We prove that many aspects of the differential geometry of embedded Riemannian manifolds can be formulated in terms of multi-linear algebraic structures on the space of smooth functions. In particular, we find algebraic expressions for Weingarten’s formula, the Ricci curvature, and the Codazzi-Mainardi equations. For matrix analogues of embedded surfaces, we define discrete curvatures and Euler characteristics, and a non-commutative GaussBonnet theorem is shown to follow. We derive simple expressions for the discrete Gauss curvature in terms of matrices representing the embedding coordinates, and explicit examples are provided. Furthermore, we illustrate the fact that techniques from differential geometry can carry over to matrix analogues by proving that a bound on the discrete Gauss curvature implies a bound on the eigenvalues of the discrete Laplace operator.

Eigenvalues and capacitors. Let X be a Riemannian manifold and be the Laplace operator on X. It is well-known that if X is compact then the spectrum of is discrete and consists of an increasing sequence {k} k= 1 of the eigenvalues (counted with the multiplicities) where 1= 0 and k as k. Moreover, if n= dim X then Weyls asymptotic formula says that (1.1) k cn

An almost K\"ahler structure on a symplectic manifold (N,ω) consists of a Riemannian metric g and an almost complex structure J such that the symplectic form ω satisfies ω(⋅,⋅)=g(J(⋅),⋅) . Any symplectic manifold admits an almost K\"ahler structure and we refer to (N,ω,g,J) as an almost K\"ahler manifold. In this article, we propose a natural evolution equation to investigate the deformation of Lagrangian submanifolds in almost K\"ahler manifolds. A metric and complex connection $\hn$ on TN defines a generalized mean curvature vector field along any Lagrangian submanifold M of N . We study the evolution of M along this vector field, which turns out to be a Lagrangian deformation, as long as the connection $\hn$ satisfies an Einstein condition. This can be viewed as a generalization of the classical Lagrangian mean curvature flow in K\"ahler-Einstein manifolds where the connection $\hn$ is the Levi-Civita connection of g . Our result applies to the important case of Lagrangian submanifolds in a cotangent bundle equipped with the canonical almost K\"ahler structure and to other generalization of Lagrangian mean curvature flows, such as the flow considered by Behrndt \cite{b} in K\"ahler manifolds that are almost Einstein.

Given a compact orientable surface, we determine a complete set of relations for a function defined on the set of all homotopy classes of simple loops to be a geometric intersection number function. As a consequence, Thurston’s space of measured laminations and Thurston’s compactification of the Teichm¨uller space are described by a set of explicit equations. These equations are polynomials in the max-plus semi-ring structure on the real numbers. It shows that Thurston’s theory of measured laminations is within the domain of tropical geometry.

The chains studied in this paper generalize Chern–Moser chains for CR structures. They form a distinguished family of one dimensional submanifolds in manifolds endowed with a parabolic contact structure. Both the parabolic contact structure and the system of chains can be equivalently encoded as Cartan geometries (of different types). The aim of this paper is to study the relation between these two Cartan geometries for Lagrangean contact structures and partially integrable almost CR structures. We develop a general method for extending Cartan geometries which generalizes the Cartan geometry interpretation of Fefferman’s construction of a conformal structure associated to a CR structure. For the two structures in question, we show that the Cartan geometry associated to the family of chains can be obtained in that way if and only if the original parabolic contact structure is torsion free. In particular, the procedure works exactly on the subclass of (integrable) CR structures. This tight relation between the two Cartan geometries leads to an explicit description of the Cartan curvature associated to the family of chains. On the one hand, this shows that the homogeneous models for the two parabolic contact structures give rise to examples of non–flat path geometries with large automorphism groups. On the other hand, we show that one may (almost) reconstruct the underlying torsion free parabolic contact structure from the Cartan curvature associated to the chains. In particular, this leads to a very conceptual proof of the fact that chain preserving contact diffeomorphisms are either isomorphisms or antiisomorphisms of parabolic contact structures.