English

Conformally flat structures via hyperbolic geometry

Differential Geometry 2026-03-31 v2 Geometric Topology

Abstract

A pair of tensors (g,B)(g,B) form the induced metric and shape operator of an immersion into hyperbolic space if and only if they satisfy the Gauss-Codazzi equations. Such a pair of tensors induce a pair (g^,B^)(\hat{g},\hat{B}) related to the ideal boundary of hyperbolic space. Krasnov and Schlenker, and Bridgeman and Bromberg show in the surface case that there is a duality between (g,B)(g,B) and (g^,B^)(\hat{g},\hat{B}). Moreover, (g,B)(g,B) solves the Gauss-Codazzi equations if and only if (g^,B^)(\hat{g},\hat{B}) solve a corresponding set of equations. We show a similar duality exists and identify these corresponding equations for an arbitrary dimension, as well as show there exists a unique solution for B^\hat{B} provided g^\hat{g} is locally conformally flat. As an application, we offer a proof of the Weyl-Schouten theorem concerning locally conformally flat metrics that factors through hyperbolic geometry.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2309.13738,
  title  = {Conformally flat structures via hyperbolic geometry},
  author = {Keaton Quinn},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.13738},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Minor corrections and improvements throughout. Improved connections to existing literature

R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:30:56.534Z