Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2312.01360

On Some Local Geometry of Bi-Contact Structures

Abstract

We investigate the local geometry of a pair of independent contact structures on 3-manifolds under maps that independently preserve each contact structure. We discover that such maps are homotheties on the contact 1-forms and we discover differential invariants associated to such structures under these equivalences. This allows us to generalize the notion of contact circles and (equilateral) hyperbolas to contact ellipses and hyperbolas. Moreover, these invariants may sometimes be used to define a complete local normal form and in at least one case are related to symplectic structures through a natural $e$-structure on a bundle arising from the Cartan equivalence method. Finally, there is a type of natural Riemannian metric (but not necessarily the well-known associated contact metric) and we discover certain curvatures may be written in terms of the bi-contact differential invariants.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Taylor J. Klotz, George R. Wilkens. 2026-06-30. On Some Local Geometry of Bi-Contact Structures. https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.01360

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Quantum propagation for Berezin-Toeplitz operators

We describe the asymptotic behaviour of the quantum propagator generated by a Berezin-Toeplitz operator with real-valued principal symbol. We also give precise asymptotics for smoothed spectral projectors associated with the operator in the autonomous case; this leads us to introducting quantum states associated with immersed Lagrangian submanifolds. These descriptions involve geometric quantities of two origins, coming from lifts of the Hamiltonian flow to the prequantum bundle and the canonical bundle respectively. The latter are the main contribution of this article and are connected to the Maslov indices appearing in trace formulas, as will be explained in a forthcoming paper.

math.DG

Classification of compact manifolds with positive isotropic curvature

We show the following result: Let $(M,g_0)$ be a compact manifold of dimension $n\geq 12$ with positive isotropic curvature. Then $M$ is diffeomorphic to a spherical space form, or a quotient manifold of $\mathbb{S}^{n-1}\times \mathbb{R}$ by a cocompact discrete subgroup of the isometry group of the round cylinder $\mathbb{S}^{n-1}\times \mathbb{R}$, or a connected sum of a finite number of such manifolds. This extends previous works of Brendle and Chen-Tang-Zhu, and improves a work of Huang. The proof uses Ricci flow with surgery on compact orbifolds, with the help of the ambient isotopy uniqueness of closed tubular neighborhoods of an isolated singular point in an orbifold.

math.DG

Willmore surfaces in 4-dimensional conformal manifolds

This paper is dedicated to the exploration of the conformal Willmore functional for surfaces within 4-dimensional conformal manifolds. We provide a detailed calculation of both the first and second variations, and present the Euler-Lagrange equation of this functional in a conformally invariant form. Utilizing the second variation formula we derived, we demonstrate that the Clifford torus in $\mathbb{C}P^2$ is strictly Willmore-stable. This finding strongly supports the conjecture proposed by Montiel and Urbano [J. reine angew. Math. 546 2002, 139-154], which posits that the Clifford torus in $\mathbb{C}P^2$ minimizes the Willmore functional among all tori. Moreover, by applying our formula to complex curves in $\mathbb{C}P^2$, we establish that the first nonzero eigenvalue of the Jacobi operator is at least 12. In the context of 4-dimensional locally symmetric spaces, we construct several holomorphic differentials to show that among all minimal 2-spheres, only those super-minimal ones can be Willmore.

math.DG