The global study of Riemannian-Finsler geometry

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a comparative review of Riemannian and Finsler geometry. The structures of cut and conjugate loci on Riemannian manifolds have been discussed by many geometers including H. Busemann, M. Berger and W. Klingenberg. The key point in the study of Finsler manifolds is the non-symmetric property of its distance functions. We discuss fundamental results on the cut and conjugate loci of Finsler manifolds and note the differences between Riemannian and Finsler manifolds in these respects. The topological and differential structures on Riemannian manifolds, in the presence of convex functions, has been an active field of research in the second half of $20^{\text{th}}$ century. We discuss some results on Riemannian manifolds with convex functions and their recently proved analogues in the field of Finsler manifolds.