Communications in Mathematics n (20xy) ab–cd 1

DOI: 10.2478/cm-2021-0031
20xy
c Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini
This is an open access article licensed
under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally

conformal submersions

Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

Abstract. In this paper, we address the completeness problem of certain

classes of Riemannian metrics on vector bundles. We first establish a gen-
eral result on the completeness of the total space of a vector bundle when
the projection is a horizontally conformal submersion with a bound con-
dition on the dilation function, and in particular when it is a Riemannian
submersion. This allows us to give completeness results for spherically sym-
metric metrics on vector bundle manifolds and eventually for the class of
Cheeger-Gromoll and generalized Cheeger-Gromoll metrics on vector bun-
dle manifolds. Moreover, we study the completeness of a subclass of g-
-natural metrics on tangent bundles and we extend the results to the case
of unit tangent sphere bundles. Our proofs are mainly based on techniques
of metric topology and on the Hopf-Rinow theorem.

Introduction and main results

Horizontally conformal maps arise naturally from the theory of harmonic mor-
phisms. Indeed, harmonic morphisms have been characterized as harmonic maps
which are horizontally conformal (cf. [10], [14], [11], [12]). Further, horizontally con-
formal submersions arise as generalizations of Riemannian submersions (cf. [8], [9]).
Besides Riemannian submersions, there are two geometrically interesting classes of
horizontally conformal submersions:

• The projection maps of tangent bundles endowed with special Riemannian

g-natural metrics: the geometry of tangent bundles had been deeply studied
from many point of views (cf. [1], [2], [3], [4], [17]), but the introduction
2020 MSC: 53C07, 53C24, 53C25
Key words: Vector bundle, spherically symmetric metric, complete Riemannian metric,
complete metric space, Hopf-Rinow theorem.
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Mathematical Sciences and applications (LaSMA), Department of
Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah
University, B.P. 1796-Atlas, Fez, Morocco.
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
2 Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

of the large class of g-natural metrics (cf. [17]) had given a second wind to
research in this topic during the last decades. When some restrictions are
taken on these metrics, the projection map of the tangent bundle becomes a
horizontally conformal submersion;
• The projection maps of vector bundles equipped with spherically symmetric
metrics (cf. [5]), or with the Cheeger-Gromoll metric or more generally (p, q)-
-metrics (cf. [6]). Spherically symmetric metrics on vector bundle manifolds
are two-weights Riemannian metrics naturally constructed from a Rieman-
nian metric on the base and a fiber metric on the vector bundle together with
a compatible connection. When we restrict ourselves to the case of a tangent
bundle, spherically symmetric metrics are examples of g-natural metrics.
In this paper, we are interested in the study of the completeness problem of
the total space of a vector bundle whose projection is a horizontally conformal
submersion, with a special focus on the cases of g-natural tangent bundles and
spherically symmetric vector bundles. We shall refer to this as the completeness
problem (CP). To the best of our knowledge, this problem had not been solved in
its full generality, and only one partial result had been established in the context
of Riemannian submersions. Indeed, R. Hermann proved that if the total space
of a Riemannian submersion is complete then so is the base (cf. [13]). On the
other hand, R. Albuquerque conjectured that the total space, when endowed with
a spherically symmetric metric, is complete if and only if the base manifold and
fibers are complete (cf. [5]).
We shall prove that the conjecture of Albuquerque is true even with weaker
hypotheses. More precisely, we have the following:
Main Theorem 1. Let G be a Riemannian metric on a vector bundle (E, π, M ) for
which the projection π : (E, G) −→ (M, g) is a horizontally conformal submersion
such that the dilation function λ satisfies a ≤ λ2 ≤ b, for some real numbers
a, b > 0. If the base (M, g) is complete, then so is the total space (E, G).
The converse holds for Riemannian metrics on a vector bundle E for which the
projection is a Riemannian submersion (cf. [13]). Actually, it holds also for the
case described in the following corollary:
Corollary 1. Let G be a Riemannian metric on a vector bundle (E, π, M ) for which
the projection π : (E, G) −→ (M, g) is a horizontally homothetic submersion with
constant dilation function. Then, (E, G) is complete if and only if (M, g) is com-
plete.
Since the projections of vector bundles endowed with spherically symmetric
metrics are horizontally conformal submersions, Main Theorem 1 achieves an an-
swer in affirmative to the problem CP not only for spherically symmetric metrics
but generally when the projection is a horizontally conformal submersion with a
bounded dilation function but without assuming completeness of fibers.
In particular, Main Theorem 1 answers the question of completeness for some
well known classes of Riemannian metrics on vector bundles for which the pro-
jection is a Riemannian submersion. For example, the Cheeger-Gromoll and the
 On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally conformal submersions 3

