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The authors found necessary and sufficient conditions for Samuelson's web to be of maximum rank.

In the present paper we define Samuelson's webs and their rank. The main result of the paper is the proof that the rank of the Samuelson webs does not exceed 6, as well as finding the conditions under which this rank is maximal for the general Samuelson webs as well as for their singular cases., Comment: 9 pages; to appear in Russian in Doklady Akademii Nauk, Matematika, and in English in Doklady Mathematics

We present a complete description of a class of linearizable planar geodesic webs which contain a parallelizable 3-subweb., Comment: 7 pages

In the present paper we study geometric structures associated with webs of hypersurfaces. We prove that with any geodesic (n+2)-web on an n-dimensional manifold there is naturally associated a unique projective structure and, provided that one of web foliations is pointed, there is also associated a unique affine structure. The projective structure can be chosen by the claim that the leaves of all web foliations are totally geodesic, and the affine structure by an additional claim that one of web functions is affine. These structures allow us to determine differential invariants of geodesic webs and give geometrically clear answers to some classical problems of the web theory such as the web linearization and the Gronwall theorem., Comment: 11 pages, in Russian

We present old and recent results on rank problems and linearizability of geodesic planar webs., Comment: 31 pages; LaTeX; corrected the abstract and Introduction; added references

We find necessary and sufficient conditions for the foliation defined by level sets of a function f(x_{1},...,x_{n}) to be totally geodesic in a torsion-free connection and apply them to find the conditions for d-webs of hypersurfaces to be geodesic, and in the case of flat connections, for d-webs (d > n) of hypersurfaces to be hyperplanar webs. These conditions are systems of generalized Euler equations, and for flat connections we give an explicit construction of their solutions., Comment: 9 pages

We prove that any planar 4-web defines a unique projective structure in the plane in such a way that the leaves of the foliations are geodesics of this projective structure. We also find conditions for the projective structure mentioned above to contain an affine symmetric connection, and conditions for a planar 4-web to be equivalent to a geodesic 4-web on an affine symmetric surface. Similar results are obtained for planar d-webs, d > 4, provided that additional d-4 second-order invariants vanish., Comment: 15 pages

This paper has been withdrawn by the authors due to the fact that the webs considered in the paper are ``Veronese-like webs'' which are different from Veronese webs., Comment: This paper has been withdrawn

We find an invariant characterization of planar webs of maximum rank. For 4-webs, we prove that a planar 4-web is of maximum rank three if and only if it is linearizable and its curvature vanishes. This result leads to the direct web-theoretical proof of the Poincar\'{e}'s theorem: a planar 4-web of maximum rank is linearizable. We also find an invariant intrinsic characterization of planar 4-webs of rank two and one and prove that in general such webs are not linearizable. This solves the Blaschke problem ``to find invariant conditions for a planar 4-web to be of rank 1 or 2 or 3''. Finally, we find invariant characterization of planar 5-webs of maximum rank and prove than in general such webs are not linearizable., Comment: 43 pages

We find relative differential invariants of orders eight and nine for a planar nonparallelizable 3-web such that their vanishing is necessary and sufficient for a 3-web to be linearizable. This solves the Blaschke conjecture for 3-webs. As a side result, we show that the number of linearizations in the Gronwall conjecture does not exceed fifteen and give criteria for rigidity of 3-webs., Comment: LaTeX, 52 pages

The authors establish a relation of the theory of varieties with degenerate Gauss maps in projective spaces with the theory of congruences and pseudocongruences of subspaces and show how these two theories can be applied to the construction of induced connections on submanifolds of projective spaces and other spaces endowed with a projective structure., Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages

The dual variety X* for a smooth n-dimensional variety X of the projective space P^N is the set of tangent hyperplanes to X. In the general case, the variety X* is a hypersurface in the dual space (P^N)*. If dim X* < N - 1, then the variety X is called dually degenerate. The authors refine these definitions for a variety X \subset P^N with a degenerate Gauss map of rank r. For such a variety, in the general case, the dimension of its dual variety X* is N - l - 1, where l = n - r, and X is dually degenerate if dim X* < N - l - 1. In 1979 Griffiths and Harris proved that a smooth variety X \subset P^N is dually degenerate if and only if all its second fundamental forms are singular. The authors generalize this theorem for a variety X \subset P^N with a degenerate Gauss map of rank r., Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages

