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We study two kinds of curvature invariants of Riemannian manifold equipped with a distribution (for example, a CR-submanifold of an almost Hermitian manifold) related to sets of pairwise orthogonal subspaces of the distribution: one is similar to Chen's $\delta$-invariants and another kind of invariants is based on the mutual curvature of the subspaces. We compare Chen-type invariants with the mutual curvature invariants and prove geometric inequalities with intermediate mean curvature squared for CR-submanifolds in almost Hermitian spaces. In the case of a set of complex planes, we study curvature invariants based on the concept of holomorphic bisectional curvature. As applications, we give consequences of the absence of some $D$-minimal CR-submanifolds in almost Hermitian manifolds., Comment: 8 pages

Many contact metric manifolds are critical points of curvature functionals restricted to spaces of associated metrics. The Godbillon-Vey functional has never been considered in a variational context in contact geometry. Recently we extended this functional from foliations to arbitrary plane fields on a 3-dimensional manifold, so, the following question arises: can one use the Godbillon-Vey functional to find optimal almost contact manifolds? In the paper, we introduce a Godbillon-Vey type functional for a 3-dimensional almost contact manifold and find its Euler-Lagrange equations for all variations preserving the Reeb vector field. We construct critical (for our functional) 3-dimensional almost contact manifolds having a double-twisted product structure, these solutions belong to the class $C_{5}\oplus C_{12}$ according to Chinea-Gonzalez classification., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure

We study new Willmore-type variational problem for a hypersurface $M$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ equipped with an $s$-dimensional foliation ${\cal F}$. Its general version is the Reilly-type functional $WF_{n,s}=\int_M F(\sigma^{\cal F}_1,\ldots,\sigma^{\cal F}_s)\,{\rm d}V$, where $\sigma^{\cal F}_i$ are elementary symmetric functions of the eigenvalues of the second fundamental form restricted on the leaves of $\cal F$. The first and second variations of such functionals are calculated, conformal invariance of some of $WF_{n,s}$ is also shown. The Euler-Lagrange equation for a critical hypersurface with a transversally harmonic (e.g., Riemannian) foliation $\cal F$ is found and examples with $s\le2$ and $s=n$ are considered. Critical hypersurfaces of revolution are found, and it is shown that they are a local minimum for special variations., Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure

Weak contact metric manifolds, i.e., the linear complex structure on the contact distribution is replaced by a nonsingular skew-symmetric tensor, defined by the author and R. Wolak, allowed us to take a new look at the theory of contact manifolds. In this paper, we continue our study, see arXiv:2312.11411, of a structure of this type, called a weak nearly Sasakian structure, and prove two theorems characterizing Sasakian manifolds. Our main result generalizes the theorem by A. Nicola - G. Dileo - I. Yudin (2018) and provides a new criterion for a weak almost contact metric manifold to be Sasakian., Comment: 14 pages. In this paper, we continue our study arXiv:2312.11411

Weak contact metric manifolds, i.e., the linear complex structure on the contact distribution is replaced by a nonsingular skew-symmetric tensor, defined by the author and R. Wolak, allowed a new look at the theory of contact manifolds. In this paper we study the new structure of this type, called the weak nearly Sasakian structure. We find conditions that are automatically satisfied by almost contact manifolds and under which the contact distribution is curvature invariant and the weak nearly Sasakian structure foliates into two types of totally geodesic foliations. Our main result generalizes the theorem by B. Cappelletti-Montano and G. Dileo (2016) about the foliated structure of nearly Sasakian manifolds., Comment: 10 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2310.19518

Weak almost contact manifolds, i.e., the linear complex structure on the contact distribution is approximated by a nonsingular skew-symmetric tensor, defined by the author and R. Wolak (2022), allowed a new look at the theory of contact manifolds. This article studies the curvature and topology of new structures of this type, called the weak nearly cosymplectic structure and weak nearly K\"{a}hler structure. We find conditions under which weak nearly cosymplectic manifolds become Riemannian products and characterize 5-dimensional weak nearly cosymplectic manifolds. Our theorems generalize results by H. Endo (2005) and A. Nicola-G. Dileo-I. Yudin (2018) to the context of weak almost contact geometry., Comment: 12 pages