generalized Cheeger-Gromoll metrics (cf. [6], [7], [20]). It also establishes the com-
pleteness of the class of Kaluza-Klein metrics (cf. [1], [2], [4]) on tangent bundles
and tangent sphere bundles. Those applications will be explored in detail.
The proof of our main results are based on topological techniques and the Hopf-
Rinow theorem. It relies on a comparison of the distances induced from the metrics
of the base manifold and total space.
This paper will be organized as follows. The first section is devoted to recall
the definitions of horizontally conformal submersions and spherically symmetric
metrics as well as a concise account of g-natural metrics on tangent bundles and
unit tangent sphere bundles. The second section contains the proofs of claims. The
third section concerns the application of Main Theorem 1 to solve the CP in the
different contexts as described above.
All manifolds are assumed to be smooth (by smooth we mean differentiable of
class C ∞ ) and connected. All geometric objects (functions, vector fields, . . . etc.)
are smooth.

1 Preliminaries
This section serves to recall the main concepts we will be using in the forthcoming
sections.
Generally speaking, given a map φ : (N, h) −→ (M, g), then for any point
x ∈ N , set Vx (φ) = ker(dx φ), this space is called the vertical subspace at x
associated with φ, and we denote Hx (φ) = Vx (φ)⊥ and we call it the horizontal
subspace at x associated with φ.

Definition 1. Let φ : (N, h) −→ (M, g) be a non-constant smooth map.

If Cφ := {x ∈ N : dx φ ≡ 0} and Ñ = N \ Cφ , then φ is said to be horizontally
conformal if there exists λ : Ñ −→ R+ such that

gφ(x) (dx φ(X), dx φ(Y )) = λ(x)2 hx (X, Y ),

for all X, Y ∈ Hx (φ) and x ∈ Ñ . The function λ is then extended to the whole of
N by putting λ|Cφ = 0. The extended function λ : N −→ R+ is called the dilation
of φ.

It turns out that the dilation function of a horizontally conformal map is smooth
(see [12]). The gradient vector field grad(λ2 ) can be decomposed, with respect to
the decomposition Tx M = Vx (φ) ⊕ Hx (φ), as

grad(λ2 ) = gradV (λ2 ) + gradH (λ2 ).

Definition 2. A non-constant map φ : (N, h) −→ (M, g) is said to be horizon-

tally homothetic if it is horizontally conformal with dilation function λ such that
gradH (λ2 ) = 0 on Ñ .

Horizontally conformal submersions are direct generalizations of Riemannian

submersions, it suffices to take the dilation function λ ≡ 1. Riemannian sub-
mersions have been extensively studied, for instance B. O’Neill introduced two
4 Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

fundamental tensors which relate the geometry of the base and total space in ex-
actly the same way the second fundamental form do (cf. [22]). Further, he gave the
equations, analogous to Guass and Codazzi, which relate the curvature tensors of
the two manifolds (cf. [22]). Moreover, geodesics of Riemannian submersions were
studied by many authors. For instance, B. O’Neill studied geodesics of the total
space of a Riemannian submersion in their relation to those of the base, he also
related the respective Jacobi fields and index forms (cf. [23]).
One of the geometrically interesting examples of horizontally conformal submer-
sions are the projection of certain vector bundles when endowed with certain classes
of Riemannian metrics. In [5], R. Albuquerque introduced the class of spherically
symmetric metrics on vector bundle manifolds.
More precisely, let (E, π, M ) be a vector bundle with a Riemannian base (M, g).
We assume that E is endowed with a fiber metric h and a compatible connection
D (i.e. Dh = 0). Denote by VE (resp. HE) the vertical (resp. horizontal) sub-
bundle of T E. Let K denote the connection map (the connector) associated with
the connection D. Vectors and vector fields which lie in HE (resp. VE) are said
to be horizontal (resp. vertical).
First, we recall some basic facts from the theory of connections on fiber bundles
and in particular connection theory on vector bundles. A curve in E is said to
be horizontal if its tangent vector is a horizontal vector at each point. Horizontal
curves are ultimately related to horizontal lifts of vector fields. More precisely, the
integral curves of the horizontal lift X h of a vector field X are the horizontal lifts
of integral curves of X.
Definition 3. Let γ be a curve in M , a horizontal lift of γ is a horizontal curve γ ∗
in E such that π(γ ∗ (t)) = γ(t), for all t.
The following result guarantees the existence of horizontal lifts of curves in the base,
for a detailed proof in the general context of fiber bundles, we refer the reader to
[15].