We present an example of a 6-web W (6, 3, 2) of codimension two and of maximum rank on a six-dimensional manifold which is not almost Grassmannizable., Comment: 11 pages

The authors study in detail new types of varieties with degenerate Gauss maps: varieties with multiple foci and their particular case, the so-called twisted cones. They prove an existence theorem for twisted cones and describe their structure., Comment: 17 pages

We find d - 2 relative differential invariants for a d-web, d \geq 4, on a two-dimensional manifold and prove that their vanishing is necessary and sufficient for a d-web to be linearizable. If one writes the above invariants in terms of web functions f (x,y) and g_4 (x,y),...,g_d (x,y), then necessary and sufficient conditions for the linearizabilty of a d-web are two PDEs of the fourth order with respect to f and g_4, and d - 4 PDEs of the second order with respect to f and g_4,...,g_d. For d = 4, this result confirms Blaschke's conjecture on the nature of conditions for the linearizabilty of a 4-web. We also give Mathematica codes for testing 4- and d-webs (d > 4) for linearizability and examples of their usage., Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages; revised version (modified the introduction, replaced Mathematica code for testing 5-webs for linearizability by that for testing d-webs (d > 4) and added the example of the Spence-Kummer 9-web)

We investigate the linearizability problem for different classes of 4-webs in the plane. In particular, we apply a recently found in [AGL] the linearizability conditions for 4-webs in the plane to confirm that a 4-web MW (Mayrhofer's web) with equal curvature forms of its 3-subwebs and a nonconstant basic invariant is always linearizable (this result was first obtained in [M 28]); it also follows from the papers [Na 96] and [Na98]). Using the same conditions, we also prove that such a 4-web with a constant basic invariant (Nakai's web) is linearizable if and only if it is parallelizable. We also study four classes of the so-called almost parallelizable 4-webs APW_a, a = 1, 2, 3, 4 (for them the curvature K = 0 and the basic invariant is constant on the leaves of the web foliation X_a), and prove that a 4-web APW_a is linearizable if and only if it coincides with a 4-web MW_a of the corresponding special class of 4-webs MW. The existence theorems are proved for all the classes of 4-webs considered in the paper., Comment: LaTeX, 20 pages; revised version (corrected some typos and made some formulations more precise)

The authors study smooth lines on projective planes over the algebra C of complex numbers, the algebra C^1 of double numbers, and the algebra C^0 of dual numbers. In the space RP^5, to these smooth lines there correspond families of straight lines describing point three-dimensional tangentially degenerate submanifolds X^3 of rank 2. The authors study focal properties of these submanifolds and prove that they represent examples of different types of tangentially degenerate submanifolds. Namely, the submanifold X^3, corresponding in RP^5 to a smooth line \gamma of the projective plane C, does not have real singular points, the submanifold X^3, corresponding in RP^5 to a smooth line \gamma of the projective plane C^1 P^2, bears two plane singular lines, and finally the submanifold X^3, corresponding in RP^5 to a smooth line \gamma of the projective plane C^0 P^2, bears one singular line., Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 11 pages

A classification and examples of four-dimensional isoclinic three-webs of codimension two are given. The examples considered prove the existence theorem for many classes of webs for which the general existence theorems are not proved yet., Comment: LaTeX, 26 pages

We consider the Goursat's (n+1)-webs of codimension one of two kinds on an n-dimensional manifold. They are characterized by the specific closed form equations or by two special relations between components of the torsion tensor of the web. These relations allow us to establish a connection with solutions of two systems of nonlinear second-order PDEs investigated by Goursat in 1899. The integrability conditions of some distributions invariantly associated with both kinds of Goursat's (n+1)-webs are also investigated., Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages

We find three characterizations for a multidimensional (n+1)-web W possessing a reduct reducible subweb: its closed form equations, the integrability of an invariant distribution associated with W, and the relations between the components of its torsion tensor. In the case of codimension one, the latter criterion establishes a relation with solutions of a system of nonlinear second-order PDEs. Some particular cases of this system were considered by Goursat in 1899., Comment: LaTeX, 4 pages

