Open Access
December 2007 Geometry of Sub-Finsler Engel Manifolds
Jeanne N. Clelland, Christopher G. Moseley, George R. Wilkens
Asian J. Math. 11(4): 699-726 (December 2007).

Abstract

We analyze the geometry of sub-Finsler Engel manifolds, computing a complete set of local invariants for a large class of these manifolds. We derive geodesic equations for regular geodesics and show that in the symmetric case, the rigid curves are local minimizers. We end by illustrating our results with an example.

Citation

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Jeanne N. Clelland. Christopher G. Moseley. George R. Wilkens. "Geometry of Sub-Finsler Engel Manifolds." Asian J. Math. 11 (4) 699 - 726, December 2007.

Information

Published: December 2007
First available in Project Euclid: 2 May 2008

zbMATH: 1141.53026
MathSciNet: MR2402945

Subjects:
Primary: 49J15 , 53B40 , 53C17
Secondary: 53C10 , 58A15

Keywords: Cartan’s method of equivalence , Engel manifolds , exterior differential systems , optimal control theory , Sub-Finsler geometry

Rights: Copyright © 2007 International Press of Boston

Vol.11 • No. 4 • December 2007
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