Abstract:
Given a manifold, can one introduce a “good metric” on it, and if
yes, in “how many ways”? This is one of the informal versions of the
general geometrisation programme, going back to Riemann, Klein and
Poincare, but still attracting a substantial interest of geometers.
In particular, in dimension 3 the proof by Perelman of Thurston’s
geometrisation conjecture became one of the major mathematical events
of our time. This example shows also that giving the precise
definition of good metric could be the key part of the question.
From the point of view of the theory of integrable systems the
question looks quite natural, if one understands a good metric in the
sense of the integrability of the corresponding geodesic flow. I will
demonstrate the importance of this point of view both for geometry
and for the theory of integrable systems.