Finsler manifold
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In mathematics, a Finsler manifold is a differential manifold M with a Banach norm defined over each tangent space such that the Banach norm as a function of position is smooth and satisfies the following property:
- For each point x of M, and for every vector v in the tangent space TxM, the second derivative of the function L:TxM->R given by
- <math>L(\bold{w})=\frac{1}{2}\|w\|^2<math>
- at v is positive definite.
Riemannian manifolds (but not pseudo Riemannian manifolds) are special cases of Finsler manifolds.
The length of γ, a differentiable curve in M is given by
- <math>\int \left\|\frac{d\gamma}{dt}(t)\right\| dt<math>.
Note that this is reparametrization-invariant. Geodesics are curves in M whose length is extremal under functional derivatives.