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Joseph H. G. Fu

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph H. G. Fu.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

The Weyl tube theorem for Kähler manifolds

As sharpened in terms of Alesker's theory of valuations on manifolds, a classic theorem of Weyl asserts that the coefficients of the tube polynomial of an isometrically embedded riemannian manifold $M \hookrightarrow \mathbb R^n$ constitute a canonical finite dimensional subalgebra $\mathcal {L K}(M)$ of the algebra $\mathcal{V} (M)$ of all smooth valuations on $M$, isomorphic to the algebra of valuations on Euclidean space that are invariant under rigid motions. We construct an analogous, larger, canonical subalgebra $\mathcal{KLK}(M)\subset \mathcal{V}(M)$ for Kähler manifolds $M$: i) if $\dim M = n $, then $\mathcal{KLK}(M)\simeq \mathrm{Val}^{\mathrm{U}(n)}$, the algebra of valuations on $\mathbb{C}^n$ invariant under the holomorphic isometry group, and ii) if $M\hookrightarrow \tilde M$ is a Kähler embedding, then the restriction map $\mathcal{V}(\tilde M) \to \mathcal{V}(M)$ induces a surjection $\mathcal{KLK}(\tilde M)\to \mathcal{KLK}(M)$. This answers a question posed by Alesker in 2010 and gives a structural explanation for some previously known, but mysterious phenomena in hermitian integral geometry.

math.DG

On the Gaussian Kinematic Formula of R. Adler and J. Taylor

We apply methods of algebraic integral geometry to prove a special case of the Gaussian kinematic formula of Adler-Taylor. The idea, suggested already by Adler and Taylor, is to view the GKF as the limit of spherical kinematic formulas for spheres of large dimension $N$ and curvature $\frac 1 N$.

math.DG

Riemannian curvature measures

A famous theorem of Weyl states that if $M$ is a compact submanifold of euclidean space, then the volumes of small tubes about $M$ are given by a polynomial in the radius $r$, with coefficients that are expressible as integrals of certain scalar invariants of the curvature tensor of $M$ with respect to the induced metric. It is natural to interpret this phenomenon in terms of curvature measures and smooth valuations, in the sense of Alesker, canonically associated to the Riemannian structure of $M$. This perspective yields a fundamental new structure in Riemannian geometry, in the form of a certain abstract module over the polynomial algebra $\mathbb R[t]$ that reflects the behavior of Alesker multiplication. This module encodes a key piece of the array of kinematic formulas of any Riemannian manifold on which a group of isometries acts transitively on the sphere bundle. We illustrate this principle in precise terms in the case where $M$ is a complex space form.

math.DG

Dual curvature measures in hermitian integral geometry

The local kinematic formulas on complex space forms induce the structure of a commutative algebra on the space $\mathrm{Curv}^{\mathrm{U}(n)*}$ of dual unitarily invariant curvature measures. Building on the recent results from integral geometry in complex space forms, we describe this algebra structure explicitly as a polynomial algebra. This is a short way to encode all local kinematic formulas. We then characterize the invariant valuations on complex space forms leaving the space of invariant angular curvature measures fixed.

math.DG

Kinematic formulas for sets defined by differences of convex functions

Two of the authors have defined the class $ WDC(M)$ as the class of all subsets of a smooth manifold $M$ that may be expressed in local coordinates as certain sublevel sets of DC (differences of convex) functions. If $M$ is Riemanian and $G$ is a group of isometries acting transitively on the sphere bundle $SM$, we define the invariant curvature measures of compact \WDC~ subsets of $M$, and show that pairs of such subsets are subject to the array of kinematic formulas known to apply to smoother sets. Restricting to the case $(M, G) = (\mathbb R^d, \overline{SO(d)})$, this extends and subsumes Federer's theory of sets with positive reach in an essential way. The key technical point is equivalent to a sharpening of a classical theorem of Ewald, Larman, and Rogers characterizing the dimension of the set of directions of line segments lying in the boundary of a given convex body.

math.DG

Intersection theory and the Alesker product

Alesker has introduced the space $\mathcal V^\infty(M)$ of {\it smooth valuations} on a smooth manifold $M$, and shown that it admits a natural commutative multiplication. Although Alesker's original construction is highly technical, from a moral perspective this product is simply an artifact of the operation of intersection of two sets. Subsequently Alesker and Bernig gave an expression for the product in terms of differential forms. We show how the Alesker-Bernig formula arises naturally from the intersection interpretation, and apply this insight to give a new formula for the product of a general valuation with a valuation that is expressed in terms of intersections with a sufficiently rich family of smooth polyhedra.

math.DG

Ropelength Criticality

The ropelength problem asks for the minimum-length configuration of a knotted diameter-one tube embedded in Euclidean three-space. The core curve of such a tube is called a tight knot, and its length is a knot invariant measuring complexity. In terms of the core curve, the thickness constraint has two parts: an upper bound on curvature and a self-contact condition. We give a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for criticality with respect to this constraint, based on a version of the Kuhn-Tucker theorem that we established in previous work. The key technical difficulty is to compute the derivative of thickness under a smooth perturbation. This is accomplished by writing thickness as the minimum of a $C^1$-compact family of smooth functions in order to apply a theorem of Clarke. We give a number of applications, including a classification of the "supercoiled helices" formed by critical curves with no self-contacts (constrained by curvature alone) and an explicit but surprisingly complicated description of the "clasp" junctions formed when one rope is pulled tight over another.