A weak metric $f$-structure $(f,Q,\xi_i,\eta^i,g)\ (i=1,\ldots,s)$, generalizes the metric $f$-structure on a smooth manifold, i.e., the complex structure on the contact distribution is replaced with a nonsingular skew-symmetric tensor. We study geometry of a weak $f$-K-contact structure, which is a weak $f$-contact structure, whose characteristic vector fields are Killing. We show that $\ker f$ of a weak $f$-contact manifold defines a $\mathfrak{g}$-foliation with an abelian Lie algebra. Then we characterize weak $f$-K-contact manifolds among all weak metric $f$-manifolds by the property known for $f$-K-contact manifolds, and find when a Riemannian manifold endowed with a set of orthonormal Killing vector fields is a weak $f$-K-contact manifold. We show that for $s>1$, an Einstein weak $f$-K-contact manifold is Ricci flat, then find sufficient conditions for a weak $f$-K-contact manifold with parallel Ricci tensor or with a generalized gradient Ricci soliton structure to be Ricci flat or a quasi Einstein manifold. We prove positive definiteness of the Jacobi operators in the characteristic directions and use this to deform a weak $f$-K-contact structure to an $f$-K-contact structure. We define an $\eta$-Ricci soliton and $\eta$-Einstein structures on a weak metric $f$-manifold (which for $s=1$, give the well-known structures on contact metric manifolds) and find sufficient conditions for a compact weak $f$-K-contact manifold with an $\eta$-Ricci soliton structure of constant scalar curvature to be $\eta$-Einstein., Comment: 16 pages

We study geometry of the weak almost para-$f$-structure and its subclasses. This allow us to produce totally geodesic foliations and also to take a fresh look at the para-$f$-structure introduced by A.\,Bucki and A.\,Miernowski. We demonstrate this by generalizing several known results on almost para-$f$-manifolds. First, we express the covariant derivative of $f$ using a new tensor on a metric weak para-$f$-structure, then we prove that on a weak para-${\cal K}$-manifold the characteristic vector fields are Killing and $\ker f$ defines a totally geodesic foliation. Next, we show that a para-${\cal S}$-structure is rigid (i.e., a weak para-${\cal S}$-structure is a para-${\cal S}$-structure), and that a metric weak para-$f$-structure with parallel tensor $f$ reduces to a weak para-${\cal C}$-structure. We obtain corollaries for $p=1$, i.e., for a weak almost paracontact structure., Comment: 13 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2205.02158

In the paper, we study complete almost Ricci solitons using the concepts and methods of geometric dynamics and geometric analysis. In particular, we characterize Einstein manifolds in the class of complete almost Ricci solitons. Then, we examine compact almost Ricci solitons using the orthogonal expansion of the Ricci tensor, this allows us to substantiate the concept of almost Ricci solitons., Comment: 8 pages

We study metric structures on a smooth manifold (introduced in our recent works and called a weak contact metric structure and a weak K-structure) which generalize the metric contact and K-contact structures, and allow a new look at the classical theory. First, we characterize weak K-contact manifolds among all weak contact metric manifolds by the property well known for K-contact manifolds, and find when a Riemannian manifold endowed with a unit Killing vector field forms a weak K-contact structure. Second, we find sufficient conditions for a weak K-contact manifold with parallel Ricci tensor or with a generalized Ricci soliton structure to be an Einstein manifold., Comment: 10 pages

We study curvature invariants of a sub-Riemannian manifold (i.e., a manifold with a Riemannian metric on a non-holonomic distribution) related to mutual curvature of several pairwise orthogonal subspaces of the distribution, and prove geometrical inequalities for a sub-Riemannian submanifold. As applications, inequalities are proved for submanifolds with mutually orthogonal distributions that include scalar and mutual curvature. For compact submanifolds, inequalities are obtained that are supported by known integral formulas for almost-product manifolds., Comment: 10 pages

On a smooth manifold with distributions ${\cal D}_1$ and ${\cal D}_2$ having trivial intersection, we consider the integral of their mutual curvature, as a functional of Riemannian metrics that make the distributions orthogonal. The mutual curvature is defined as the sum of sectional curvatures of planes spanned by all pairs of vectors from an orthonormal basis, such that one vector of the pair belongs to ${\cal D}_1$ and the second vector belongs to ${\cal D}_2$. As such, it interpolates between the sectional curvature of a plane field (if both distributions are one-dimensional), and the mixed scalar curvature of a Riemannian almost product structure (if both distributions together span the tangent bundle). We derive Euler-Lagrange equations for the functional, formulated in terms of extrinsic geometry of distributions, i.e., their second fundamental forms and integrability tensors. We give examples of critical metrics for distributions defined on domains of Riemannian submersions, twisted products and $f$-$K$-contact manifolds., Comment: 33 pages