Proposition 1. Let γ : [0, 1] −→ M be a curve starting at x and let e ∈ E be a

point in E such that π(e) = x, then there exists a unique horizontal lift γ ∗ of γ
starting at e.

We also recall the following useful lemma (cf. [5]).

Lemma 1. Let f be a smooth real scalar function on E depending on r = h(e, e).
Then, for any horizontal (resp. vertical) vector X H (resp. Y V ) on E, we have
i) X H (f (r)) = 0;
ii) Y V (f (r)) = 2f 0 (r)ξ [ (Y V ).
Consider the metric defined by

Ge (X, Y ) = e2ϕ1 (r) gπ(e) ((dπ)e (X), (dπ)e (Y )) + e2ϕ2 (r) hπ(e) (Ke (X), Ke (Y )), (1)

for all e ∈ E and X, Y ∈ Te E, with r = h(e, e) and ϕ1 , ϕ2 are smooth scalar

functions on E depending only on the norm r = h(e, e) and smooth at r = 0
 On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally conformal submersions 5

on the right. R. Albuquerque called those metrics spherically symmetric metrics

(SS-metrics).
There are other classes of Riemannian metrics G on vector bundle manifolds
among which we cite:
Cheeger-Gromoll metric: this metric is a generalization of the classical Cheeger-
Gromoll metric on tangent bundles [1], [2], [20], given by
1 
Gcg
e (X, Y ) = g(dπ(X), dπ(Y )) + h(Ke X, Ke Y )
1+r

+ h(Ke X, e)h(Ke Y, e) , (2)

for e ∈ E and X, Y ∈ Te E, with r = h(e, e).

Generalized Cheeger-Gromoll metrics (cf. [7]): they are generalization of the
previous Cheeger-Gromoll metric and are given by:
1
p
Gp,q
e (X, Y ) = g(dπ(X), dπ(Y )) + h(Ke (X), Ke (Y ))
1+r


+ qh(Ke X, e)h(Ke Y, e) , (3)
for e ∈ E and X, Y ∈ Te E, with r = h(e, e). Those metrics were called (p, q)-
-metrics (cf. [7] for more details). For, p = q = 1, one recovers the Cheeger-Gromoll
metric Gcg .
It’s clear that the projection of generalized Cheeger-Gromoll metrics, and hence
the classical Cheeger-Gromoll metric, are Riemannnian submersions. Now, we
shall prove that the projections of vector bundles endowed with SS-metrics are
horizontally conformal submersions.
Proposition 2. Let G be an SS-metric on E of the form (1), then the projection π :
(E, G) −→ (M, g) is a horizontally homothetic submersion with dilation function
λ : E −→ R with λ(e) = e−ϕ1 (r) .
Proof. Since π is a submersion, Cπ = ∅, thus Ẽ = E \ Cπ = E. Furthermore,
Ve (π) = Ve E and since the horizontal and vertical distributions are orthogonal
with respect to G, we have He (π) = He E = ker(Ke ). As a matter of fact, for all
e ∈ E and Y1 = X1h , Y2 = X2h ∈ He E, we have
gπ(e) (dπ(Y1 ), dπ(Y2 )) = gπ(e) (X1 , X2 )
= e−2ϕ1 Ge (Y1 , Y2 ),
2
whence π is horizontally conformal with dilation function λ : e 7→ e−ϕ1 (kek ) .
Let {ei } be a local linear orthonormal frame of M and {σp } a local orthonormal
frame of E, denote by
Ei = e−ϕ1 ehi and En+p = e−ϕ2 σpv ,
for i = 1, . . . , n and p = 1, . . . , k. Hence {EI ; I = 1, . . . , n + k} is a local linear
orthonormal frame of E.
Since, by virtue of Lemma 1, we have Ei .λ = e−ϕ1 ehi .λ = 0, for all i = 1, . . . , m.
Hence gradH (λ) = 0, thus π is horizontally homothetic. 
6 Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

