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Godbillon-Vey invariants of Non-Lorentzian spacetimes and Aristotelian hydrodynamics

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2023

Abstract

We study the geometry of foliated non-Lorentzian spacetimes in terms of the Godbillon-Vey class of the foliation. We relate the intrinsic torsion of a foliated Aristotelian manifold to its Godbillon-Vey class, and interpret it as a measure of the local spin of the spatial leaves in the time direction.

With this characterisation, the Godbillon-Vey class is an obstruction to integrability of the G -structure defining the Aristotelian spacetime. We use these notions to formulate a new geometric approach to hydrodynamics of fluid flows by endowing them with Aristotelian structures.

We establish conditions under which the Godbillon-Vey class represents an obstruction to steady flow of the fluid and prove new conservation laws.