A fundamental differential system of Riemannian geometry

Abstract

We discover a fundamental exterior differential system of Riemannian geometry; indeed, an intrinsic and invariant global system of differential forms of degree $n$ associated to any given oriented Riemannian manifold $M$ of dimension $n+1$. The framework is that of the tangent sphere bundle of $M$. We generalise to a Riemannian setting some results from the theory of hypersurfaces in flat Euclidean space. We give new applications and examples of the associated Euler–Lagrange differential systems.