Remark 1. If we choose an SS-metric with weights ϕ1 and ϕ2 such that ϕ1 = 0,

then the projection is a Riemannian submersion.
Though tangent bundles are examples of vector bundles, they constitute a par-
ticular exception. Indeed, they can be endowed with a far more large family of
naturally constructed metrics for many good reasons, firstly a Riemannian metric
on the base gives at the same time a linear connection on the tangent bundle and
inner products on fibers, secondly local frames of the tangent bundle are nothing
but the coordinate frames, that is local trivializations of the tangent bundle arise
naturally from the smooth structure of the base. For all of these considerations, it
becomes quite natural to have a huge class of metrics on the tangent bundle to a
Riemannian manifold, namely g-natural metrics which are defined as follows.
Let (M, g) be an n-dimensional Riemannian manifold and ∇ its Levi-Civita
connection. At each point (x, u) of its tangent bundle T M , the tangent space to
T M splits into the horizontal and vertical subspaces with respect to ∇ as follows:
T(x,u) T M = H(x,u) T M ⊕ V(x,u) T M.

For any vector X ∈ Tx M , there exists a unique vector X h ∈ H(x,u) T M , called

the horizontal lift of X to (x, u) ∈ T M , such that π∗ X h = X, where π : T M → M
is the natural projection. The vertical lift of a vector X ∈ Tx M to (x, u) ∈ T M
is a vector X v ∈ V(x,u) T M such that X v (df ) = Xf , for all functions f on M ( we
consider 1-forms df on M as functions on T M via the equation df (x, u) = uf ). The
map X 7→ X h is an isomorphism between the vector spaces Tx M and H(x,u) T M .
Similarly, the map X 7→ X v is an isomorphism between Tx M and V(x,u) T M . Each
tangent vector Z̃ ∈ T(x,u) T M can be written in the form Z̃ = X h + Y v , where
X, Y ∈ Tx M are uniquely determined tangent vectors. Horizontal and vertical lifts
of vector fields on M can be defined in an obvious way and are uniquely defined
vector fields on T M .
Classically, the total space of the tangent bundle was endowed with the Sasaki
metric, but it turns out that the Sasaki metric presents a strong rigidity in the
sense of [16] and [20]. In order to overcome such a rigidity, many generalizations
of the Sasaki metric were introduced (e.g. the Cheeger-Gromoll metric, Oproiu
metrics etc). We refer the reader to the paper [1] for a detailed survey of the
geometry of the tangent bundle. The introduction of g-natural metrics comes from
the description of all second order natural transformations of Riemannian metrics
on manifolds into metrics on their tangent bundles [17], for more details about the
concept of naturality and related notions we refer the reader to [17], [18] and [19].
g-natural metrics have been characterized as follows:
Proposition 3. (see [4]) Let (M, g) be a Riemannian manifold and G be a g-natural
metric on T M . Then there are six smooth functions αi , βi : R+ → R, i = 1, 2, 3,
such that for every u, X, Y ∈ Tx M , we have

G (X h , Y h ) = (α1 + α3 )(r)gx (X, Y ) + (β1 + β3 )(r)gx (X, u)gx (Y, u),
 (x,u) h v


G(x,u) (X , Y ) = α2 (r)gx (X, Y ) + β2 (r)gx (X, u)gx (Y, u),
G (X v , Y h ) = α2 (r)gx (X, Y ) + β2 (r)gx (X, u)gx (Y, u),
 (x,u) v v


G(x,u) (X , Y ) = α1 (r)gx (X, Y ) + β1 (r)gx (X, u)gx (Y, u),
 On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally conformal submersions 7

where r = gx (u, u). For n = 1, the same holds with βi = 0, for i = 1, 2, 3.