The authors prove that a local $n$-quasigroup defined by the equation x_{n+1} = F (x_1, ..., x_n) = [f_1 (x_1) + ... + f_n (x_n)]/[x_1 + ... + x_n], where f_i (x_i), i, j = 1, ..., n, are arbitrary functions, is irreducible if and only if any two functions f_i (x_i) and f_j (x_j), i \neq j, are not both linear homogeneous, or these functions are linear homogeneous but f_i (x_i)/x_i \neq f_j (x_j)/x_j. This gives a solution of Belousov's problem to construct examples of irreducible $n$-quasigroups for any n \geq 3., Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 7 pages

A classification and examples of four-dimensional isoclinic three-webs of codimension two are given. The examples considered prove the existence theorem for many classes of webs for which the general existence theorems are not proved yet., Comment: LaTeX, 29 pages

Let X be a smooth, complete, connected submanifold of dimension n < N in a complex affine space A^N (C), and r is the rank of its Gauss map \gamma, \gamma (x) = T_x (X). The authors prove that if 2 \leq r \leq n - 1, N - n \geq 2, and in the pencil of the second fundamental forms of X, there are two forms defining a regular pencil all eigenvalues of which are distinct, then the submanifold X is a cylinder with (n-r)-dimensional plane generators erected over a smooth, complete, connected submanifold Y of rank r and dimension r. This result is an affine analogue of the Hartman-Nirenberg cylinder theorem proved for X \subset R^{n+1} and r = 1. For n \geq 4 and r = n - 1, there exist complete connected submanifolds X \subset A^N (C) that are not cylinders., Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 9 pages; revised version (the main theorem refined, and its conditions are given in terms of the second fundamental form of a variety in question)

Finding examples of tangentially degenerate submanifolds (submanifolds with degenerate Gauss mappings) in an Euclidean space $R^4$ that are noncylindrical and without singularities is an important problem of differential geometry. The first example of such a hypersurface was constructed by Sacksteder in 1960. In 1995 Wu published an example of a noncylindrical tangentially degenerate algebraic hypersurface in $R^4$ whose Gauss mapping is of rank 2 and which is also without singularities. This example was constructed (but not published) by Bourgain. In this paper, the authors analyze Bourgain's example, prove that, as was the case for the Sacksteder hypersurface, singular points of the Bourgain hypersurface are located in the hyperplane at infinity of the space $R^4$, and these two hypersurfaces are locally equivalent., Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages; revised version (the title and the main theorem modified, and a new characteristic property of the Bourgain hypersurfaces and new references added)

An n-dimensional submanifold X of a projective space P^N (C) is called tangentially degenerate if the rank of its Gauss mapping \gamma: X ---> G (n, N) satisfies 0 < rank \gamma < n. The authors systematically study the geometry of tangentially degenerate submanifolds of a projective space $P^N (\mathbf{C})$. By means of the focal images, three basic types of submanifolds are discovered: cones, tangentially degenerate hypersurfaces, and torsal submanifolds. Moreover, for tangentially degenerate submanifolds, a structural theorem is proven. By this theorem, tangentially degenerate submanifolds that do not belong to one of the basic types are foliated into submanifolds of basic types. In the proof the authors introduce irreducible, reducible, and completely reducible tangentially degenerate submanifolds. It is found that cones and tangentially degenerate hypersurfaces are irreducible, and torsal submanifolds are completely reducible while all other tangentially degenerate submanifolds not belonging to basic types are reducible., Comment: LaTeX, 22 pages; revised version, to appear in Geometrae Dedicata

