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The purpose of this thesis is to study methods by which conformal vector fields on pseudo-Riemannian manifolds can be simplified. A vector field on a manifold M with metric g is conformal if its local flows preserve the metric g up to a scaling and unlike Killing vector fields, which preserve g exactly, it cannot in general be linearised in a neighbourhood of any given point. The difference is that a Killing vector field is affine, that is it preserves a connection on the manifold. In this case the connection is the canonical (Levi-Civita) connection associated with g, but affine vector fields with respect to any connection are linearisable. The task is to find new connections with respect to which the set of conformal vector fields, or some subset of them, are affine. Suppose that we have a manifold M with a pseudo-Riemannian conformal structure and an orthogonal splitting of the tangent bundle. We construct, for a natural choice of torsion, a unique connection in the principal bundle of frames adapted to the splitting. Moreover this connection is preserved by any transformations which preserve the splitting of the tangent bundle. Thus any conformal vector field which preserves the splitting is affine. The splitting can be chosen to reflect the tangent to the orbits of a subalgebra of conformal vector fields, the principal null directions of the Weyl tensor or the flow of a perfect fluid. We also give a study of conformal vector fields in three-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds. An equivalent of the Cotton-York tensor is used to investigate the behaviour of these vector fields at their fixed points in the same spirit as the Weyl tensor is used in four dimensions.

Senior Honor's Thesis (Computer and Information Science)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 27 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 27). Available online via Ohio State University's Knowledge Bank.

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The purpose of this thesis is the study of the Lie algebras of affine vector fields and curvature collineations of space-time, the aim being, in the first case, to obtain upper bounds on the dimension of the Lie algebra of affine vector fields (under the assumption that the space-time is non-flat) as well as to obtain a characterization of such vector fields in terms of other types of symmetries. In the case of curvature collineations the aim was that of characterizing space-times which may admit an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra of curvature collineations as well as to find local characterizations of such vector fields. Chapters 1 and 2 consist of introductory material, in Differential Geometry (Ch.l) and General Relativity (Ch.2). In Chapter 3 we study homothetic vector fields which admit fixed points. The general results of Alekseevsky (a) and Hall (b) are presented, some being deduced by different methods. Some further details and results are also given. Chapter 4 is concerned with space-times that can admit proper affine vector fields. Using the holonomy classification obtained by Hall (c) it is shown that there are essentially two classes to consider. These classes are analysed in detail and upper bounds on the dimension of the Lie algebra of affine vector fields of such space-times are obtained. In both cases local characterizations of affine vector fields are obtained. Chapter 5 is concerned with space-times which may admit proper curvature collineations. Using the results of Halford and McIntosh (d) , Hall and McIntosh (e) and Hall (f) we were able to divide our study into several classes The last two of these classes are formed by those space-times which admit a (1 or 2-dimensional) non-null distribution spanned by vector fields which contract the Riemann tensor to zero. A complete analysis of each class is made and some general results concerning the infinite-dimensionality problem are proved. The chapter ends with some comments in the cases when the distribution mentioned above is null.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 126 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-126). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Nesta dissertaÃÃo, definimos campos de vetores parcialmente conformes fechados e usamos para dar uma caracterizaÃÃo de variedades Riemannianas que admitem este tipo de campos como alguns produtos especiais warped folheados por hipersuperfÃcies (n - 1)-umbÃlicas. Exemplos sÃo descritos em formas espaciais. Em particular, campos de vetores parcialmente conformes fechados em espaÃos euclidianos estÃo associadas à folheaÃÃes mais simples dada por hiperesferas, hiperplanos ou cilindros coaxiais. Finalmente, para variedades que admitem tais campos de vetores, impondo condiÃÃes para uma hipersuperfÃcie ser (n - 1)-umbÃlica, ou, em particular, uma folha da folheaÃÃo correspondente. / In this dissertation we define closed partially conformal vector fields and use them to give a characterization of Riemannian manifolds which admit this kind of fields as some special warped products foliated by (n - 1)-umbilical hypersurfaces. Examples are described in space forms. In particular, closed partially conformal vector fields in Euclidean spaces are associated to the most simple foliations given by hyperspheres, hyperplanes or coaxial cylinders. Finally, for manifolds admitting such vector fields, we impose conditions for a hypersurface to be (n - 1)-umbilical, or, in particular, a leaf of the corresponding foliation.

The study of bifurcations of vectorfields is concerned with changes in qualitative behaviour that can occur when a non-structurally stable vectorfield is perturbed. In a sense, this is the study of how such a vectorfield fails to be structurally stable. Finding a systematic approach to the study of such questions is a difficult problem. One approach to bifurcations of vectorfields, known as "generic bifurcation theory," is the subject of much of the work of Sotomayor (Sotomayor [1973a], Sotomayor [1973b],Sotomayor [1974]). This approach attempts to construct generic families of k-parameter vectorfields (usually for k=1), for which all the bifurcations can be described. In Sotomayor [1973a] it is stated that the vectorfields associated with the "generic" bifurcations of individual critical elements for k-parameter vectorfields form submanifolds of codimension ≤ k of the Banach space ϰʳ (M) of vectorfields on a compact manifold M. The bifurcations associated with one of these submanifolds of codimension-k are called generic codimension-k bifurcations. In Sotomayor [1974] the construction of these submanifolds and the description of the associated bifurcations of codimension-1 for vectorfields on two dimensional manifolds is presented in detail. The bifurcations that occur are due to the parameterised vectorfield crossing one of these manifolds transversely as the parameter changes. Abraham and Robbin used transversality results for evaluation maps to prove the Kupka-Smale theorem in Abraham and Robbin [1967]. In this thesis, we shall show how an extension of these evaluation transversality techniques will allow us to construct the submanifolds of ϰʳ (M) associated with one type of generic bifurcation of critical elements, and we shall consider how this approach might be extended to include the other well known generic bifurcations. For saddle-node type bifurcations of critical points, we will show that the changes in qualitative behaviour are related to geometric properties of the submanifold Σ₀ of ϰʳ (M) x M, where Σ₀ is the pull-back of the set of zero vectors-or zero section-by the evaluation map for vectorfields. We will look at the relationship between the Taylor series of a vector-field X at a critical point ⍴ and the geometry of Σ₀ at the corresponding point (X,⍴) of ϰʳ (M) x M. This will motivate the non-degeneracy conditions for the saddle-node bifurcations, and will provide a more general geometric picture of this approach to studying bifurcations of critical points. Finally, we shall consider how this approach might be generalised to include other bifurcations of critical elements. / Science, Faculty of / Mathematics, Department of / Graduate