In the sequel, we shall use the following notations:

(i) φi = αi (t) + tβi (t),
(ii) α(t) = α1 (t)(α1 + α3 )(t) − α22 (t),
(iii) φ(t) = φ1 (t)(φ1 + φ3 )(t) − φ22 (t),
for all t ∈ R+ .
Riemannian g-natural metrics are characterized as follows:

Proposition 4. (see [4]) The necessary and sufficient conditions for a g-natural
metric G on the tangent bundle of a Riemannian manifold (M, g) to be Riemannian
are that the functions of Proposition 3, defining G, satisfy the inequalities

α1 (t) > 0, φ1 (t) > 0,
(4)
α(t) > 0, φ(t) > 0,

for all t ∈ R+ .
For n = 1 the system reduces to α1 (t) > 0 and α(t) > 0, for all t ∈ R+ .

The unit tangent sphere bundle over a Riemannian manifold (M, g) is the hy-
persurface T1 M = {(x, u) ∈ T M |gx (u, u) = 1} in T M . The tangent space to T1 M ,
at a point (x, u) ∈ T1 M , is given by

T(x,u) T1 M = X h + Y v /X ∈ Tx M, Y ∈ {u}⊥ ⊂ Tx M .


By a (pseudo)-Riemannian g-natural metric G̃ on T1 M we mean a (pseudo)-

-Riemannian metric induced by a g-natural metric G on T M . It’s well known
that a g-natural metric on T1 M is completely determined by the values of four real
constants, namely:

a = α1 (1), b = α2 (1), c = α3 (1), d = (β1 + β3 )(1),

where αi and βi are the weight functions of a g-natural metric as given in Propo-
sition 3. In the same way, a g-natural metric G̃ on T1 M is Riemannian if and only
if
a > 0, α = a(a + c) − b2 > 0, φ = a(a + c + d) − b2 > 0.
If G̃ is a g-natural metric on T1 M , then at each point (x, u) ∈ T1 M , the metric
G̃ is completely determined by

G̃(x,u) (X h , Y h ) = (a + c)gx (X, Y ) + dgx (X, u)gx (Y, u)



G̃(x,u) (X h , Y v ) = G̃(x,u) (Y v , X h ) = bgx (X, Y )
G̃(x,u) (X v , Y v ) = agx (X, Y ),


It is worth mentioning that the tangent sphere bundle is not a vector bundle,
it is a fiber bundle so our results do not work directly in this case, but we shall
extend them without troubles nor extra assumptions.
8 Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

Let G be a Riemannian g-natural metric with weight functions αi and βi , i =

1, 2, 3, such that,
α2 = 0, β2 = 0, β1 + β3 = 0.
This way, we obtain a class of metrics known as Kaluza-Klein metrics (KK-
-metrics). Let G be a KK-metric, then using similar techniques to those used in the
proof of Proposition 2, one can prove that the projection π : (T M, G) −→ (M, g)
(resp. π 0 : (T1 M, G̃) −→
p (M, g)) is a horizontally homothetic submersion with
dilation function λ =p (α1 + α3 ) (resp. horizontally homothetic with constant
dilation function λ = (a + c)).

2 Proofs of the claims

This section is devoted to prove the claims. The proof of the main theorem is based
on a comparison of the distances induced from the metric tensors of the total space
and the base.

Lemma 2. Let π : (N, h) −→ (M, g) be a horizontally conformal submersion with

dilation function λ. Assume that M is complete and the square of the dilation
function is bounded from above by µ > 0 i.e. λ2 ≤ µ. Then, for all e1 , e2 ∈ E, we
have
√
dg (π(e1 ), π(e2 ) ≤ µdh (e1 , e2 ),
where dg and dh are the (geodesic) distances induced by the metric tensors g and
h, respectively.

