By using the support function on the $xy$-plane, we show the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of envelopes of horizontal lines in the 3D-Heisenberg group. A method to construct horizontal envelopes from the given ones is also derived, and we classify the solutions satisfying the construction.
We study maximal horizontal subgroups of Carnot groups of Heisenberg type. We classify those of dimension half of that of the canonical distribution ("lagrangians") and illustrate some notable ones of small dimension. An infinitesimal classification of the arbitrary maximal horizontal submanifolds follows as a consequence.
We investigate the notion of H-subdifferential and H-normal map of a function on the Heisenberg group, based on its sub-Riemannian structure. In particular, a characterization of the convexity of a function is given via the nonemptiness of the H-subdifferential at every point.
We generalise a result of Garofalo and Pauls: a horizontally minimal smooth surface embedded in the Heisenberg group is locally a (straight) ruled surface, i.e. it consists of straight lines tangent to a horizontal vector field along a smooth curve. We show additionally that any horizontally minimal surface is locally contactomorphic to the complex plane.
Involutivity is a well known necessary condition for integrability of smooth tangent distributions. We show that this condition is still necessary for integrability with Sobolev surfaces. We specialize our study to the left invariant horizontal distribution of the first Heisenberg group $\H^1$. Here we answer a question raised in a paper by Z.M.Balogh, R.Hoefer-Isenegger, J.T.Tyson.
In this paper we study the non-geodesic non-null biharmonic curves in 3-dimensional hyperbolic Heisenberg group. We prove that all of the non-geodesic non-null biharmonic curves in 3-dimensional hyperbolic Heisenberg group are helices. Moreover, we obtain explicit parametric equations for non-geodesic non-null biharmonic curves and non-geodesic spacelike horizontal biharmonic curves in 3-dimensional hyperbolic Heisenberg group, respectively. We also show that there do not exist non-geodesic timelike horizontal biharmonic curves in 3-dimensional hyperbolic Heisenberg group.
We prove that the horizontal and vertical distributions of the tangent bundle with the Sasaki metric are isocline, the distributions given by the kernels of the horizontal and vertical lifts of the contact form $ω$ from the Heisenberg manifold $(H_3,g)$ to $(TH_3,g^S)$ are not totally geodesic, and the distributions $F^H=L(E_1^H,E_2^H)$ and $F^V=L(E_1^V,E_2^V)$ are totally geodesic, but they are not isocline. We obtain that the horizontal and natural lifts of the curves from the Heisenberg manifold $(H_3,g)$, are geodesics in the tangent bundle endowed with the Sasaki metric $(TH_3,g^s)$, if a…
We examine the geometry of the level sets of particular horizontally $p$-harmonic functions in the Heisenberg group. We find sharp, natural geometric conditions ensuring that the level sets of the $p$-capacitary potential of a bounded annulus in the Heisenberg group are strictly starshaped.
We study the horizontally regular curves in the Heisenberg groups $H_n$. We show the fundamental theorem of curves in $H_n$ $(n\geq 2)$ and define the concept of the orders for horizontally regular curves. We also show that the curve $γ$ is of order $k$ if and only if $γ$ lies in $H_k$ but not in $H_{k-1}$ up to a Heisenberg rigid motion; moreover, two curves with the same order differ from a rigid motion if and only if they have the same p-curvatures and contact normality. Thus, combining with our previous work we have completed the classification of horizontally regular curves in $H_n$ for $…
We study the strong maximum principle for horizontal (p-) mean curvature operator and p-(sub)laplacian operator on subriemannian manifolds including, in particular, Heisenberg groups and Heisenberg cylinders. Under a certain Hormander type condition on vector fields, we show the strong maximum principle holds in higher dimensions for two cases: (a) the touching point is nonsingular; (b) the touching point is an isolated singular point for one of comparison functions. For a background subriemannian manifold with local symmetry of isometric translations, we have the strong maximum principle for …
In this paper we aim at identifying the level sets of the gauge norm in the Heisenberg group $\mathbb{H}^n$ via the prescription of their (non-constant) horizontal mean curvature. We establish a uniqueness result in $\mathbb{H}^1$ under an assumption on the location of the singular set, and in $\mathbb{H}^n$ for $n\geq 2$ in the proper class of horizontally umbilical hypersurfaces
By studying the group of rigid motions, $PSH(1)$, in the 3D-Heisenberg group $H_1$, we define the density and the measure for the sets of horizontal lines. We show that the volume of a convex domain $D\subset H_1$ is equal to the integral of length of chord over all horizontal lines intersecting $D$. As the classical result in integral geometry, we also define the kinematic density for $PSH(1)$ and show the probability of randomly throwing a vector $v$ interesting the convex domain $D\subset D_0$ under the condition that $v$ is contained in $D_0$. Both results show the relationship connecting …
We consider Heisenberg groups equipped with a sub-Finsler metric. Using methods of optimal control theory we prove that in this geometric setting the infinite geodesics are horizontal lines under the assumption that the sub-Finsler metric is defined by a strictly convex norm. This answers a question posed in [5] and has applications in the characterisation of isometric embeddings into Heisenberg groups.