For a four-dimensional (nonisoclinicly geodesic) three-web W (3, 2, 2), a transversal distribution $\Delta$ is defined by the torsion tensor of the web. In general, this distribution is not integrable. The authors find necessary and sufficient conditions of its integrability and prove the existence theorem for webs W (3, 2, 2) with integrable distributions $\Delta$. They prove that for a web W (3, 2, 2) with the integrable distribution $\Delta$, the integral surfaces $V^2$ of $\Delta$ are totally geodesic in an affine connection of a certain bundle of affine connections. They also consider a class of webs W (3, 2, 2) for which the integral surfaces $V^2$ of $\Delta$ are geodesicly parallel with respect to the same affine connections and a class of webs for which two-dimensional webs W (3, 2, 1) cut by the foliations of W (3, 2, 2) on $V^2$ are hexagonal. They prove the existence theorems for webs of the latter class as well as for webs of the subclass which is the intersection of two classes mentioned above. The authors also establish relations between three-webs considered in the paper., Comment: LaTeX, 16 pages

The authors study the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces on a four-dimensional manifold $(M, c)$ endowed with a pseudoconformal structure $c = CO (2, 2)$. They prove that a lightlike hypersurface $V \subset (M, c)$ bears a foliation formed by conformally invariant isotropic geodesics and two isotropic distributions tangent to these geodesics, and that these two distributions are integrable if and only if $V$ is totally umbilical. The authors also indicate how, using singular points and singular submanifolds of a lightlike hypersurface $V \subset (M, c)$, to construct an invariant normalization of $V$ intrinsically connected with $V$., Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages

The authors study the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces on pseudo-Riemannian manifolds $(M, g)$ of Lorentzian signature. Such hypersurfaces are of interest in general relativity since they can be models of different types of physical horizons. For a lightlike hypersurface $V \subset (M, g)$ of general type and for some special lightlike hypersurfaces (namely, for totally umbilical and belonging to a manifold $(M, g)$ of constant curvature), in a third-order neighborhood of a point $x \in V$, the authors construct invariant normalizations intrinsically connected with the geometry of $V$ and investigate affine connections induced by these normalizations. For this construction, they used relative and absolute invariants defined by the first and second fundamental forms of $V$. The authors show that if $\dim M = 4$, their methods allow to construct three invariant normalizations and affine connections intrinsically connected with the geometry of $V$. Such a construction is given in the present paper for the first time. The authors also consider the fibration of isotropic geodesics of $V$ and investigate their singular points and singular submanifolds., Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages

The authors study the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces on manifolds $(M, c)$ endowed with a pseudoconformal structure $c = CO (n - 1, 1)$ of Lorentzian signature. Such hypersurfaces are of interest in general relativity since they can be models of different types of physical horizons. On a lightlike hypersurface, the authors consider the fibration of isotropic geodesics and investigate their singular points and singular submanifolds. They construct a conformally invariant normalization of a lightlike hypersurface intrinsically connected with its geometry and investigate affine connections induced by this normalization. The authors also consider special classes of lightlike hypersurfaces. In particular, they investigate lightlike hypersurfaces for which the elements of the constructed normalization are integrable., Comment: LaTeX, 34 pages

We consider real isotropic geodesics on manifolds endowed with a pseudoconformal structure and their applications to the theory of lightlike hypersurfaces on such manifolds, the geometry of four-dimensional conformal structures of Lorentzian type, and a classification of the Einstein spaces., Comment: LaTeX, 18 pages

The geometry of canal hypersurfaces of an n-dimensional conformal space C^n is studied. Such hypersurfaces are envelopes of r-parameter families of hyperspheres, 1 \leq r \leq n-2. In the present paper the conditions that characterize canal hypersurfaces, and which were known earlier, are made more precise. The main attention is given to the study of the Darboux maps of canal hypersurfaces in the de Sitter space M_1^{n+1} and the projective space P^{n+1}. To canal hypersurfaces there correspond r-dimensional spacelike tangentially nondegenerate submanifolds in M_1^{n+1} and tangentially degenerate hypersurfaces of rank r in P^{n+1}. In this connection the problem of existence of singular points on canal hypersurfaces is considered., Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages; to be published in Beitraege Algebra Geom

It is proved that the geometry of lightlike hypersurfaces of the de Sitter space S^{n+1}_1 is directly connected with the geometry of hypersurfaces of the conformal space C^n. This connection is applied for a construction of an invariant normalization and an invariant affine connection of lightlike hypersurfaces as well as for studying singularities of lightlike hypersurfaces., Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages;, to be published in Acta Appl.Math., 1998