Proof. Let e1 , e2 ∈ E with xi = π(ei ), i = 1, 2. For any curve δ : [a, b] −→ E

relating e1 to e2 , π ◦ δ : [a, b] −→ M is a curve relating x1 to x2 . Since (M, g)
is complete, there exists a geodesic c : I −→ M relating x1 to x2 , such that
l(c) = dg (x1 , x2 ), where l(c) denotes the length of c, with respect to g.
For a curve δ : I −→ E, we have
. . . . . .
h(δ(t), δ(t)) = h(H(δ(t)), H(δ(t))) + h(V(δ(t)), V(δ(t)))
. . . .
= λ(δ(t))−2 g π∗ δ(t), π∗ δ(t) + h(V(δ(t)), V(δ(t))),

where H (resp. V) denotes the horizontal (resp. vertical) part of a vector. If L(δ)
denotes the length of δ, with respect to h, then
Z b . .
1
L(δ) = h(δ(t), δ(t) 2 dt
a
. .
Z b z }| { z }| { . .
1
−2
= λ(δ(t)) g(π ◦ δ(t), π ◦ δ(t)) + h(V(δ(t)), V(δ(t))) 2 dt
a
Z b . .
1 z }| { z }| {
1
≥√ g(π ◦ δ(t), π ◦ δ(t)) 2 dt
µ a
l(π ◦ δ)
≥ √
µ
 On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally conformal submersions 9

Hence, for any curve (potentially piecewise smooth) δ : [a, b] −→ E, we have

l(π ◦ δ) l(c) 1
L(δ) ≥ √ ≥ √ = √ dg (x1 , x2 ),
µ µ µ

whence the result. 

Proof of Main Theorem 1. By virtue of the Hopf-Rinow theorem, it suffices to

show that (E, dG ) is a complete metric space. Let (en )n be a Cauchy sequence
√ the metric space (E, dG ). By virtue of Lemma 2, we have dg (π(en+p ), π(en ) ≤
of
bdG (en+p , en ), for all n, p ∈ N, we conclude that the sequence (xn ), with xn =
π(en ), is a Cauchy sequence of the metric space (M, dg ). By virtue of the Hopf-
Rinow theorem, the sequence (xn ) converges to a limit x0 ∈ M .
Let  > 0. Since the sequence (xn )n converges to x0 , there exists N ∈ N such
that d(xn , x0 ) <  for all n ≥ N . So, for n ≥ N , let c : [0, 1] −→ M be a geodesic
relating xn to x0 and let c∗ be the horizontal lift of c starting at en as given in
Proposition 1.
We get . . .
. .
kcb∗ (t)k2G = G(cb∗ (t), cb∗ (t)) = λ(c∗ (t))−2 g(c(t), c(t)),
thus
l(c) 1
L(c∗ ) ≤ √ = √ dg (xn , x0 ).
a a
1 
In particular, we have dG (en , c∗ (1)) ≤ √ dg (xn , x0 ) ≤ √ . Thus, the sequence
a a
(en )n converges to the limit point e = c∗ (1). Once again, the Hopf-Rinow theorem
gives the result. 

Remark 2. In Lemma 2 and the proof of Main Theorem 1, we have proved that if
(M, g) is complete and G is a Riemannian metric on E such that the projection
π : (E, G) −→ (M, g) is a horizontally conformal map with dilation function λ
satisfying a ≤ λ2 ≤ b, for some real numbers a, b > 0, then we have
√ √
adG (e1 , e2 ) ≤ dg (π(e1 ), π(e2 ) ≤ bdG (e1 , e2 ),

where e1 , e2 ∈ E are the ends of the lift of a minimizing geodesic relating x1 and
x2 , with xi = π(ei ) for i = 1, 2.

3 Applications
This section is devoted to the application of Main Theorem 1 to settle the com-
pleteness problem of spherically symmetric metrics and eventually the completeness
of the Cheeger-Gromoll and (p, q)-metrics, we will also study the completeness of
g-natural metrics on tangent bundles and tangent sphere bundles.
It is well known that if the total space of a Riemannian submersion is complete
then the base is also complete (cf. [13], [21]). Further, if G is a complete Riemannian
metric on E, then the fibers Ex are complete submanifolds because the fibers are
closed submanifolds of (E, G).
10 Mohamed Tahar Kadaoui Abbassi, Ibrahim Lakrini

Lemma 3. Let G be a Riemannian metric on E such that the projection π :

(E, G) −→ (M, g) is a horizontally homothetic submersion with constant dilation
function λ. If (E, G) is complete, then so is (M, g).