A Riemannian manifold endowed with $k\ge2$ complementary pairwise orthogonal distributions is called a Riemannian almost $k$-product manifold. In the article, for the first time, we study the following problem: find a relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic invariants of a Riemannian almost $k$-product manifold isometrically immersed in another Riemannian manifold. For such immersions, we establish an optimal inequality that includes the mixed scalar curvature and the square of the mean curvature. Although Riemannian curvature tensor belongs to intrinsic geometry, a special part called the mixed curvature is also related to the extrinsic geometry of a Riemannian almost $k$-product manifold. Our inequality also contains mixed scalar curvature type invariants related to B.-Y Chen's $\delta$-invariants. Applications are given for isometric immersions of multiply twisted and warped products (we improve some known optimal inequalities by replacing the sectional curvature with our invariant) and to problems of non-immersion and non-existence of compact leaves of foliated submanifolds., Comment: 10 pages

A new important relation between fluid mechanics and differential geometry is established. We study smooth steady solutions to the Euler equations with the additional property: the velocity vector is orthogonal to the gradient of the pressure at any point. Such solutions are called Gavrilov flows. Local structure of a Gavrilov flow is described in terms of geometry of isobaric hypersurfaces. In the 3D case, we obtain a system of PDEs for an axisymmetric Gavrilov flow and find consistency conditions for the system. Two numerical examples of axisymmetric Gavrilov flows are presented: with pressure function periodic in the axial direction, and with isobaric surfaces diffeomorphic to the torus., Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures

In this article, we deduce a series of integral formulas for a foliated sub-Riemannian manifold, which is a new geometric concept denoting a Riemannian manifold equipped with a distribution ${\mathcal D}$ and a foliation ${\mathcal F}$, whose tangent bundle is a subbundle of ${\mathcal D}$. Our integral formulas generalize some results for foliated Riemannian manifolds and involve the shape operators of ${\mathcal F}$ with respect to normals in ${\mathcal D}$ and the curvature tensor of induced connection on ${\mathcal D}$. The formulas also include arbitrary functions $f_j\ (0\le j<\dim{\mathcal F})$ depending on scalar invariants of the shape operators, and for a special choice of $f_j$ reduce to integral formulas with the Newton transformations of the shape operators. We apply our formulas to foliated sub-Riemannian manifolds with restrictions on the curvature and extrinsic geometry of ${\mathcal F}$ and to codimension-one foliations., Comment: 15 pages

An $f$-structure, introduced by K. Yano in 1963 and subsequently studied by a number of geometers, is a higher dimensional analog of almost complex and almost contact structures, defined by a (1,1)-tensor field $f$ on a $(2n+p)$-dimensional manifold, which satisfies $f^3 + f = 0$ and has constant rank $2n$. We recently introduced the weakened (globally framed) $f$-structure (i.e., the complex structure on $f(TM)$ is replaced by a nonsingular skew-symmetric tensor) and its subclasses of weak $K$-, ${\cal S}$-, and ${\cal C}$- structures on Riemannian manifolds with totally geodesic foliations, which allow us to take a fresh look at the classical theory. We demonstrate this by generalizing several known results on globally framed $f$-manifolds. First, we express the covariant derivative of $f$ using a new tensor on a metric weak $f$-structure, then we prove that on a weak $K$-manifold the characteristic vector fields are Killing and $\ker f$ defines a totally geodesic foliation, an ${\cal S}$-structure is rigid, i.e., our weak ${\cal S}$-structure is an ${\cal S}$-structure, and a metric weak $f$-structure with parallel tensor $f$ reduces to a weak ${\cal C}$-structure. For $p=1$ we obtain the corresponding corollaries for weak almost contact, weak cosymplectic, and weak Sasakian structures., Comment: 14 pages

We study a variational problem on a smooth manifold with a decomposition of the tangent bundle into $k>2$ subbundles (distributions), namely, we consider the integrated sum of their mixed scalar curvatures as a functional of adapted pseudo-Riemannian metric (keeping the pairwise orthogonality of the distributions) and contorsion tensor, defining a linear connection. This functional allows us to generalize the class of Einstein metrics in the following sense: if all of the distributions are one-dimensional, then it coincides with the geometrical part of the Einstein-Hilbert action restricted to adapted metrics. We prove that metrics in pairs metric-contorsion critical for our functional make all of the distributions totally umbilical. We obtain examples and obstructions to existence of those critical pairs in some special cases: twisted products with statistical connections; semi-symmetric connections and 3-Sasaki manifolds with metric-compatible connections., Comment: 32 pages

