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arXiv · 2212.04376

A geometric Laplace method

Flavien Léger·François-Xavier Vialard
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Abstract

A classical tool for approximating integrals is the Laplace method. The first-order, as well as the higher-order Laplace formula is most often written in coordinates without any geometrical interpretation. In this article, motivated by a situation arising, among others, in optimal transport, we give a geometric formulation of the first-order term of the Laplace method. The central tool is the Kim-McCann Riemannian metric which was introduced in the field of optimal transportation. Our main result expresses the first-order term with standard geometric objects such as volume forms, Laplacians, covariant derivatives and scalar curvatures of two different metrics arising naturally in the Kim-McCann framework. Passing by, we give an explicitly quantified version of the Laplace formula, as well as examples of applications.

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BibTeXRIS

Flavien Léger, François-Xavier Vialard. 2022-12-08. A geometric Laplace method. https://doi.org/10.2140/paa.2023.5.1041

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