arXiv research

Whereas subriemannian geometry usually deals with smooth horizontal distributions, partially hyperbolic dynamical systems provide many examples of subriemannian geometries defined by non-smooth (namely, Hölder continuous) distributions. These distributions are of great significance for the behavior of the parent dynami…

We present the linearized metrizability problem in the context of parabolic geometries and subriemannian geometry, generalizing the metrizability problem in projective geometry studied by R. Liouville in 1889. We give a general method for linearizability and a classification of all cases with irreducible defining distr…

We give a short solution to one of the main open problems in subriemannian geometry. Namely, we prove that length minimizers do not have corner-type singularities. With this result we solve Problem II of Agrachev's list, and provide the first general result toward the 30-year-old open problem of regularity of subrieman…

New complexes refine multicomplexes for subRiemannian geometry.

This work is a short, self-contained introduction to subriemannian geometry with special emphasis on Chow's Theorem. As an application, a regularity result for the Poincaré Lemma is presented. At the beginning, the definitions of a subriemannian geometry, horizontal vector fields and horizontal curves are given. Then t…

We investigate certain natural connections between subriemannian geometry and hyperbolic dynamical systems. In particular, we study dynamically defined horizontal distributions which split into two integrable ones and ask: how is the energy of a subriemannian geodesic shared between its projections onto the integrable …

We give definition of a holonomy flag in subRiemannian geometry --- a generalization of a Riemannian holonomy algebra --- and calculate it for the 3D subRiemannian Lie groups. We rewrite and give new interpretation for the Codazzi equations for the $(2,3)$-distributions on the $SU(2)$ and the Heisenberg group.

Study shows no periodic geodesics in jet space.

Study heat kernel on quaternionic contact manifolds, finding linear dependence of coefficients on curvature.

For a subRiemannian manifold and a given Riemannian extension of the metric, we define a canonical global connection. This connection coincides with both the Levi-Civita connection on Riemannian manifolds and the Tanaka-Webster connection on strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds. We define a notion of normality generalizi…

We introduce the notion of a conformal pseudo-subriemannian fundamental graded Lie algebra of semisimple type. Moreover we give a classification of conformal pseudo-subriemannian fundamental graded Lie algebras of semisimple type and their prolongations.

A pseudo $H$-type Lie algebra naturally gives rise to a conformal pseudo-subriemannian fundamental graded Lie algebras. In this paper we investigate the prolongations of the associated fundamental graded Lie algebra and the associated conformal pseudo-subriemannian fundamental graded Lie algebra. In particular, we show…

We examine the existence of tangent hyperplanes to subriemannian balls. Strictly abnormal shortest paths are allowed

In this paper, we use the methods of subriemannian geometry to study the dual foliation of the singular Riemannian foliation induced by isometric Lie group actions on a complete Riemannian manifold M. We show that under some conditions, the dual foliation has only one leaf.

We discuss homotopy properties of endpoint maps for affine control systems. We prove that these maps are Hurewicz fibrations with respect to some $W^{1,p}$ topology on the space of trajectories, for a certain $p>1$. We study critical points of geometric costs for these affine control systems, proving that if the base m…

We show that the group of isometries (i.e., distance-preserving homeomorphisms) of an equiregular subRiemannian manifold is a finite-dimensional Lie group of smooth transformations. The proof is based on a new PDE argument, in the spirit of harmonic coordinates, establishing that in an arbitrary subRiemannian manifold …

We prove the smoothness of abnormal minimizers of subriemannian manifolds of step 3 with a nilpotent basis. We prove that rank 2 Carnot groups of step 4 admit no strictly abnormal minimizers. For any subriemannian manifolds of step less than 7, we show all abnormal minimizers have no corner type singularities, which pa…

The present paper starts with an introduction to quaternions and then defines the 3-dimmensional sphere as the set of quaternions of length one. The quaternion group induces on $\mathbb{S}^3$ a structure of noncommutative Lie group. This group is compact and the results obtained in this case are very different than tho…

We prove a Bishop volume comparison theorem and a Laplacian comparison theorem for three dimensional contact subriemannian manifolds with symmetry.

The coarea formula is proven for Heisenberg group maps, addressing open questions.

Study compares two subriemannian structures on S7, finding non-isometric and non-isospectral properties.

SubRiemannian structures fail to meet Riemannian Brunn--Minkowski inequalities.

Measure contraction property is one of the possible generalizations of Ricci curvature bound to more general metric measure spaces. In this paper, we discover sufficient conditions for a three dimensional contact subriemannian manifold to satisfy this property.