For $n\geq 2$ we define a notion of umbilicity for hypersurfaces in the Heisenberg group $H_{n}$. We classify umbilic hypersurfaces in some cases, and prove that Pansu spheres are the only umbilic spheres with positive constant $p$(or horizontal)-mean curvature in $H_{n}$ up to Heisenberg translations.
We give new examples of entire area-minimizing t-graphs in the subriemannian Heisenberg group H^1. Most of the examples are locally lipschitz in Euclidean sense. Some regular examples have prescribed singular set consisting of either a horizontal line or a finite number of horizontal halflines extending from a given point. Amongst them, a large family of area-minimizing cones is obtained.
We study the uniqueness of generalized $p$-minimal surfaces in the Heisenberg group. The generalized $p$-area of a graph defined by $u$ reads $\int |\nabla u+\vec{F}| + Hu$. If $u$ and $v$ are two minimizers for the generalized $p$-area satisfying the same Dirichlet boundary condition, then we can only get $N_{\vec{F}}(u)$ $=$ $N_{\vec{F}}(v)$ (on the nonsingular set) where $N_{\vec{F}}(w)$ $:=$ $\frac{\nabla w+\vec{F}}{|\nabla w+\vec{F}|}.$ To conclude $u$ $=$ $v$ (or $\nabla u$ $=$ $\nabla v)$, it is not straightforward as in the Riemannian case, but requires some special argument in general…
In this paper we study the notion of geodesic curvature of smooth horizontal curves parametrized by arc lenght in the Heisenberg group, that is the simplest sub-Riemannian structure. Our goal is to give a metric interpretation of this notion of geodesic curvature as the first corrective term in the Taylor expansion of the distance between two close points of the curve.
We determine necessary conditions for a non-horizontal submanifold of a sub-Riemannian stratified Lie group to be of minimal measure. We calculate the first variation of the measure for a non-horizontal submanifold and find that the minimality condition implies the tensor equation $H+σ=0$, where $H$ is analogous to the mean curvature and $σ$ is the mean torsion. We also discuss new examples of minimal non-horizontal submanifolds in the Heisenberg group, in particular surfaces in $\mathbb H^2$.
After introducing the sub-Riemannian geometry of the Heisenberg group Hn, n \geq 1, we recall some basics about hypersurfaces endowed with the H-perimeter measure and horizontal Green's formulas. Then, we describe a class of compact closed hypersurfaces of constant horizontal mean curvature called "Isoperimetric Profiles"(they are not CC-balls!); see Section 2.1. Our main purpose is to study a closed eigenvalue problem on Isoperimetric Profiles, i.e. LHS ϕ+ λϕ= 0, where LHS is a 2nd order horizontal tangential operator analogous to the Laplace-Beltrami operator; see Section 1.5. This is done s…
In the context of sub-Riemannian Heisenberg groups Hn, n \geq 1, we shall study Isoperimetric Profiles, which are closed compact hypersurfaces having constant horizontal mean curvature, very similar to ellipsoids. Our main goal is to study the stability of Isoperimetric Profiles.
