In this book we study sprays and Finsler metrics. Roughly speaking, a spray on a manifold consists of compatible systems of second-order ordinary differential equations. A Finsler metric on a manifold is a family of norms in tangent spaces, which vary smoothly with the base point. Every Finsler metric determines a spray by its systems of geodesic equations. Thus, Finsler spaces can be viewed as special spray spaces. On the other hand, every Finsler metric defines a distance function by the length of minimial curves. Thus Finsler spaces can be viewed as regular metric spaces. Riemannian spaces are special regular metric spaces. In 1854, B. Riemann introduced the Riemann curvature for Riemannian spaces in his ground-breaking Habilitationsvortrag. Thereafter the geometry of these special regular metric spaces is named after him. Riemann also mentioned general regular metric spaces, but he thought that there were nothing new in the general case. In fact, it is technically much more difficult to deal with general regular metric spaces. For more than half century, there had been no essential progress in this direction until P. Finsler did his pioneering work in 1918. Finsler studied the variational problems of curves and surfaces in general regular metric spaces. Some difficult problems were solved by him. Since then, such regular metric spaces are called Finsler spaces. Finsler, however, did not go any further to introduce curvatures for regular metric spaces. He switched his research direction to set theory shortly after his graduation.

The present book has been written by two mathematicians and one physicist: a pure mathematician specializing in Finsler geometry (Makoto Matsumoto), one working in mathematical biology (Peter Antonelli), and a mathematical physicist specializing in information thermodynamics (Roman Ingarden). The main purpose of this book is to present the principles and methods of sprays (path spaces) and Finsler spaces together with examples of applications to physical and life sciences. It is our aim to write an introductory book on Finsler geometry and its applications at a fairly advanced level. It is intended especially for graduate students in pure mathemat ics, science and applied mathematics, but should be also of interest to those pure "Finslerists" who would like to see their subject applied. After more than 70 years of relatively slow development Finsler geometry is now a modern subject with a large body of theorems and techniques and has math ematical content comparable to any field of modern differential geometry. The time has come to say this in full voice, against those who have thought Finsler geometry, because of its computational complexity, is only of marginal interest and with prac tically no interesting applications. Contrary to these outdated fossilized opinions, we believe "the world is Finslerian" in a true sense and we will try to show this in our application in thermodynamics, optics, ecology, evolution and developmental biology. On the other hand, while the complexity of the subject has not disappeared, the modern bundle theoretic approach has increased greatly its understandability.

This introductory book uses the moving frame as a tool and develops Finsler geometry on the basis of the Chern connection and the projective sphere bundle. It systematically introduces three classes of geometrical invariants on Finsler manifolds and their intrinsic relations, analyzes local and global results from classic and modern Finsler geometry, and gives non-trivial examples of Finsler manifolds satisfying different curvature conditions.

This volume contains invited lectures and selected research papers in the fields of classical and modern differential geometry, global analysis, and geometric methods in physics, presented at the 10th International Conference on Differential Geometry and its Applications (DGA2007), held in Olomouc, Czech Republic.The book covers recent developments and the latest results in the following fields: Riemannian geometry, connections, jets, differential invariants, the calculus of variations on manifolds, differential equations, Finsler structures, and geometric methods in physics. It is also a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest mathematicians, Leonhard Euler, and includes the Euler lecture “Leonhard Euler — 300 years on” by R Wilson. Notable contributors include J F Cariñena, M Castrillón López, J Erichhorn, J-H Eschenburg, I Kolář, A P Kopylov, J Korbaš, O Kowalski, B Kruglikov, D Krupka, O Krupková, R Léandre, Haizhong Li, S Maeda, M A Malakhaltsev, O I Mokhov, J Muñoz Masqué, S Preston, V Rovenski, D J Saunders, M Sekizawa, J Slovák, J Szilasi, L Tamássy, P Walczak, and others.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Finsler geometry in the language of present-day mathematics. Through Finsler geometry, it also introduces the reader to other structures and techniques of differential geometry.Prerequisites for reading the book are minimal: undergraduate linear algebra (over the reals) and analysis. The necessary concepts and tools of advanced linear algebra (over modules), point set topology, multivariable calculus and the rudiments of the theory of differential equations are integrated in the text. Basic manifold and bundle theories are treated concisely, carefully and (apart from proofs) in a self-contained manner.The backbone of the book is the detailed and original exposition of tangent bundle geometry, Ehresmann connections and sprays. It turns out that these structures are important not only in their own right and in the foundation of Finsler geometry, but they can be also regarded as the cornerstones of the huge edifice of Differential Geometry.The authors emphasize the conceptual aspects, but carefully elaborate calculative aspects as well (tensor derivations, graded derivations and covariant derivatives). Although they give preference to index-free methods, they also apply the techniques of traditional tensor calculus.Most proofs are elaborated in detail, which makes the book suitable for self-study. Nevertheless, the authors provide for more advanced readers as well by supplying them with adequate material, and the book may also serve as a reference.

