A new Laplace operator in Finsler geometry and periodic orbits of Anosov flows

In the first part of this dissertation, we give a new definition of a Laplace operator for Finsler metric as an average, with regard to an angle measure, of the second directional derivatives. This operator is elliptic, symmetric with respect to the Holmes-Thompson volume, and coincides with the usu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Barthelmé, Thomas
Language:English
Published: Université de Strasbourg 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00660059
http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/74/28/36/PDF/Barthelme_Thomas_2012_ED269.pdf
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Summary:In the first part of this dissertation, we give a new definition of a Laplace operator for Finsler metric as an average, with regard to an angle measure, of the second directional derivatives. This operator is elliptic, symmetric with respect to the Holmes-Thompson volume, and coincides with the usual Laplace--Beltrami operator when the Finsler metric is Riemannian. We compute explicit spectral data for some Katok-Ziller metrics. When the Finsler metric is negatively curved, we show, thanks to a result of Ancona that the Martin boundary is Hölder-homeomorphic to the visual boundary. This allow us to deduce the existence of harmonic measures and some ergodic preoperties. In the second part of this dissertation, we study Anosov flows in 3-manifolds, with leaf-spaces homeomorphic to .... When the manifold is hyperbolic, Thurston showed that the (un)stable foliations induces an "orthogonal" flow. We use this second flow to study isotopy class of periodic orbits of the Anosov flow and existence of embedded cylinders.