Optimization on Weak Riemannian Manifolds

Riemannian structures on infinite-dimensional manifolds arise naturally in shape analysis and shape optimization. These applications lead to optimization problems on manifolds which are not modeled on Banach spaces. The present article develops the basic framework for optimization via gradient descent on weak Riemannian manifolds leading to the notion of a Hesse manifold. Further, foundational properties for optimization are established for several classes of weak Riemannian manifolds connected to shape analysis and shape optimization.