Gen. Relativ. Gravit.

(2005) 37(8): 1–3

DOI 10.1007/s10714-005-0129-5

BOOK REVIEW

Sergiu I. Vacaru

Radu Miron (ed.): The geometry of higher-order

Hamilton spaces

Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2003, 264 p.,

EUR110.00, USD121.00, GBP75.00, ISBN 1402015747

Published online: date

C Springer-Verlag 2005

This monograph is the sixth one resulting from 50 years of research activity of the
prominent Romanian school on Finsler geometry, Lagrange-Hamilton spaces, and
their higher-order generalizations [1–5]. The new book presents an overview of
the higher-order Hamilton spaces with applications to higher-order mechanics fol-
lowing the canonical non-linear connection (N-connection) and (semi-)spray for-
malism and the geometry of induced almost complex or contact Riemann-Cartan
structures. The variational principles for higher-order Hamiltonians, Hamilton-
Jacobi equations and related conservation laws and symmetries are described and
investigated.
In this review, I would like to discuss some relations of this original approach
to geometry and physics and reflect on applications to modern gravity and string
theory.
There are two general directions towards geometrization of mechanics on the
tangent or cotangent bundle and their higher-order extensions: The first one is
based on the idea of describing classical mechanics and classical field theory in
terms of symplectic geometry following certain procedures of geometrization of
the Euler-Lagrange and Hamilton equations by using the (multi-)symplectic for-
malism, differential forms, jets, etc. (see, for instance, [6, 7]). In a quite different
way, in the second direction Lagrange and Hamilton mechanics was geometrized
using Riemann-Finsler spaces and, in a more general context, certain types of
non-holonomic manifolds enabled with non-integrable distributions defined by
N-connections. The general ideas and methods originate from E. Cartan [8] and
A. Kawaguchi [9, 10] who were the first to consider metric-compatible models
of Finsler spaces and N-connection structures. In this way, the geometric con-
structions are not related to certain particular properties of the Euler-Lagrange, or

S. I. Vacaru (B)
Instituto de Matemáticas y Fı́sica Fundamental, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı́ficas,
Calle Serrano 123, Madrid 28006, Spain
E-mail: vacaru@imaff.cfmac.csic.es
2 Book Review

Hamilton, equations (represented by (semi-)spray configurations of “non-linear”

geodesics) but canonically defined by certain classes of N-connections and Sasaki
type metrics and N-adapted linear connections and almost symplectic structures.
This leads to a unified geometric method for modelling gravitational, optical
and mechanical processes with straight-forward extensions to quantum and non-
commutative spaces.
A number of Riemann-Finsler and Lagrange-Hamilton geometric configu-
rations can be modelled as exact solutions of the Einstein equations in general
relativity or in theories with non-trivial torsion and non-metricity (see bibliog-
raphy in Refs. [11, 12]). The new classes of spacetimes are parametrized by
generic off-diagonal metrics and constructed by using non-holonomic frame
transforms (vielbeins with associated N-connections) formally considered in
Lagrange-Hamilton geometry. They describe moving black hole – solitonic
configurations, anisotropically deformed Einstein-Dirac spaces, black ellipsoids
and wormholes. It should be emphasized that such constructions elaborated in
the framework of the Einstein, or string, gravity are very different from the
Finsler-like gravity models defined on (co-)tangent bundles with non-linear
dependencies on velocity for the metric and generalized Lorentz transforms (for
instance, certain models proposed in Refs. [13, 14]) which may have certain
experimental restrictions [15, 16] but, in another turn, the violation of local
Lorentz symmetry is of substantial interest in modern brane gravity [17].
Also, there were obtained certain results in (super-)string gravity containing
higher order anisotropic spinor geometries, de Sitter – affine bundles and their
non-commutative and/or Lie algebraic and Clifford algebraic generalizations [18–
21], thereby extending earlier Finsler-Riemann and Lagrange-Hamilton geome-
tries. In this line, we expect that R. Miron’s geometric approach will have a num-
ber of applications in high energy physics, optimal control, biology . . .
Finally, I would like to note that there are two different principles of con-
structing Finsler-like geometries and related physical models. The first one was
elaborated in detail by mathematicians from the USA [22]. They used the
so-called Berwald and Chern-Rund connections resulting in geometries with
non-compatible metric and connection structures which makes more sophisti-
cate, for instance, the problem of definition of spinors and conservation laws
and non-commutative generalizations. In another turn, the Cartan-Miron di-
rection essentially follows the principle of metric compatibility of geometric
constructions which is related simpler physical realizations and higher order
generalizations.

References

1. Miron, R., Hrimiuc, D., Shimada, H., Sabau, V.S.: The Geometry of Hamilton and Lagrange
Spaces. Kluwer, Dordrecht (2000)
2. Miron, R.: The Geometry of Higher-Order Finsler Spaces. Hadronic Press, Palm Harbor,
USA (1998)
3. Miron, R.: The Geometry of Higher-Order Lagrange Spaces. Applications to Mechanics
and Physics. Kluwer, Dordrecht (1997)
4. Miron, R., Anastasiei, M.: Vector Bundles and Lagrange Spaces with Applications to Rela-
tivity. Geometry Balkan Press, Bukharest. Translation from the Romanian original. (Editura
Academiei Romane, 1984) (1997)
Book Review 3

5. Miron, R., Anastasiei, M.: The Geometry of Lagrange Spaces. Theory and Applications.
Kluwer, Dordrecht (1994)
6. Crampin, M.: Lett. Math. Phys. 19, 53 (1990)
7. de Leon, M., de Diego, D.M.: J. Math. Phys. 36, 4138 (1995)
8. Cartan, E.: Les Espaces de Finsler. Herman, Paris (1935)
9. Kawaguchi, A.: Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam Proc. 40, 596 (1937)
10. Kawaguchi, A.: Tensor, N. S. 2 123 (1952); Kawaguchi, A.: Tensor, N. S. 6, 165 (1956)
11. Vacaru, S., Dehnen, H.: Gen. Rel. Grav. 35, 209 (2003)
12. Vacaru, S., Singleton, D.: Class. Quant. Grav. 19, 2793 (2002)
13. Bogoslovsky, G., Goenner, H.: Gen. Rel. Grav. 31, 1565 (1999)
14. Asanov, G.S.: Rep. Math. Phys. 42, 273 (1998)
15. Bekenstein, J.D.: Phys. Rev. D 48, 3641 (1993)
16. Will, C.M.: Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics. Cambridge UP, Cambridge
(1993)
17. Csáki, C., Erlich, J., Grojean, C.: Nucl. Phys. B 604, 312 (2001)
18. Anastasiei, M.: C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris A 284, 943 (1997)
19. Bejancu, A.: Finsler Geometry and Applications. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, England
(1990)
20. Vacaru, S.: Nucl. Phys. B 434, 590 (1997)
21. Vacaru, S., Stavrinos, P.: Spinors and Space-Time Anisotropy Athens University Press.
Athens (2002) [gr-qc/0112028]
22. Bao, D., Chern, S.-S., Shen, Z.: An Introduction to Riemann–Finsler Geometry. Springer,
New York (2000)