Related papers: Not all sub-Riemannian minimizing geodesics are sm…

In this paper we describe the geodesics of a left-invariant sub-Riemannian metric on the three-dimensional solvable Lie group $SOLV^-$.

For $n\geq 4$ we show that generic closed Riemannian $n$-manifolds have no nontrivial totally geodesic submanifolds, answering a question of Spivak. An immediate consequence is a severe restriction on the isometry group of a generic…

We find geodesics, shortest arcs, cut loci, first conjugate loci, distances between arbitrary elements for some left-invariant sub-Riemannian metrics on the Lie groups $SU(2)\times\mathbb{R}$ and $SO(3)\times\mathbb{R}$.

We extend Newton's problem of minimal resistance to Riemannian surfaces endowed with a geodesic coordinate system, which includes the two-dimensional space forms such as the sphere and the hyperbolic plane. Assuming that the fluid particles…

It is shown that the horizontal holonomy group of a K-contact sub-Riemannian manifold either coincides with the holonomy group of a Riemannian manifold, or it is a codimension-one normal subgroup of the later group. The question of…

We study the geometry of a weak Riemannian metric on the infinite dimensional manifold of compact spacelike Cauchy hypersurfaces in a globally hyperbolic spacetime. We show that the geodesic distance (i.e. the infimum of lengths of paths…

In this paper we prove the strong Sard conjecture for sub-Riemannian structures on 3-dimensional analytic manifolds. More precisely, given a totally nonholonomic analytic distribution of rank 2 on a 3-dimensional analytic manifold, we…

Notions of compatible and almost compatible pseudo-Riemannian metrics, which are motivated by the theory of compatible (local and nonlocal) Poisson structures of hydrodynamic type and generalize the notion of flat pencil of metrics, are…

We describe all pseudo-Riemannian metrics on closed surfaces whose geodesic flows admit nontrivial integrals quadratic in momenta. As an application, we solve the Beltrami problem on closed surfaces and prove the nonexistence of…

In the absence of a de Rham decomposition theorem for geometries with torsion, we develop and unify ways to view a geometry with parallel skew torsion as the total space of a locally defined, not necessarily unique Riemannian submersion…

We prove that the L^2 Riemannian metric on the manifold of all smooth Riemannian metrics on a fixed closed, finite-dimensional manifold induces a metric space structure. As the L^2 metric is a weak Riemannian metric, this fact does not…

Many classical facts in Riemannian geometry have their pseudo-Riemannian analogs. For instance, the spaces of space-like and time-like geodesics on a pseudo-Riemannian manifold have natural symplectic structures (just like in the Riemannian…

We obtain some results on symmetries of sub-Riemannian surfaces. In case of contact sub-Riemannian surface we base on invariants found by Hughen \cite{Hughen}. Using these invariants, we find conditions under which a sub-Riemannian surface…

A classic problem with intriguing implications at the level of both applied differential geometry and theoretical physics is dealt with in this short work: Is there any criterion in order to decide whether a pseudo-Riemannian space can be…

A sequence of distinct closed surfaces in a hyperbolic 3-manifold M is asymptotically geodesic if their principal curvatures tend uniformly to zero. When M has finite volume, we show such sequences are always asymptotically dense in the…

The geodesics for a sub-Riemannian metric on a three-dimensional contact manifold $M$ form a 1-parameter family of curves along each contact direction. However, a collection of such contact curves on $M$, locally equivalent to the solutions…

We construct a family of Riemannian 3-spheres that cannot be "swept out" by short closed curves. More precisely, for each $L > 0$ we construct a Riemannian 3-sphere $M$ with diameter and volume less than 1, so that every 2-parameter family…

The paper is a study of geodesic in two-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian metrics. Firstly, the local properties of geodesics in a neighborhood of generic parabolic points are investigated. The equation of the geodesic flow has singularities at…

We study all four-dimensional simply-connected indecomposable non-semisimple pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces whose metric has signature (2,2). We present models and compute their isometry groups. We solve the problem of the existence or…

To study a noncompact Riemannian manifold, it is often useful to find a compactification. We discuss several common compactifications and survey some recent results.