Surface theory in discrete projective differential geometry. I. A canonical frame and an integrable discrete Demoulin system

We present the first steps of a procedure which discretizes surface theory in classical projective differential geometry in such a manner that underlying integrable structure is preserved. We propose a canonical frame in terms of which the associated projective Gauss-Weingarten and Gauss-Mainardi-Codazzi equations adopt compact forms. Based on a scaling symmetry which injects a parameter into the linear Gauss-Weingarten equations, we set down an algebraic classification scheme of discrete projective minimal surfaces which turns out to admit a geometric counterpart formulated in terms of discrete notions of Lie quadrics and their envelopes. In the case of discrete Demoulin surfaces, we derive a Bäcklund transformation for the underlying discrete Demoulin system and show how the latter may be formulated as a two-component generalization of the integrable discrete Tzitzéica equation which has originally been derived in a different context. At the geometric level, this connection leads to the retrieval of the standard discretization of affine spheres in affine differential geometry.

Benenti Tensors: A useful tool in Projective Differential Geometry

Two metrics are said to be projectively equivalent if they share the same geodesics (viewed as unparametrized curves). The degree of mobility of a metric g is the dimension of the space of the metrics projectively equivalent to g. For any pair of metrics (g, ḡ) on the same manifold one can construct a (1, 1)- tensor L(g, ḡ) called the Benenti tensor. In this paper we discuss some geometrical properties of Benenti tensors when (g, ḡ) are projectively equivalent, particularly in the case of degree of mobility equal to 2.

Projective compactifications and Einstein metrics

For complete affine manifolds we introduce a definition of compactification based on the projective differential geometry (i.e. geodesic path data) of the given connection. The definition of projective compactness involves a real parameter α called the order of projective compactness. For volume preserving connections, this order is captured by a notion of volume asymptotics that we define. These ideas apply to complete pseudo-Riemannian spaces, via the Levi-Civita connection, and thus provide a notion of compactification alternative to conformal compactification. For many orders α, we provide an asymptotic form of a metric which is sufficient for projective compactness of the given order, thus also providing many local examples.Distinguished classes of projectively compactified geometries of orders one and two are associated with Ricci-flat connections and non-Ricci-flat Einstein metrics, respectively. Conversely, these geometric conditions are shown to force the indicated order of projective compactness. These special compactifications are shown to correspond to normal solutions of classes of natural linear PDE (so-called first BGG equations), or equivalently holonomy reductions of projective Cartan/tractor connections. This enables the application of tools already available to reveal considerable information about the geometry of the boundary at infinity. Finally, we show that metrics admitting such special compactifications always have an asymptotic form as mentioned above.