Corey Shanbrom

Length spectra of sub-Riemannian metrics on compact Lie groups

Length spectra for Riemannian metrics are well studied, while sub-Riemannian length spectra have been largely unexplored. Here we give the length spectrum for a canonical sub-Riemannian structure attached to any compact Lie group by restricting its Killing form to the sum of the root spaces. Surprisingly, the shortest loops are the same in both the Riemannian and sub-Riemannian cases. We provide specific calculations for SU(2) and SU(3).

Numerical Methods and Closed Orbits in the Kepler–Heisenberg Problem

ABSTRACT The Kepler–Heisenberg problem is that of determining the motion of a planet around a sun in the sub-Riemannian Heisenberg group. The sub-Riemannian Hamiltonian provides the kinetic energy, and the gravitational potential is given by the fundamental solution to the sub-Laplacian. This system is known to admit closed orbits, which all lie within a fundamental integrable subsystem. Here, we develop a computer program which finds these closed orbits using Monte Carlo optimization with a shooting method, and applying a recently developed symplectic integrator for nonseparable Hamiltonians. Our main result is the discovery of a family of flower-like periodic orbits with previously unknown symmetry types. We encode these symmetry types as rational numbers and provide evidence that these periodic orbits densely populate a one-dimensional set of initial conditions parameterized by the orbits angular momentum. We provide links to all code developed.