There are three types of hypersurfaces in a pseudoconformal space C^n_1 of Lorentzian signature: spacelike, timelike, and lightlike. These three types of hypersurfaces are considered in parallel. Spacelike hypersurfaces are endowed with a proper conformal structure, and timelike hypersurfaces are endowed with a conformal structure of Lorentzian type. Geometry of these two types of hypersurfaces can be studied in a manner that is similar to that for hypersurfaces of a proper conformal space. Lightlike hypersurfaces are endowed with a degenerate conformal structure. This is the reason that their investigation has special features. It is proved that under the Darboux mapping such hypersurfaces are transferred into tangentially degenerate (n-1)-dimensional submanifolds of rank n-2 located on the Darboux hyperquadric. The isotropic congruences of the space C^n_1 that are closely connected with lightlike hypersurfaces and their Darboux mapping are also considered., Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages

On the Grassmann manifold G (m, n) of m-dimensional subspaces of an n-dimensional projective space P^n, a certain supplementary construction called the normalization is considered. By means of this normalization, one can construct the structure of a Riemannian or semi-Riemannian manifold or an affine connection on G(m, n)., Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages

The authors study singular points of lightlike hypersurfaces of the de Sitter space S^{n+1}_1 and the geometry of hypersurfaces and use them for construction of an invariant normalization and an invariant affine connection of lightlike hypersurfaces., Comment: LaTeX, 22 pages

For a hypersurface V of a conformal space, we introduce a conformal differential invariant I = h^2/g, where g and h are the first and the second fundamental forms of V connected by the apolarity condition. This invariant is called the conformal quadratic element of V. The solution of the problem of conformal rigidity is presented in the framework of conformal differential geometry and connected with the conformal quadratic element of V. The main theorem states: Let n \geq 4 and V and V' be two nonisotropic hypersurfaces without umbilical points in a conformal space C^n or a pseudoconformal space C^n_q of signature (p, q), p = n - q. Suppose that there is a one-to-one correspondence f: V ---> V' between points of these hypersurfaces, and in the corresponding points of V and V' the following condition holds: I' = f_* I, where f_*: T (V) ---> T (V) is a mapping induced by the correspondence f. Then the hypersurfaces V and V' are conformally equivalent., Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages

The differential geometry of almost Grassmann structures defined on a differentiable manifold of dimension n = pq by a fibration of Segre cones SC (p, q) is studied. The peculiarities in the structure of almost Grassmann structures for the cases p=q=2; p = 2, q > 2 (or p > 2, q = 2), and p > 2, q > 2 are clarified. The fundamental geometric objects of these structures up to fourth order are derived. The conditions under which an almost Grassmann structure is locally flat or locally semiflat are found for all cases indicated above., Comment: LaTeX, 38 pages; to be published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Differential Geometry (Eotvos University, Budapest, 1996), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998

The main results on the theory of conformal and almost Grassmann structures are presented. The common properties of these structures and also the differences between them are outlined. In particular, the structure groups of these structures and their differential prolongations are found. A complete system of geometric objects of the almost Grassmann structure totally defining its geometric structure is determined. The vanishing of these objects determines a locally Grassmann manifold. It is proved that the integrable almost Grassmann structures are locally Grassmann. The criteria of semiintegrability of almost Grassmann structures is proved in invariant form., Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages

In the present paper we study locally semiflat (we also call them semiintegrable) almost Grassmann structures. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for an almost Grassmann structure to be alpha- or beta-semiintegrable. These conditions are expressed in terms of the fundamental tensors of almost Grassmann structures. Since we are not able to prove the existence of locally semiflat almost Grassmann structures in the general case, we give many examples of alpha- and beta-semiintegrable structures, mostly four-dimensional. For all examples we find systems of differential equations of the families of integral submanifolds V_alpha and V_beta of the distributions Delta_alpha and Delta_beta of plane elements associated with an almost Grassmann structure. For some examples we were able to integrate these systems and find closed form equations of submanifolds V_alpha and V_beta., Comment: LaTeX, 35 pages; to be published in Differential Geom. Appl., 1999