$G_2$ and the Maximally Symmetric (3, 8) Distribution with 6-Dimensional Square

In 1910, \'{E}lie Cartan famously realized the split real form of the exceptional Lie group $G_2$ as the symmetry group of the maximally symmetric rank 2 distribution on a 5-dimensional manifold with the small growth vector (2,3,5). In this paper, we discover a new appearance of $G_2$ in the geometric theory of distributions, arising from a rank 3 distribution on an 8-dimensional manifold with the growth vector $(3,6,8)$. The algebra of infinitesimal symmetries of this distribution at any point is 29-dimensional and isomorphic to $(\mathfrak{g}_2 \oplus \mathbb{R}) \ltimes W$, where $\mathfrak{g}_2$ is the Lie algebra of $G_2$ and $W$ is an adjoint module of $\mathfrak{g}_2$. Our model possesses three remarkable properties. First, it is maximally symmetric among all bracket-generating rank 3 distributions with a 6-dimensional square (a family that includes both (3,6,8) and (3,6,7,8) distributions). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a family of distributions defined by a set of prescribed small growth vectors in which maximal symmetry is achieved by a member whose growth vector is not the longest. Second, this model provides the first counterexample to the conjecture that all bracket-generating rank 3 distributions with a 6-dimensional square are of maximal class at a generic point (which is known to hold in dimensions 6 and 7). Third, further analysis yields the control-theoretic consequence that all abnormal extremal trajectories of this model originating at any point of the ambient manifold have a corank of at least 2. To our knowledge, this is the first example with this property among bracket-generating distributions with generic small growth vector for a given rank and ambient dimension. We also give an interpretation of our model in terms of split-octonions, more precisely, in terms of a natural algebraic structure on the tangent bundle to split octonions.