There are several mathematical approaches to Finsler Geometry, all of which are contained and expounded in this comprehensive Handbook. The principal bundles pathway to state-of-the-art Finsler Theory is here provided by M. Matsumoto. His is a cornerstone for this set of essays, as are the articles of R. Miron (Lagrange Geometry) and J. Szilasi (Spray and Finsler Geometry). After studying either one of these, the reader will be able to understand the included survey articles on complex manifolds, holonomy, sprays and KCC-theory, symplectic structures, Legendre duality, Hodge theory and Gauss-Bonnet formulas. Finslerian diffusion theory is presented by its founders, P. Antonelli and T. Zastawniak. To help with calculations and conceptualizations, a CD-ROM containing the software package FINSLER, based on MAPLE, is included with the book.

In 1854, B Riemann introduced the notion of curvature for spaces with a family of inner products. There was no significant progress in the general case until 1918, when P Finsler studied the variation problem in regular metric spaces. Around 1926, L Berwald extended Riemann's notion of curvature to regular metric spaces and introduced an important non-Riemannian curvature using his connection for regular metrics. Since then, Finsler geometry has developed steadily. In his Paris address in 1900, D Hilbert formulated 23 problems, the 4th and 23rd problems being in Finsler's category. Finsler geometry has broader applications in many areas of science and will continue to develop through the efforts of many geometers around the world.Usually, the methods employed in Finsler geometry involve very complicated tensor computations. Sometimes this discourages beginners. Viewing Finsler spaces as regular metric spaces, the author discusses the problems from the modern metric geometry point of view. The book begins with the basics on Finsler spaces, including the notions of geodesics and curvatures, then deals with basic comparison theorems on metrics and measures and their applications to the Levy concentration theory of regular metric measure spaces and Gromov's Hausdorff convergence theory.

There are several mathematical approaches to Finsler Geometry, all of which are contained and expounded in this comprehensive Handbook. The principal bundles pathway to state-of-the-art Finsler Theory is here provided by M. Matsumoto. His is a cornerstone for this set of essays, as are the articles of R. Miron (Lagrange Geometry) and J. Szilasi (Spray and Finsler Geometry). After studying either one of these, the reader will be able to understand the included survey articles on complex manifolds, holonomy, sprays and KCC-theory, symplectic structures, Legendre duality, Hodge theory and Gauss-Bonnet formulas. Finslerian diffusion theory is presented by its founders, P. Antonelli and T. Zastawniak. To help with calculations and conceptualizations, a CD-ROM containing the software package FINSLER, based on MAPLE, is included with the book.

This book begins with a new approach to the geometry of pseudo-Finsler manifolds. It also discusses the geometry of pseudo-Finsler manifolds and presents a comparison between the induced and the intrinsic Finsler connections. The Cartan, Berwald, and Rund connections are all investigated. Included also is the study of totally geodesic and other special submanifolds such as curves, surfaces, and hypersurfaces. Audience: The book will be of interest to researchers working on pseudo-Finsler geometry in general, and on pseudo-Finsler submanifolds in particular.

This book is the first to present an overview of higher-order Hamilton geometry with applications to higher-order Hamiltonian mechanics. It is a direct continuation of the book The Geometry of Hamilton and Lagrange Spaces, (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001). It contains the general theory of higher order Hamilton spaces H(k)n, k>=1, semisprays, the canonical nonlinear connection, the N-linear metrical connection and their structure equations, and the Riemannian almost contact metrical model of these spaces. In addition, the volume also describes new developments such as variational principles for higher order Hamiltonians; Hamilton-Jacobi equations; higher order energies and law of conservation; Noether symmetries; Hamilton subspaces of order k and their fundamental equations. The duality, via Legendre transformation, between Hamilton spaces of order k and Lagrange spaces of the same order is pointed out. Also, the geometry of Cartan spaces of order k =1 is investigated in detail. This theory is useful in the construction of geometrical models in theoretical physics, mechanics, dynamical systems, optimal control, biology, economy etc.