math.DG

Integral geometry of complex space forms

We show how Alesker's theory of valuations on manifolds gives rise to an algebraic picture of the integral geometry of any Riemannian isotropic space. We then apply this method to give a thorough account of the integral geometry of the complex space forms, i.e. complex projective space, complex hyperbolic space and complex euclidean space. In particular, we compute the family of kinematic formulas for invariant valuations and invariant curvature measures in these spaces. In addition to new and more efficient framings of the tube formulas of Gray and the kinematic formulas of Shifrin, this approach yields a new formula expressing the volumes of the tubes about a totally real submanifold in terms of its intrinsic Riemannian structure. We also show by direct calculation that the Lipschitz-Killing valuations stabilize the subspace of invariant angular curvature measures, suggesting the possibility that a similar phenomenon holds for all Riemannian manifolds. We conclude with a number of open questions and conjectures.

math.DG

Piecewise linear approximation of smooth functions of two variables

Given a piecewise linear (PL) function $p$ defined on an open subset of $\R^n$, one may construct by elementary means a unique polyhedron with multiplicities $\D(p)$ in the cotangent bundle $\R^n\times \R^{n*}$ representing the graph of the differential of $p$. Restricting to dimension 2, we show that any smooth function $f(x,y)$ may be approximated by a sequence $p_1,p_2,\dots$ of PL functions such that the areas of the $\D(p_i)$ are locally dominated by the area of the graph of $df$ times a universal constant.

math.DG

Symmetric Criticality for Tight Knots

We prove a version of symmetric criticality for ropelength-critical knots. Our theorem implies that a knot or link with a symmetric representative has a ropelength-critical configuration with the same symmetry. We use this to construct new examples of ropelength critical configurations for knots and links which are different from the ropelength minima for these knot and link types.

math.DG

Algebraic integral geometry

This is a revised version of the notes from the week-long course I gave at the Centre de Recerca Matematica, Barcelona, in September of 2010. The aim is to give a working overview of recent methods and results in "Blaschkean integral geometry" (i.e. the subject revolving around the kinematic formulas of Blaschke) in the wake of the revolutionary new methods introduced over the past ten years or so by S. Alesker. The most striking new feature is the extent to which the subject has been invaded by algebra.

math.DG

An extension of Alexandrov's theorem on second derivatives of convex functions

If $f$ is a function of $n$ variables that is locally $L^1$ approximable by a sequence of smooth functions satisfying local $L^1$ bounds on the determinants of the minors of the Hessian, then $f$ admits a second order Taylor expansion almost everywhere. This extends a classical theorem of A.D. Alexandrov, covering the special case in which $f$ is locally convex.

math.FA

Hermitian integral geometry

We give in explicit form the principal kinematic formula for the action of the affine unitary group on $\C^n$, together with a straightforward algebraic method for computing the full array of unitary kinematic formulas, expressed in terms of certain convex valuations introduced, essentially, by H. Tasaki. We introduce also several other canonical bases for the algebra of unitary-invariant valuations, explore their interrelations, and characterize in these terms the cones of positive and monotone elements.

math.DG

Convolution of convex valuations

We show that the natural "convolution" on the space of smooth, even, translation-invariant convex valuations on a euclidean space $V$, obtained by intertwining the product and the duality transform of S. Alesker, may be expressed in terms of Minkowski sum. Furthermore the resulting product extends naturally to odd valuations as well. Based on this technical result we give an application to integral geometry, generalizing Hadwiger's additive kinematic formula for $SO(V)$ to general compact groups $G \subset O(V)$ acting transitively on the sphere: it turns out that these formulas are in a natural sense dual to the usual (intersection) kinematic formulas.

math.DG

Theory of valuations on manifolds, III. Multiplicative structure in the general case

This article is the third part of the series of articles where the theory of valuations on manifolds is constructed. In math.MG/0503399 the notion of a smooth valuation on a manifold was introduced. The goal of this article is to put a canonical multiplicative structure on the space of smooth valuations on general manifolds, thus extending some of the affine constructions from math.MG/0301148, math.MG/0503397.

math.MG

Structure of the unitary valuation algebra

S. Alesker has shown that if $G$ is a compact subgroup of O(n) acting transitively on the unit sphere $S^{n-1}$ then the vector space $Val^G$ of continuous, translation-invariant, $G$-invariant convex valuations on $R^n$ has the structure of a finite dimensional graded algebra over $R$ satisfying Poincare duality. We show that the kinematic formulas for $G$ are determined by the product pairing. Using this result we then show that the algebra $Val^{U(n) }$ is isomorphic to $R[s,t]/(f_{n+1}, f_{n+2})$, where $s,t$ have degrees 2 and 1 respectively, and the polynomial $f_i$ is the degree $i$ term of the power series $\log(1 + s +t)$.

math.DG

Circles Minimize most Knot Energies

We define a new class of knot energies (known as renormalization energies) and prove that a broad class of these energies are uniquely minimized by the round circle. Most of O'Hara's knot energies belong to this class. This proves two conjectures of O'Hara and of Freedman, He, and Wang. We also find energies not minimized by a round circle. The proof is based on a theorem of G. Luko on average chord lengths of closed curves.

math.GT

Stiefel-Whitney Classes and the Conormal Cycle of a Singular Variety

A geometric construction of Sullivan's Stiefel-Whitney homology classes of a real analytic variety $X$ is given by means of the conormal cycle of an embedding of $X$ in a smooth variety. We prove that the Stiefel-Whitney classes define additive natural transformations from certain constructible functions to homology. We also show that, for a complex analytic variety, these classes are the mod 2 reductions of the Chern-MacPherson classes.

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