If the flag curvature of a Finsler manifold reduces to sectional curvature, then locally either the Finsler metric is Riemannian, or the flag curvature is isotropic.
In this paper, we consider a special class of singular Finsler metrics: $m$-Kropina metrics which are defined by a Riemannian metric and a $1$-form. We show that an $m$-Kropina metric ($m e -1$) of scalar flag curvature must be locally Minkowskian in dimension $nge 3$. We characterize by some PDEs a Kropina metric ($m=-1$) which is respectively of scalar flag curvature and locally projectively flat in dimension $nge 3$, and obtain some principles and approaches of constructing non-trivial examples of Kropina metrics of scalar flag curvature.
This paper contributes to the study of the Matsumoto metric F=alpha^2/beta, where the alpha is a Riemannian metric and the beta is a one form. It is shown that such a Matsumoto metric F is of scalar flag curvature if and only if F is projectively flat.
An $(alpha,beta)$-metric is defined by a Riemannian metric and $1$-form. In this paper, we investigate the known characterization for $(alpha,beta)$-metrics of isotropic S-curvature. We show that such a characterization should hold in dimension $nge 3$, and for the 2-dimensional case, there is one more class of isotropic S-curvature than the higher dimensional ones. Further, we construct corresponding examples for every two-dimensional class, especially for the class that the norm of $beta$ with respect to $alpha$ is not a constant.
An $(alpha,beta)$-metric is defined by a Riemannian metric $alpha$ and $1$-form $beta$. In this paper, we study a known class of two-dimensional $(alpha,beta)$-metrics of vanishing S-curvature. We determine the local structure of those metrics and show that those metrics are Einsteinian (equivalently, isotropic flag curvature) but generally are not Ricci-flat.
Recently, wind Riemannian structures (WRS) have been introduced as a generalization of Randers and Kropina metrics. They are constructed from the natural data for Zermelo navigation problem, namely, a Riemannian metric $g_R$ and a vector field $W$ (the wind), where, now, the restriction of mild wind $g_R(W,W)<1$ is dropped. Here, the models of WRS spaceforms of constant flag curvature are determined. Indeed, the celebrated classification of Randers metrics of constant flag curvature by Bao, Robles and Shen, extended to the Kropina case in the works by Yoshikawa, Okubo and Sabau, can be used to obtain the local classification. For the global one, a suitable result on completeness for WRS yields the complete simply connected models. In particular, any of the local models in the Randers classification does admit an extension to a unique model of wind Riemannian structure, even if it cannot be extended as a complete Finslerian manifold. Thus, WRSs emerge as the natural framework for the analysis of Randers spaceforms and, prospectively, wind Finslerian structures would become important for other global problems too. For the sake of completeness, a brief overview about WRS (including a useful link with the conformal geometry of a class of relativistic spacetimes) is also provided.