The Stratification of Singular Locus and Closed Geodesics on Orbifolds

Abstract

In this note, we prove the existence of a closed geodesic of positive length on any compact developable orbifold of dimension 3, 5, or 7. The argument uses the stratification of the singular locus, and reduces the problem of existence of a closed geodesic on a compact developable orbifold to the case of even dimensional orbifolds with zero-dimensional singular locus and orbifold fundamental group infinite torsion and of odd exponent.