Elliptic Pre-Complexes, Hodge-like Decompositions and Overdetermined Boundary-Value Problems

Abstract: We solve a problem posed by Calabi more than 60 years ago, known as the Saint-Venant compatibility problem: Given a compact Riemannian manifold, generally with boundary, find a compatibility operator for Lie derivatives of the metric tensor. This problem is related to other compatibility problems in mathematical physics, and to their inherent gauge freedom. To this end, we develop a framework generalizing the theory of elliptic complexes for sequences of linear differential operators $(A_{\bullet})$ between sections of vector bundles. We call such a sequence an elliptic pre-complex if the operators satisfy overdetermined ellipticity conditions, and the order of $A_{k+1}A_k$ does not exceed the order of $A_k$. We show that every elliptic pre-complex $(A_{\bullet})$ can be "corrected" into a complex $(\mathcal{A}{\bullet})$ of pseudodifferential operators, where $\mathcal{A}_k - A_k$ is a zero-order correction within this class. The induced complex $(\mathcal{A}{\bullet})$ yields Hodge-like decompositions, which in turn lead to explicit integrability conditions for overdetermined boundary-value problems, with uniqueness and gauge freedom clauses. We apply the theory on elliptic pre-complexes of exterior covariant derivatives of vector-valued forms and double forms satisfying generalized algebraic Bianchi identities, thus resolving a set of compatibility and gauge problems, among which one is the Saint-Venant problem.