This book contains a clear exposition of two contemporary topics in modern differential geometry: distance geometric analysis on manifolds, in particular, comparison theory for distance functions in spaces which have well defined bounds on their curvature the application of the Lichnerowicz formula for Dirac operators to the study of Gromov's invariants to measure the K-theoretic size of a Riemannian manifold. It is intended for both graduate students and researchers.

This volume contains a collection of well-written surveys provided by experts in Global Differential Geometry to give an overview over recent developments in Riemannian Geometry, Geometric Analysis and Symplectic Geometry. The papers are written for graduate students and researchers with a general interest in geometry, who want to get acquainted with the current trends in these central fields of modern mathematics.

Elie Cartan's book Geometry of Riemannian Manifolds (1928) was one of the best introductions to his methods. It was based on lectures given by the author at the Sorbonne in the academic year 1925-26. A modernized and extensively augmented edition appeared in 1946 (2nd printing, 1951, and 3rd printing, 1988). Cartan's lectures in 1926-27 were different -- he introduced exterior forms at the very beginning and used extensively orthonormal frames throughout to investigate the geometry of Riemannian manifolds. In this course he solved a series of problems in Euclidean and non-Euclidean spaces, as well as a series of variational problems on geodesics. The lectures were translated into Russian in the book Riemannian Geometry in an Orthogonal Frame (1960). This book has many innovations, such as the notion of intrinsic normal differentiation and the Gaussian torsion of a submanifold in a Euclidean multidimensional space or in a space of constant curvature, an affine connection defined in a normal fiber bundle of a submanifold, etc. The only book of Elie Cartan that was not available in English, it has now been translated into English by Vladislav V Goldberg, the editor of the Russian edition.

This book is an exposition of semi-Riemannian geometry (also called pseudo-Riemannian geometry)--the study of a smooth manifold furnished with a metric tensor of arbitrary signature. The principal special cases are Riemannian geometry, where the metric is positive definite, and Lorentz geometry. For many years these two geometries have developed almost independently: Riemannian geometry reformulated in coordinate-free fashion and directed toward global problems, Lorentz geometry in classical tensor notation devoted to general relativity. More recently, this divergence has been reversed as physicists, turning increasingly toward invariant methods, have produced results of compelling mathematical interest.

This book presents William Clifford’s English translation of Bernhard Riemann’s classic text together with detailed mathematical, historical and philosophical commentary. The basic concepts and ideas, as well as their mathematical background, are provided, putting Riemann’s reasoning into the more general and systematic perspective achieved by later mathematicians and physicists (including Helmholtz, Ricci, Weyl, and Einstein) on the basis of his seminal ideas. Following a historical introduction that positions Riemann’s work in the context of his times, the history of the concept of space in philosophy, physics and mathematics is systematically presented. A subsequent chapter on the reception and influence of the text accompanies the reader from Riemann’s times to contemporary research. Not only mathematicians and historians of the mathematical sciences, but also readers from other disciplines or those with an interest in physics or philosophy will find this work both appealing and insightful.