182 4. PROOF OF THE COMPACTNESS THEOREM
5.2. Nonlinear averages. Let (Mn,g) be a complete Riemannian
manifold with sectional curvatures bounded above by K. Let p E M and
ql, ... , qk E B (p, r) , where r < min { i inj(p) , 6 )K}. Let μ1, ... , μk be
nonnegative numbers with μ1 + · · · + μk > 0. We define the center of mass
with weights μ1, ... , μk,
cm {q1, ... , qk} = cm(μ 1 , .. .,μk) {q1,. · ·, qk},
as the minimizer of
( 4.23)
¢: M ___,.IR,
1 k
¢ (q) ~ 2 Lμid2 (q, qi).
i=l
LEMMA 4.50 (Existence of center of mass). Let p EM and ql, ... , qk E
B (p, r) for some r < 6 JK. Suppose inj (q) > 3r for all q E B (p, r). Then
there exists a unique minimizer cm {q1, ... , qk} of¢ in M. Furthermore we
have cm {q1, ... , qk} EB (p, 2r) and
qi,.. lim .,qk-+q. Cm(μ^1 , .. .,μk) {q1, · · ·, qk} = q*
uniformly in μ1, ... , μk.
PROOF. It is clear that for any q EM \B (p, 2r), we have¢ (q) > ¢ (p).
Hence the minimizer of¢ exists and must be contained in B (p, 2r). Note
that if q EB (p, 2r), then q EB (qi, 3r). Since B (% 3r) CB( qi, 7r/ ( 2v1K)),
by Lemma 4.43, the functions q ~ !d^2 ( q, qi) are strictly convex in B (p, 2r).
Since the weights μi are nonnegative and μ1 + · ·+μk > 0, </>is strictly convex
in B (p, 2r). Hence the minimizer must be unique.
To see the last statement, we apply the first part of the statement
to B (q, r) in place of B (p, r), where r* is small. We get that when
ql, ... , qk E B (q*, r*), we have cm(μi,.. .,μk) {qi, ... , qk} E B (q*, 2r*) for all
(μ1, ... ,μk). D
By Lemma 4.43 we have
k
grad¢ ( q) = - L μi exp;-^1 qi.
i=l
The minimizer occurs at a point q where the gradient of ¢ is zero, so that
k
L μi exp;-^1 qi = 0.
i=l
The following proposition tells us about the derivatives of the center of mass.