We introduce new metric structures on a smooth manifold (called "weak" structures) that generalize the almost contact, Sasakian, cosymplectic, etc. metric structures $(\varphi,\xi,\eta,g)$ and allow us to take a fresh look at the classical theory. We demonstrate this statement by generalizing several well-known results. We prove that any Sasakian structure is rigid, i.e., our weak Sasakian structure is homothetically equivalent to a Sasakian structure. We show that a weak almost contact structure with parallel tensor $\varphi$ is a weak cosymplectic structure and give an example of such a structure on the product of manifolds. We find conditions for a vector field to be a weak contact infinitesimal transformation., Comment: 14 pages

In this article, we prove a series of integral formulae for a codimension-one foliated sub-Riemannian manifold, i.e., a Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ equipped with a distribution ${\mathcal D}=T{\mathcal F}\oplus\,{\rm span}(N)$, where ${\mathcal F}$ is a foliation of $M$ and $N$ a unit vector field $g$-orthogonal to ${\mathcal F}$. Our integral formulas involve $r$th mean curvatures of ${\mathcal F}$, Newton transformations of the shape operator of ${\mathcal F}$ with respect to $N$ and the curvature tensor of induced connection on ${\mathcal D}$ and generalize some known integral formulas (due to Brito-Langevin-Rosenberg, Andrzejewski-Walczak and the author) for codimension-one foliations. We apply our formulas to sub-Riemannian manifolds with restrictions on the curvature and extrinsic geometry of a foliation., Comment: 10 pages

We study the properties of Ricci curvature of ${\mathfrak{g}}$-manifolds with particular attention paid to higher dimensional abelian Lie algebra case. The relations between Ricci curvature of the manifold and the Ricci curvature of the transverse manifold of the characteristic foliation are investigated. In particular, sufficient conditions are found under which the ${\mathfrak{g}}$-manifold can be a Ricci soliton or a gradient Ricci soliton. Finally, we obtain a amazing (non-existence) higher dimensional generalization of the Boyer-Galicki theorem on Einstein K-manifolds for a special class of abelian ${\mathfrak{g}}$-manifolds., Comment: 7 pages

Many authors have studied Ricci solitons and their analogs within the framework of (almost) contact geometry. In this article, we thoroughly study the $(m,\rho)$-quasi-Einstein structure on a contact metric manifold. First, we prove that if a $K$-contact or Sasakian manifold $M^{2n+1}$ admits a closed $(m,\rho)$-quasi-Einstein structure, then it is an Einstein manifold of constant scalar curvature $2n(2n+1)$, and for the particular case -- a non-Sasakian $(k,\mu)$-contact structure -- it is locally isometric to the product of a Euclidean space $\RR^{n+1}$ and a sphere $S^n$ of constant curvature $4$. Next, we prove that if a compact contact or $H$-contact metric manifold admits an $(m,\rho)$-quasi-Einstein structure, whose potential vector field $V$ is collinear to the Reeb vector field, then it is a $K$-contact $\eta$-Einstein manifold., Comment: 12 pages

A pseudo-Riemannian manifold endowed with $k>2$ orthogonal complementary distributions (called a Riemannian almost multi-product structure) appears in such topics as multiply warped products, the webs composed of several foliations, Dupin hypersurfaces and in stu\-dies of the curvature and Einstein equations. In this article, we consider the following two problems on the mixed scalar curvature of a Riemannian almost multi-product manifold with a linear connection: a) integral formulas and applications to splitting of manifolds, b) variation formulas and applications to the mixed Einstein-Hilbert action, and we generalize certain results on the mixed scalar curvature of pseudo-Riemannian almost product manifolds., Comment: 16 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2009.03212

A Riemannian manifold endowed with $k>2$ orthogonal complementary distributions (called here a Riemannian almost $k$-product structure) appears in such topics as multiply warped products, the webs composed of several foliations, and proper Dupin hypersurfaces of real space-forms. In the paper, we consider the mixed scalar curvature of such structure for $k>2$, derive Euler-Lagrange equations for the Einstein-Hilbert type action with respect to adapted variations of metric, and present them in a nice form of Einstein equation., Comment: 10 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2007.12406