We establish a "low rank property" for Sobolev mappings that pointwise solve a first order nonlinear system of PDEs, whose smooth solutions have the so-called "contact property". As a consequence, Sobolev mappings from an open set of the plane, taking values in the first Heisenberg group and that have almost everywhere maximal rank must have images with positive 3-dimensional Hausdorff measure with respect to the sub-Riemannian distance of the Heisenberg group. This provides a complete solution to a question raised in a paper by Z. M. Balogh, R. Hoefer-Isenegger and J. T. Tyson. Our approach d…
In this paper, we introduce notions of $α$-planes in $5$D complex Heisenberg group and the twistor space as the moduli space of all $α$-planes. So we can define an anti-self-dual (ASD) connection as a connection flat over all $α$-planes. This geometric approach allows us to establish Penrose-Ward correspondence between ASD connections over $5$D complex Heisenberg group and a class of holomorphic vector bundles on the twistor space. By Atiyah-Ward ansätz, we also construct a family of ASD connections on $5$D complex Heisenberg group. When restricted to $5$D real Heisenberg group, the flat model…
In this paper we use the heat equation in a group of Heisenberg type $\mathbb{G}$ to provide a unified treatment of the two very different extension problems for the time independent pseudo-differential operators $\mathscr L^s$ and $\mathscr L_s$, $0< s\leq 1$. Here, $\mathscr L^s$ is the fractional power of the horizontal Laplacian, and $\mathscr L_s$ is the conformal fractional power of the horizontal Laplacian on $\mathbb{G}$. One of our main objective is compute explicitly the fundamental solutions of these nonlocal operators by a new approach exclusively based on partial differential equa…
We characterize convex isoperimetric sets in the Heisenberg group endowed with horizontal perimeter. We first prove Sobolev regularity for a certain class of vector fields in the plane with bounded variation, related to the curvature equations. Then, by an approximation-reparameterization argument, we show that the boundary of convex isoperimetric sets is foliated by geodesics of the Carnot-Caratheodory distance.
For the ``Hopf bundle'' $S^1\to S^{2n,1} \to {\mathbb H}^n$, horizontal lifts of simple closed curves are studied. Let $γ$ be a piecewise smooth, simple closed curve on a complete totally geodesic surface $S$ in the base space. Then the holonomy displacement along $γ$ is given by $$ V(γ)=e^{λA(γ) i} $$ where $A(γ)$ is the area of the region on the surface $S$ surrounded by $γ$; $λ=1/2 $ or 0 depending on whether $S$ is a complex submanifold or not. We also carry out a similar investigation for the complex Heisenberg group ${\mathbb R} \to {\mathcal H}^{2n+1} \to {\mathbb C}^n$.
In this note, we describe the geometry of the quaternionic Heisenberg groups from a Riemannian viewpoint. We show, in all dimensions, that they carry an almost $3$-contact metric structure which allows us to define the metric connection that equips these groups with the structure of a naturally reductive homogeneous space. It turns out that this connection, which we shall call the canonical connection because of its analogy to the $3$-Sasaki case, preserves the horizontal and vertical distributions and even the quaternionic contact structure of the quaternionic Heisenberg groups. We focus on t…
We give dimension-free regularity conditions for a class of possibly degenerate sub-elliptic equations in the Heisenberg group exhibiting super-quadratic growth in the horizontal gradient; this solves an issue raised by Manfredi & Mingione (Math. Ann. 2007) where only dimension dependent bounds for the growth exponent are given. We also obtain explicit a priori local regularity estimates, and cover the case of the horizontal p-Laplacean operator, extending some regularity proven by Domokos & Manfredi (Cont. Math. 2005). In turn, the a priori estimates found are shown to imply the suitable loca…
Let $D$ be a closed disk centered at the origin in the horizontal hyperplane $\{t=0\}$ of the sub-Riemannian Heisenberg group $\hh^n$, and $C$ the vertical cylinder over $D$. We prove that any finite perimeter set $E$ such that $D\subset E\subset C$ has perimeter larger than or equal to the one of the rotationally symmetric sphere with constant mean curvature of the same volume, and that equality holds only for the spheres using a recent result by Monti and Vittone [12].
