arXiv subjects

Andrea Spiro

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Spiro.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Null fluid gravitational fields on Kerr manifolds and optical lifts of Sasaki structures

Building on the characterisation in [C. D. Hill, J. Lewandowski and P. Nurowski, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 57 (2008), 3131--3176] of 4-dimensional Lorentzian metrics adapted to an optical structure and satisfying the null fluid Einstein equations, we give an explicit parameterisation of this class under the assumption that the optical structure is of Kerr type. As immediate consequences, we obtain: (1) a new method for constructing solutions to the Einstein equations with a null fluid energy momentum tensor, yielding a large family of explicit metrics that naturally includes the classical Kerr black hole metrics and all Ricci flat examples described in [M. Ganji, C. Giannotti, G. Schmalz and A. Spiro, Ann. Physics 75 (2025), Paper No. 169908, 28]; (2) a solution to a conjecture in Hill, Lewandowski and Nurowski's paper on the local existence of smooth optical lifts in the case of Sasaki CR structures.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Black holes and black regions, horizons and barriers in Lorentzian manifolds

We prove that if S is a time-oriented null hypersurface of a Lorentzian n-manifold (M, g), the causal world-lines, which intersect transversally S and are time-oriented in a compatible way, cross the hypersurface all in the same direction, the other being forbidden. Even if it is known that a smooth event horizon (in the sense of Penrose, Hawking and Ellis) is a null hypersurface and has the above semi-permeability property, at the best of our knowledge, in the literature it was not stated so far that the latter is a mere consequence of the former. Our result leads to the concepts of barriers (= null hypersurfaces separating the space-time into disjoint regions) and black regions (= time-oriented regions bounded by barriers). These objects naturally include (smooth) event horizons and (smoothly bounded) black holes. Since barriers are defined by two simple properties -- the merely local property of "nullity" combined with the global property of "separating the space-time" -- we expect they may be used to simplify computations for locating static and/or dynamic horizons in numerical computations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Flows of vector fields and the Kalman Theorem

We give two proofs of the Kalman Theorem, alternative to the most common ones, which infer such a classical result of Control Theory using just very basic facts on flows of vector fields. These proofs are apt to be generalised in diverse directions -- in fact one of them has been already generalised, yielding new criteria for local controllability of non-linear real analytic controlled systems.

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Einstein manifolds with optical geometries of Kerr type

We classify the Ricci flat Lorentzian $n$-manifolds satisfying three particular conditions, encoding and combining some crucial features of the Kerr metrics and the Robinson-Trautman optical structures. We prove that: (a) If $n>4$, there is no Lorentzian manifold satisfying the considered Kerr type conditions, in unexpected contrast with what occurs for the metrics satisfying (very similar) Taub-NUT type conditions; (b) If $n=4$ there are two large classes of such Kerr type manifolds. Each class consists of manifolds fibering over open Riemann surfaces, equipped with a metric of constant Gaussian curvature $\kappa = 1$ or $\kappa = -1$. The first class includes a three parameter family of metrics admitting real analytic extensions to $(\mathbb R^3 \setminus\{0\}) \times \mathbb R = (S^2 \times \mathbb R_+) \times \mathbb R$ and a large class of other metrics not admitting this kind of extensions. The metrics of this first class admitting such extensions are all isometric to the well known Kerr metrics, with the three parameters corresponding to the three space-like components of the angular momentum of the gravitational field. The second class contains a subclass of metrics defined on $\big(\mathbb D\times \mathbb R_+\big)\times \mathbb R$, where $\mathbb D$ is the Lobachevsky Poincar\'e disc. This subclass is in bijection with the holomorphic functions on $\mathbb D$ satisfying an appropriate open condition. These and other results are consequences of a very simple way to construct totally explicit examples of Ricci flat Lorentzian manifolds.

math.DG↗

arXiv2024

Proving the Chow-Rashevskii Theorem \`a la Rashevskii

We give a new independent proof of a generalised version of the theorem by Rashevskii, which appeared in [Uch. Zapiski Ped. Inst. K. 2 (1938), 83 -- 94] and from which the classical Chow-Rashevskii Theorem follows as a corollary. The proof is structured to allow generalisations to the case of orbits of compositions of flows in absence of group structures, thus appropriate for applications in Control Theory. In fact, the same structure of the proof has been successfully exploited in [C. Giannotti, A. Spiro and M. Zoppello, arXiv 2401.07555 \& 2401.07560 (2024)] to determine new controllability criteria for real analytic non-linear control systems. It also yields a corollary, which can be used to derive results under lower regularity assumptions, as it is illustrated by a simple explicit example.

math.DG↗

arXiv2024

Distributions and controllability problems (I)