In this paper we continue our recent study of a manifold endowed with a singular or regular distribution, determined as the image of the tangent bundle under a smooth endomorphism, and generalize Bochner's technique to the case of a distribution with a statistical type structure. Following the theory of statistical structures on Riemannian manifolds and construction of an almost Lie algebroid on a vector bundle, we define the modified statistical connection and exterior derivative on tensors. Then we introduce the Weitzenbock type curvature operator on tensors and derive the Bochner-Weitzenbock type formula. These allow us to obtain vanishing theorems about the null space of the Hodge type Laplacian on a distribution., Comment: 19 pages

In this paper we characterize the Einstein metrics in such broader classes of metrics as almost $\eta$-Ricci solitons and $\eta$-Ricci solitons on Kenmotsu manifolds, and generalize some results of other authors. First, we prove that a Kenmotsu metric as an $\eta$-Ricci soliton is Einstein metric if either it is $\eta$-Einstein or the potential vector field $V$ is an infinitesimal contact transformation or $V$ is collinear to the Reeb vector field. Further, we prove that if a Kenmotsu manifold admits a gradient almost $\eta$-Ricci soliton with a Reeb vector field leaving the scalar curvature invariant, then it is an Einstein manifold. Finally, we present new examples of $\eta$-Ricci solitons and gradient $\eta$-Ricci solitons, which illustrate our results., Comment: 10 pages

In the paper we prove integral formulae for a Riemannian manifold endowed with $k>2$ orthogonal complementary distributions, which generalize well-known formula for $k=2$ and give applications to splitting and isometric immersions of Riemannian manifolds, in particular, multiply warped products, and to hypersurfaces with $k>2$ distinct principal curvatures of constant multiplicities., Comment: 10 pages

We continue our study of the mixed Einstein-Hilbert action as a functional of a pseudo-Riemannian metric and a linear connection. Its geometrical part is the total mixed scalar curvature on a smooth manifold endowed with a distribution or a foliation. We develop variational formulas for quantities of extrinsic geometry of a distribution on a metric-affine space and use them to derive Euler-Lagrange equations (which in the case of space-time are analogous to those in Einstein-Cartan theory) and to characterize critical points of this action on vacuum space-time. Together with arbitrary variations of metric and connection, we consider also variations that partially preserve the metric, e.g., along the distribution, and also variations among distinguished classes of connections (e.g., statistical and metric compatible, and this is expressed in terms of restrictions on contorsion tensor). One of Euler-Lagrange equations of the mixed Einstein-Hilbert action is an analog of the Cartan spin connection equation, and the other can be presented in the form similar to the Einstein equation, with Ricci curvature replaced by the new Ricci type tensor. This tensor generally has a complicated form, but is given in the paper explicitly for variations among semi-symmetric~connections., Comment: 38 pages, Appendix: 13 pages

In the paper, we study evolution equations of the scalar and Ricci curvatures under the Hamilton's Ricci flow on a closed manifold and on a complete noncompact manifold. In particular, we study conditions when the Ricci flow is trivial and the Ricci soliton is Ricci flat or Einstein., Comment: 10 pages

We investigate for the first time the curve shortening flow in the metric-affine plane and prove that under simple geometric condition it shrinks a closed convex curve to a "round point" in finite time. This generalizes the classical result by M. Gage and R.S. Hamilton about convex curves in Euclidean plane., Comment: 12 pages

We introduce and study deformation $T_{{\bf b},\phi}$ of Minkowski norms in $\mathbb{R}^n$, determined by a set ${\bf b}=(\beta_1,\ldots,\beta_p)$ of linearly independent 1-forms and a smooth positive function $\phi$ of $p$ variables. In particular, the $T_{{\bf b},\phi}$-image of a Euclidean norm $\alpha$ is a Minkowski norm, whose indicatrix is a rotation hypersurface with a $p$-dimensional axis passing through the origin. For $p=1$, our deformation generalizes construction of $(\alpha,\beta)$-norm; the last ones form a rich class of "computable" Minkowski norms and play an important role in Finsler geometry. We use compositions of $T_{{\bf b},\phi}$-deformations with ${\bf b}$'s of length $p$ to define an equivalence relation $\overset{p}\sim$ on the set of all Minkowski norms in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We apply M. Matsumoto result to characterize the cases when the Cartan torsions of a norm and its $T_{{\bf b},\phi}$-image either coincide or differ by a $C$-reducible term., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures

We consider a $(2q+1)$-dimensional smooth manifold $M$ equipped with a $(q+1)$-dimensional, a priori non-integrable, distribution ${\cal D}$ and a $q$-vector field ${\bf T}=T_1\wedge\ldots\wedge T_q$, where $\{T_i\}$ are linearly independent vector fields transverse to~${\cal D}$. Using a $q$-form $\omega$ such that ${\cal D} = \ker\,\omega$ and $\omega({\bf T})=1$, we construct a $(2q+1)$-form analogous to that defining the Godbillon--Vey class of a $(q+1)$-dimensional foliation, and show how does this form depend on $\omega$ and ${\bf T}$. For a compatible Riemannian metric $g$ on $M$, we express this $(2q+1)$-form in terms of ${\bf T}$ and extrinsic geometry of~${\cal D}$ and normal distribution ${\cal D}^\bot$. We find Euler-Lagrange equations of associated functionals: for variable $(\omega,{\bf T})$ on $(M,g)$, and for variable metric on $(M,{\cal D})$, when distributions/foliations and forms are defined outside a "singularity set" under additional assumption of convergence of certain integrals. We show that for a harmonic distribution ${\cal D}^\bot$ such $(\omega,{\bf T})$ is critical, characterize critical pairs when ${\cal D}$ is integrable and find sufficient conditions for critical pairs when variations are among foliations, calculate the index form and consider examples of critical foliations among twisted products, Reeb foliations and transversely holomorphic flows., Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures

Throughout the history of Einstein manifolds, differential geometers have shown great interest in finding the relationships between curvature and the topology of Einstein manifolds. In the paper, first, we prove that a compact Einstein manifold $(M,g)$ with Einstein constant $\alpha >0$ is a homo-logical sphere when the minimum of its sectional curvatures $> \alpha/(n+ 2)$; in particular, $(M,g)$ is a spherical space form when the minimum of its sectional curvatures $> \alpha / n$. Second, we prove two propositions (similar to the above ones) for Tachibana numbers of a compact Einstein manifold $(M,g)$ with $\alpha < 0$.

The paper is devoted to differential geometry of singular distributions (i.e., of varying dimension) on a Riemannian manifold. Such distributions are defined as images of the tangent bundle under smooth endomorphisms. We prove the novel divergence theorem with the divergence type operator and deduce the Codazzi equation for a pair of singular distributions. Tracing our Codazzi equation yields expression of the mixed scalar curvature through invariants of distributions, which provides some splitting results. Applying our divergence theorem, we get the integral formula, generalizing the known one, with the mixed scalar curvature of a pair of transverse singular distributions., Comment: 14 pages

The theory of harmonic symmetric bilinear forms on a Riemannian manifold is an analogue of the theory of harmonic exterior differential forms on this manifold. To show this, we must consider every symmetric bilinear form on a Riemannian manifold as a one-form with values in the cotangent bundle of this manifold. In this case, there are the exterior differential and codifferential defined on the vector space of these differential one-forms. Then a symmetric bilinear form is said to be harmonic if it is closed and coclosed as a one-form with values in the cotangent bundle of a Riemannian manifold. In the present paper we prove that the kernel of the little known Bourguignon Laplacian is a finite-dimensional vector space of harmonic symmetric bilinear forms on a compact Riemannian manifold. We also prove that every harmonic symmetric bilinear form on a compact Riemannian manifold with non-negative sectional curvature is invariant under parallel translations. In addition, we investigate the spectral properties of the little studied Bourguignon Laplacian.

In the paper we introduce new metric structures on $\mathfrak{g}$-foliations that are less rigid than the well-known structures: almost contact and 3-quasi-Sasakian structures as well as $f$-structures with parallelizable kernel and almost para-$\phi$-structures with complemented frames. We discuss the properties of the new structures in order to demonstrate similarities with the corresponding classical structures. Then using the flow of metrics on a $\mathfrak{g}$-foliation, we build deformation retraction of our structures with positive partial Ricci curvature onto the subspace of the aforementioned classical structures., Comment: 12 pages

There are very few general theorems on the kernel of the well-known Lichnerowicz Laplacian. In the present article we consider the geometry of the kernel of this operator restricted to covariant (not necessarily symmetric or skew-symmetric) tensors. Our approach is based on the analytical method, due to Bochner, of proving vanishing theorems for the null space of Laplace operator. In particular, we pay special attention to the kernel of the Lichnerowicz Laplacian on Riemannian symmetric spaces of compact and noncompact types. In conclusion, we give some applications to the theories of infinitesimal Einstein deformations and the stability of Einstein manifolds., Comment: 19 pages