Abstract
The volume of a k-dimensional foliation \({\cal F}\) in a Riemannian manifold Mn is defined as the mass of the image of the Gauss map, which is a map from M to the Grassmann bundle of k-planes in the tangent bundle. Generalizing the construction by Gluck and Ziller (Comment. Math. Helv. 61 (1986), 177–192), ‘singular’ foliations by 3-spheres are constructed on round spheres S4n+3, as well as a singular foliation by 7-spheres on S15, which minimize volume within their respective relative homology classes. These singular examples, even though they are not homologous to the graph of a foliation, provide lower bounds for volumes of regular three-dimensional foliations of S4n+3 and regular seven-dimensional foliations of S15, since the double of these currents will be homologous to twice the graph of any smooth foliation by 3-manifolds.
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The second author was supported during this research by grants from the Universidade de Sāo Paulo, FAPESP Proc. 1999/02684-5, and Lehigh University, and thanks those institutions for enabling the collaboration involved in this work.
Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000). 53C12, 53C38.
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Brito, F., Johnson, D.L. Volume-Minimizing Foliations on Spheres. Geom Dedicata 109, 253–267 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10711-004-9649-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10711-004-9649-5