally minimize the distance between its end points. For instance, on a 2-dimensional sphere, geodesics are arcs of great circle?s. Any two distinct non-antipodal points are connected by exactly two such geodesics, one shorter than the other (you can go from Los Angeles to Boston directly across North America, or the long way around the world).

A geodesic which does globally minimize distance between its end points is called a minimizing geodesic. The length of a minimizing geodesic between two points defines a distance function for any Riemannian manifold which makes it into a metric space.

## References

• en.wikipedia: geodesic
• Springer eom: Yu. A. Volkov, Geodesic line; Yu. A. Volkov, Geodesic coordinates; Geodesic distance; V.A. Zalgaller, Geodesic geometry; D.V. Anosov, Geodesic flow
• Sh. Kobayashi, K. Nomidzu, Foundations of differential geometry, vol 1, 1963, vol 2, 1969, Wiley Interscience; reedition 1996 in series Wiley Classics; Russian ed.: Nauka, Moscow 1981.
• Arthur L. Besse, Einstein manifolds, Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete, Band 10, Springer-Verlag 1987, xii + 510 pp. (for a review see Bull. AMS and MR88f:53087); reprinted 2008, Springer Classics in Math.

Last revised on February 7, 2019 at 05:59:33. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.