We consider a non-linear real analytic control system of first order $\dot q^i = f^i(t, q, w)$, with controls $w = (w^\alpha)$ in a connected open set $\mathcal{K} \subset \mathbb{R}^m$ and configurations $q = (q^i)$ in $\mathcal{Q} := \mathbb{R}^n$. The set of points in the extended space-time $\mathcal{M} = \mathbb{R} \times \mathcal{Q} \times \mathcal{K}$, which can be reached from a triple $x_o = (t_o , q_o, w_o) \in \mathcal{M}$ through a continuous graph completion $\gamma(s) = \big(t(s), q(t(s)), w(t(s))\big)$ of the graph of a solution $t \to (q(t), w(t))$, $t \in [t_o ,t_o + T]$, with piecewise real analytic controls, is called the {\it $\mathcal{M}$-attainable set of $x_o$ in time $T$}. We prove that if $y_o$ is an $\mathcal{M}$-attainable point of $x_o$, a large set of other nearby $\mathcal{M}$-attainable points of $x_o$ can be determined starting directly from $y_o$ and applying an appropriate ordered composition of flows of vector fields in a distinguished distribution $\mathcal{D}^{II} \subset T \mathcal{M}$, canonically associated with the control system. We then determine sufficient conditions for such neighbouring points to constitute an orbit of the pseudogroup of local diffeomorphisms generated by the vector fields in $\mathcal{D}^{II}$. If such conditions are satisfied and if the tangent spaces of these orbits have maximal rank projections onto $\mathcal{Q}$, the control system is locally accessible and has the small time local controllability property near the state points of equilibrium. These results lead to new proofs of classical local controllability criterions and yield new methods to establish the accessibility and the small time local controllability of non-linear control systems.

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Distributions and controllability problems (II)

In [C. Giannotti, A. Spiro, M. Zoppello, {\it Distributions and controllability problems (I)}, preprint posted on ArXiv (2024)], we introduced a new approach to the real analytic non-linear control systems of the form $\dot q^i = f^i(t, q, w)$, with controls $w = (w^\alpha)$ running in a connected open set $\mathcal{K}$ of $ \mathbb{R}^m$ and states represented by points $q = (q^i)$ in a configuration space $\mathcal{Q} := \mathbb{R}^n$. The new approach consists of a differential-geometric study of (a) the oriented piecewise regular curves in the {\it extended space-time} $\mathcal{M} = \mathbb{R} \times \mathcal{Q} \times \mathcal{K}$, which are the (completed) graphs of the piecewise real analytic solutions $t \mapsto (q(t), w(t))$ of the control system, and (b) the local structure of the sets of points of $\mathcal{M}$ that are reachable from an initial point $x_o = (t_o, q_o, w_o) \in \mathcal{M}$ through such (completed) graphs. The main results of that paper are two new criterions which can be used to establish the small time local controllability near stable points of real analytic non-linear systems. The goal of this paper is to offer a friendly user's guide to those criterions, illustrating them by several examples. In particular, we analyse certain non-linear control systems, for which the new criterions show that they are small time locally controllable at their stable points, while, at the best of our knowledge, all other previous criterions are either inconclusive or not applicable.

math.OC↗

arXiv2023

The Levi-Civita connections of manifolds with prescribed optical geometries

We explicitly derive the Christoffel symbols in terms of adapted frame fields for the Levi-Civita connection of a Lorentzian $n$-manifold $(M, g)$, equipped with a prescribed optical geometry of K\"ahler-Sasaki type. The formulas found in this paper have several important applications, such as determining the geometric invariants of Lorentzian manifolds with prescribed optical geometries or solving curvature constraints.

math.DG↗

arXiv2023

Special Vinberg cones, invariant admissible cubics and special real manifolds

By Vinberg theory any homogeneous convex cone $\mathcal V$ may be realized as the cone of positive Hermitian matrices in a $T$-algebra of generalised matrices. The level hypersurfaces $\mathcal V_{q} \subset \mathcal V$ of homogeneous cubic polynomials $q$ with positive definite Hessian (symmetric) form $g_q := - \operatorname{Hess}(\log(q))|_{T \mathcal V_q}$ are the {\it special real manifolds}. Such manifolds occur as scalar manifolds of the vector multiplets in $N=2$, $D=5$ supergravity and, through the $r$-map, correspond to K\"ahler scalar manifolds in $N = 2$ $D = 4$ supergravity. We offer a simplified exposition of the Vinberg theory in terms of $\operatorname{Nil}$-algebras (= the subalgebras of upper triangular matrices in Vinberg $T$-algebras) and we use it to describe all rational functions on a special Vinberg cone that are $G_0$- or $G'$- invariant, where $G_0$ is the unimodular subgroup of the solvable group $G$ acting simply transitively on the cone, and $G'$ is the unipotent radical of $G_0$. The results are used to determine $G_0$- and $G'$-invariant cubic polynomials $q$ that are {\it admissible} (i.e. such that the hypersurface $ \mathcal V_q=\{ q=1\}\cap \mathcal V $ has positive definite Hessian form $g_q$) for rank $2$ and rank $3$ special Vinberg cones. We get in this way examples of continuous families of non-homogeneous special real manifolds of cohomogeneity less than or equal to two.