The aim of the paper is to prove the following result concerning moduli of curve families in the Heisenberg group. Let $Ω$ be a domain in the Heisenberg group foliated by a family $Γ$ of legendrian curves. Assume that there is a quadratic differential $q$ on $Ω$ in the kernel of an operator defined in \cite{Tim2} and every curve in $Γ$ is a horizontal trajectory for $q$. Let $l_Γ: Ω\rightarrow ]0,+\infty[$ be the function that associates to a point $p\in Ω$, the $q$-length of the leaf containing $p$. Then, the modulus of $Γ$ is \[ M_4 (Γ) = \int_Ω\frac{|q|^2}{(l_Γ) ^4} \mathrm{d} L^3.\]
In this paper we investigate H-minimal graphs of lower regularity. We show that noncharactersitic C^1 H-minimal graphs whose components of the unit horizontal Gauss map are in W^{1,1} are ruled surfaces with C^2 seed curves. In a different direction, we investigate ways in which patches of C^1 H-minimal graphs can be glued together to form continuous piecewise C^1 H-minimal surfaces. We apply these description of H-minimal graphs to the question of the existence of smooth solutions to the Dirichlet problem with smooth data. We find a necessary condition for the existence of smooth solutions an…
We consider a $C^{1}$ smooth surface with prescribed $p$(or $H$)-mean curvature in the 3-dimensional Heisenberg group. Assuming only the prescribed $p$-mean curvature $H\in C^{0},$ we show that any characteristic curve is $C^{2}$ smooth and its (line) curvature equals $-H$ in the nonsingular domain$.$ By introducing characteristic coordinates and invoking the jump formulas along characteristic curves, we can prove that the Legendrian (or horizontal) normal gains one more derivative. Therefore the seed curves are $C^{2}$ smooth. We also obtain the uniqueness of characteristic and seed curves pa…
We consider the Carnot-Carathéodory distance $δ_E$ to a closed set $E$ in the sub-Riemannian Heisenberg groups $\mathbb{H}^n$, $n\ge 1$. The $\mathbb{H}$-regularity of $δ_E$ is proved under mild conditions involving a general notion of singular points. In case $E$ is a Euclidean $C^k$ submanifold, $k\ge 2$, we prove that $δ_E$ is $C^k$ out of the singular set. Explicit expressions for the volume of the tubular neighborhood when the boundary of $E$ is of class $C^2$ are obtained, out of the singular set, in terms of the horizontal principal curvatures of $\partial E$ and of the function $\langl…
We consider surfaces of class $C^1$ in the $3$-dimensional sub-Riemannian Heisenberg group ${\mathbb H}^1$. Assuming the surface is area-stationary, i.e., a critical point of the sub-Riemannian perimeter under compactly supported variations, we show that its regular part is foliated by horizontal straight lines. In case the surface is complete and oriented, without singular points, and stable, i.e., a second order minimum of perimeter, we prove that the surface must be a vertical plane. This implies the following Bernstein type result: a complete locally area-minimizing intrinsic graph of a $C…
In this paper we study sets in the $n$-dimensional Heisenberg group $\hhn$ which are critical points, under a volume constraint, of the sub-Riemannian perimeter associated to the distribution of horizontal vector fields in $\hhn$. We define a notion of mean curvature for hypersurfaces and we show that the boundary of a stationary set is a constant mean curvature (CMC) hypersurface. Our definition coincides with previous ones. Our main result describes which are the CMC hypersurfaces of revolution in $\hhn$. The fact that such a hypersurface is invariant under a compact group of rotations allow…
We study various notions of the Schwarzian derivative for contact mappings in the Heisenberg group $\mathbb{H}_1$ and introduce two definitions: (1) the CR Schwarzian derivative based on the conformal connection approach studied by Osgood and Stowe and, recently, by Son; (2) the classical type Schwarzian refering to the well-known complex analytic definition. In particular, we take into consideration the effect of conformal rigidity and the limitations it imposes. Moreover, we study the kernels of both Schwarzians and the cocycle conditions. Our auxiliary results include a characterization of …
We prove the existence of a continuous $BV$ minimizer with $C^{0}$ boundary value for the $p$-area (pseudohermitian or horizontal area) in a parabolically convex bounded domain. We extend the domain of the area functional from $BV$ functions to vector-valued measures. Our main purpose is to study the first and second variations of such a generalized area functional including the contribution of the singular part. By giving examples in Riemannian and pseudohermitian geometries, we illustrate several known results in a unified way. We show the contribution of the singular curve in the first and …