Symmetries of sub-Riemannian surfaces

Abstract

We obtain some results on symmetries of sub-Riemannian surfaces. In case of a contact sub-Riemannian surface we base on invariants found by Hughen [15]. Using these invariants, we find conditions under which a sub-Riemannian surface does not admit symmetries. If a surface admits symmetries, we show how invariants help to find them. It is worth noting, that the obtained conditions can be explicitly checked for a given contact sub-Riemannian surface. Also, we consider sub-Riemannian surfaces which are not contact and find their invariants along the surface where the distribution fails to be contact. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.