math-ph↗

arXiv2022

The functional architecture of the early vision and neurogeometric models

The initial sections of the paper give a concise presentation, specially designed for a mathematically oriented audience, of some of the most basic facts on the functional architecture of early vision. Such information is usually scattered in a variety of papers and books, which are not easily accessible by non-specialists. Our goal is thus to offer a handy and short introduction to this topics, which might be helpful for researchers willing to enter the area of the applications of modern Differential Geometry in studies on the visual systems, baptized neurogeometry by J. Petitot. We then offer a survey of three of the most important neurogeometric models: Petitot's contact model of the primary visual cortex, its extension to A. Sarti, G. Citti and J. Petitot's symplectic model, and P. C. Bressloff and J. D. Cowan's spherical model of hypercolumns. We finally discuss the main points of the so-called ``conformal model'' for hypercolumns (a model that was briefly presented in [D. V. Alekseevsky, Conformal model of hypercolumns in V1 cortex and the Moebius group, in ``Geometric science of information'', pp. 65--72, Springer, 2021] and given in detail in [D. V. Alekseevsky and A. Spiro, Conformal models for hypercolumns in the primary visual cortex V1, arXiv 2024]), which can be considered as a synthesis of the symplectic and the spherical models.

q-bio.NC↗

arXiv2021

On the Pontryagin Maximum Principle under differential constraints of higher order

Exploiting our previous results on higher order controlled Lagrangians in [Nonlinear Anal. {\bf 207} (2021), 112263], we derive here an analogue of the classical first order Pontryagin Maximum Principle (PMP) for cost minimising problems subjected to higher order differential constraints $\frac{d^k x^j}{dt^k} = f^j\big(t, x(t), \frac{d x}{dt}(t), \ldots, \frac{d^{k-1} x}{dt^{k-1}}(t), u(t)\big)$, $t \in [0,T]$, where $u(t)$ is a control curve in a compact set $K \subset \mathbb R^m$. This result and its proof can be considered as a detailed illustration of one of the claims of that previous paper, namely that the results of that paper, originally established in a smooth differential geometric framework, yield directly properties holding under much weaker and more common assumptions. In addition, for further clarifying our motivations, in the last section we display a couple of quick indications on how the two-step approach of this paper (i.e., a preliminary easy-to-get differential geometric discussion followed by a refining analysis to weaken the regularity assumptions) might be fruitfully exploited also in the context of control problems governed by partial differential equations or in studies on the dynamics of controlled mechanical systems.

math.OC↗

arXiv2021

Special Vinberg Cones and the Entropy of BPS Extremal Black Holes

We consider the static, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat BPS extremal black holes in ungauged N = 2 D = 4 supergravity theories, in which the scalar manifold of the vector multiplets is homogeneous. By a result of Shmakova on the BPS attractor equations, the entropy of this kind of black holes can be expressed only in terms of their electric and magnetic charges, provided that the inverse of a certain quadratic map (uniquely determined by the prepotential of the theory) is given. This inverse was previously known just for the cases in which the scalar manifold of the theory is a homogeneous symmetric space. In this paper we use Vinberg's theory of homogeneous cones to determine an explicit expression for such an inverse, under the assumption that the scalar manifold is homogeneous, but not necessarily symmetric. As immediate consequence, we get a formula for the entropy of BPS black holes that holds in any model of N = 2 supergravity with homogeneous scalar manifold.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Lorentzian manifolds with shearfree congruences and K\"ahler-Sasaki geometry

We study Lorentzian manifolds $(M, g)$ of dimension $n\geq 4$, equipped with a maximally twisting shearfree null vector field $p_o$, for which the leaf space $S = M/\{\exp t p_o\}$ is a smooth manifold. If $n = 2k$, the quotient $S = M/\{\exp t p_o\}$ is naturally equipped with a subconformal structure of contact type and, in the most interesting cases, it is a regular Sasaki manifold projecting onto a quantisable K\"ahler manifold of real dimension $2k -2$. Going backwards through this line of ideas, for any quantisable K\"ahler manifold with associated Sasaki manifold $S$, we give the local description of all Lorentzian metrics $g$ on the total spaces $M$ of $A$-bundles $\pi: M \to S$, $A = S^1, \mathbb R$, such that the generator of the group action is a maximally twisting shearfree $g$-null vector field $p_o$. We also prove that on any such Lorentzian manifold $(M, g)$ there exists a non-trivial generalized electromagnetic plane wave having $p_o$ as propagating direction field, a result that can be considered as a generalization of the classical $4$-dimensional Robinson Theorem. We finally construct a 2-parametric family of Einstein metrics on a trivial bundle $M = \mathbb R \times S$ for any prescribed value of the Einstein constant. If $\dim M = 4$, the Ricci flat metrics obtained in this way are the well-known Taub-NUT metrics.