Proof. Using the fundamental tensors of a submersion introduced in [22] and their
application in the case of horizontally conformal submersions studied in [11] and
[12], one can prove that

.∗ . 1 .∗ .∗ .∗ .∗ 1

∇G γ = (π ∗ ∇gγ. )γ + V[γ , γ ] + λ2 h(γ , γ )grad( 2 )


.∗
γ 2 λ
.∗
= (π ∗ ∇gγ. ∗ )γ ,

where ∇G and ∇g are the Levi-Civita connections of (E, G) and (M, g), respec-
tively, and π ∗ ∇g is the pullback connection of ∇g by π.
Thus, a curve in M is a geodesic if and only if its horizontal lift is a geodesic
in E. Hence the result. 

As an application we present a partial answer to the CP and some completeness

results for Cheeger-Gromoll and generalized Cheeger-Gromoll metrics:

Corollary 2. Assume that E is endowed with a metric G belonging to one of the

following classes:

(a) SS-metrics with ϕ1 is constant,

(c) (p, q)-metrics Gp,q .

Then, the Riemannian manifold (E, G) is complete if and only if (M, g) is complete.

Proof. It follows from Lemma 3 and Main Theorem 1. 

For spherically symmetric metrics on vector bundle manifolds for which the
dilation function is not constant, the zero section is a global section that allows
one to embed the base manifold as a submanifold of the total space, but this can
not ensure the completeness of (M, g) from that of (E, G).

Corollary 3. Let G be an SS-metric on E with weight functions ϕ1 and ϕ2 . Assume

that ϕ1 is bounded and (M, g) is complete, then (E, G) is complete.

Proof. The projection π is horizontally conformal with dilation function λ = e−ϕ1 .

Since ϕ1 is bounded, then we can find a, b > 0 such that a ≤ λ2 ≤ b. Hence the
result follows from Main Theorem 1. 

Example 1. Take ϕ1 (r) = cos(r), and ϕ2 an arbitrary weight function as in sec-

tion 1. If (M, g) is complete, then (E, G) is complete, where G is the spherically
symmetric metric with weights ϕ1 and ϕ2 .

Now, we focus on tangent bundles and tangent sphere bundles with g-natural
metrics.
 On the completeness of total spaces of horizontally conformal submersions 11

Proposition 5. Let (M, g) be a Riemannian manifold and let T M be its tangent

bundle endowed with a KK-metric G with weight functions αi and βi , for i = 1, 2, 3.
Assume that α1 + α3 satisfies a ≤ α1 + α3 ≤ b, for some real numbers a, b > 0, and
(M, g) is complete, then (T M, G) is complete. Furthermore, the equivalence holds
if α1 + α3 is constant.

Proof. It follows from Lemma 2 and Main Theorem 1. 

Proposition 6. Let (M, g) be a Riemannian manifold and let T1 M be its unit

tangent sphere bundle endowed with G̃ induced from a KK-metric G with weight
functions αi and βi , for i = 1, 2, 3. Then (T1 M, G̃) is complete if and only if (M, g)
is complete.

Proof. We give only a sketch of the proof since it stems from the proof of Main
Theorem 1. Since the projection π : (T1 M, G) −→ (M,p g) is a horizontally con-
formal submersion with constant dilation function λ = (a + c) with a = α1 (1)
and c = α3 (1), Lemma 2 implies that the projection of a Cauchy sequence of the
total space is a Cauchy sequence of the base M . Moreover, the horizontal lift of
a geodesic, with respect to the Levi-Civita connection of G̃, exists by virtue of a
more general version of Proposition 1 in the case of fiber bundles (cf. [15]). Hence,
one obtains a limit point for the considered sequence, which implies at once that
(E, G) is complete. The converse follows from Lemma 3. 

Remark 3. The class of Kaluza-Klein metrics on (unit) tangent bundles to Rie-

mannian manifolds includes the Sasaki metric [24], the Cheeger-Gromoll metric
and the Cheeger-Gromoll type metrics Gp,q defined in [6].

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Received: 20 October 2019

Accepted for publication: 29 October 2019
Communicated by: Ilka Agricola