The group of real 4 by 4 upper triangular matrices with 1s on the diagonal has a left-invariant subRiemannian (or Carnot-Caratheodory) structure whose underlying distribution corresponds to the superdiagonal. We prove that the associated subRiemannian geodesic flow is not completely integrable. This provides the first …

In Carnot groups of step 3, all subriemannian geodesics are proved to be normal. The proof is based on a reduction argument and the Goh condition for minimality of singular curves. The Goh condition is deduced from a reformulation and a calculus of the end-point mapping which boils down to the graded structures of Carn…

We study the strong maximum principle for horizontal (p-) mean curvature operator and p-(sub)laplacian operator on subriemannian manifolds including, in particular, Heisenberg groups and Heisenberg cylinders. Under a certain Hormander type condition on vector fields, we show the strong maximum principle holds in higher…

We consider how the problem of determining normal forms for a specific class of nonholonomic systems leads to various interesting and concrete bridges between two apparently unrelated themes. Various ideas that traditionally pertain to the field of algebraic geometry emerge here organically in an attempt to elucidate t…

We give new examples of entire area-minimizing t-graphs in the subriemannian Heisenberg group H^1. Most of the examples are locally lipschitz in Euclidean sense. Some regular examples have prescribed singular set consisting of either a horizontal line or a finite number of horizontal halflines extending from a given po…

Elie Cartan's general equivalence problem is recast in the language of Lie algebroids. The resulting formalism, being coordinate and model-free, allows for a full geometric interpretation of Cartan's method of equivalence via reduction and prolongation. We show how to construct certain normal forms (Cartan algebroids) …

We show that all the common definitions of quasiregular mappings $f\colon M\to N$ between two equiregular subRiemannian manifolds of homogeneous dimension $Q\geq 2$ are quantitatively equivalent with precise dependences of the quasiregularity constants. As an immediate consequence, we obtain that if $f$ is $1$-quasireg…

The paper explores infinite-dimensional nonholonomic and vakonomic systems.

We show that the group of smooth isometries of a complemented sub-Riemannian manifold form a Lie group and establish dimension estimates based on the torsion of the canonical connection. We explore the interaction of curvature and the structure of isometries and Killing fields and derive a Bochner formula for Killing f…

Given a smooth manifold $M$ and a totally nonholonomic distribution $Δ\subset TM$ of rank $d$, we study the effect of singular curves on the topology of the space of horizontal paths joining two points on $M$. Singular curves are critical points of the endpoint map $F:γ\mapstoγ(1)$ defined on the space $Ω$ of horizonta…

Complete integrability proved for SR geodesic flow on S^7.

We prove that there do not exist quasi-isometric embeddings of connected nonabelian nilpotent Lie groups equipped with left invariant Riemannian metrics into a metric measure space satisfying the RCD(0,N), with N > 1. In fact, we can prove that a subRiemannian manifold whose generic degree of nonholonomy is not smaller…

We study Monge's optimal transportation problem, where the cost is given by optimal control cost. We prove the existence and uniqueness of an optimal map under certain regularity conditions on the Lagrangian, absolute continuity of the measures with respect to Lebesgue, and most importantly the absence of sharp abnorma…

Paper constructs subcomplexes from filtered Riemannian manifolds.

We consider (smooth) solutions of the mean curvature flow of graphs over bounded domains in a Lie group free up to step two (and not necessarily nilpotent), endowed with a one parameter family of Riemannian metrics $σ_\e$ collapsing to a subRiemannian metric $σ_0$ as $\e\to 0$. We establish $C^{k,α}$ estimates for this…

The classical theory of prolongation of G-structures was generalized by N. Tanaka to a wide class of geometric structures (Tanaka structures), which are defined on a non-holonomic distribution. Examples of Tanaka structures include subriemannian, subconformal, CR-structures, structures associated to second order differ…

Posing Kepler's problem of motion around a fixed "sun" requires the geometric mechanician to choose a metric and a Laplacian. The metric provides the kinetic energy. The fundamental solution to the Laplacian (with delta source at the "sun") provides the potential energy. Posing Kepler's three laws (with input from Gali…

We introduce a family of extremal polynomials associated with the prolongation of a stratified nilpotent Lie algebra. These polynomials are related to a new algebraic characterization of abnormal subriemannian geodesics in stratified nilpotent Lie groups. They satisfy a set of remarkable structure relations that are us…

In the Engel group with its Carnot group structure we study subsets of locally finite subRiemannian perimeter and possessing constant subRiemannian normal. We prove the rectifiability of such sets: more precisely we show that, in some specific coordinates, they are upper-graphs of entire Lipschitz functions (with respe…

We discuss the use of Dirac structures to obtain a better understanding of the geometry of a class of optimal control problems and their reduction by symmetries. In particular we will show how to extend the reduction of Dirac structures recently proposed by Yoshimura and Marsden [Yo09] to describe the reduction of a cl…

Study maps in semidirect products of groups, proving Lipschitz properties without intrinsic dilations.

It is a folk conjecture that for alpha > 1/2 there is no alpha-Hoelder surface in the subRiemannian Heisenberg group. Namely, it is expected that there is no embedding from an open subset of R^2 into the Heisenberg group that is Hoelder continuous of order strictly greater than 1/2. The Heisenberg group here is equippe…

Study examines harmonic functions in sub-Riemannian and RCD settings.

We establish precise upper and lower bounds for the subelliptic heat kernel on nilpotent Lie groups $G$ of H-type. Specifically, we show that there exist positive constants $C_1$, $C_2$ and a polynomial correction function $Q_t$ on $G$ such that $C_1 Q_t e^{-\frac{d^2}{4t}} \le p_t \le C_2 Q_t e^{-\frac{d^2}{4t}}$ wh…

We study the Assouad dimension and the Nagata dimension of metric spaces. As a general result, we prove that the Nagata dimension of a metric space is always bounded from above by the Assouad dimension. Most of the paper is devoted to the study of when these metric dimensions of a metric space are locally given by the …