math.DG↗

arXiv2020

Control problems with differential constraints of higher order

We consider cost minimising control problems, in which the dynamical system is constrained by higher order differential equations of Euler-Lagrange type. Following ideas from a previous paper by the first and the third author, we prove that a curve of controls $u_o(t)$ and a set of initial conditions $\sigma_o$ gives an optimal solution for a control problem of the considered type if and only if an appropriate double integral is greater than or equal to zero along any homotopy $(u(t, s), \sigma(s))$ of control curves and initial data starting from $u_o(t) = u(t, 0)$ and $\sigma_o = \sigma(0)$. This property is called "Principle of Minimal Labour". From this principle we derive a generalisation of the classical Pontryagin Maximum Principle that holds under higher order differential constraints of Euler-Lagrange type and without the hypothesis of fixed initial data.

math.OC↗

arXiv2020

Hyperk\"ahler cones and instantons on quaternionic K\"ahler manifolds

We present a novel approach to the study of Yang-Mills instantons on quaternionic K\"ahler manifolds, based on an extension of the harmonic space method of constructing instantons on hyperk\"ahler manifolds. Our results establish a bijection between local equivalence classes of instantons on quaternionic K\"ahler manifolds M and equivalence classes of certain holomorphic maps on an appropriate SL_2(C)-bundle over the Swann bundle of M.

math.DG↗

arXiv2018

Pontryagin Maximum Principle and Stokes Theorem

We present a new geometric unfolding of a prototype problem of optimal control theory, the Mayer problem. This approach is crucially based on the Stokes Theorem and yields to a necessary and sufficient condition that characterizes the optimal solutions, from which the classical Pontryagin Maximum Principle is derived in a new insightful way. It also suggests generalizations in diverse directions of such famous principle.

math-ph↗

arXiv2018

Instantons on hyperk\"ahler manifolds

An instanton $(E, D)$ on a (pseudo-)hyperk\"ahler manifold $M$ is a vector bundle $E$ associated to a principal $G$-bundle with a connection $D$ whose curvature is pointwise invariant under the quaternionic structures of $T_x M, \ x\in M$, and thus satisfies the Yang-Mills equations. Revisiting a construction of solutions, we prove a local bijection between gauge equivalence classes of instantons on $M$ and equivalence classes of certain holomorphic functions taking values in the Lie algebra of $G^\mathbb{C}$ defined on an appropriate $SL_2(\mathbb{C})$-bundle over $M$. Our reformulation affords a streamlined proof of Uhlenbeck's Compactness Theorem for instantons on (pseudo-)hyperk\"ahler manifolds.

math.DG↗

arXiv2018

On the geometric order of totally nondegenerate CR manifolds

A CR manifold $M$, with CR distribution $\mathcal D^{10}\subset T^\mathbb C M$, is called {\it totally nondegenerate of depth $\mu$} if: (a) the complex tangent space $T^\mathbb C M$ is generated by all complex vector fields that might be determined by iterated Lie brackets between at most $\mu$ fields in $\mathcal D^{10} + \overline{\mathcal D^{10}}$; (b) for each integer $2 \leq k \leq \mu-1$, the families of all vector fields that might be determined by iterated Lie brackets between at most $k$ fields in $\mathcal D^{10} + \overline{\mathcal D^{10}}$ generate regular complex distributions; (c) the ranks of the distributions in (b) have the {\it maximal values} that can be obtained amongst all CR manifolds of the same CR dimension and satisfying (a) and (b) -- this maximality property is the {\it total nondegeneracy} condition. In this paper, we prove that, for any Tanaka symbol $\frak m = \frak m^{-\mu}+ \ldots + \frak m^{-1}$ of a totally nondegenerate CR manifold of depth $\mu \geq 4$, the full Tanaka prolongation of $\frak m$ has trivial subspaces of degree $k \geq 1$, i.e. it has the form $\frak m^{-\mu}+ \ldots + \frak m^{-1} + \frak g^0$. This result has various consequences. For instance it implies that any (local) CR automorphism of a regular totally nondegenerate CR manifold is uniquely determined by its first order jet at a fixed point of the manifold. It also gives a complete proof of a conjecture by Beloshapka on the group of automorphisms of homogeneous totally nondegenerate CR manifolds.

math.CV↗