On dual-projectively equivalent connections associated to second order superintegrable systems

Abstract

Pre-geodesics of an affine connection are the curves that are geodesics after a reparametrization (the analogous concept in Kähler geometry is known as J-planar curves). Similarly, dual-geodesics on a Riemannian manifold are curves along which the 1-forms associated to the velocity are preserved after a reparametrization. Superintegrable systems are Hamiltonian systems with a large number of independent constants of the motion. They are said to be second order if the constants of the motion can be chosen to be quadratic polynomials in the momenta. Famous examples include the Kepler-Coulomb system and the isotropic harmonic oscillator. We show that certain torsion-free affine connections which are naturally associated to certain second order superintegrable systems share the same dual-geodesics.