On the characteristic of projectively invariant pseudo-distance on Finsler spaces

Abstract

A projective parameter of a geodesic on a Finsler space is defined to be solution of a certain ODE. Using projective parameter and Funk metric, one can construct a projectively invariant intrinsic pseudo-distance on a Finsler space. In the present work, solutions of the projective parameter's ODE are characterized with respect to the sign of parallel Ricci tensor of a Finsler space. It is shown that the pseudo-distance is trivial on complete Finsler spaces of positive semi-definite Ricci tensor and it is a distance on Finsler spaces of parallel negative definite Ricci tensor. These results generalize some results of Kobayashi and Sasaki to Finsler geometry.