A Bonnet-Myers type theorem for quaternionic contact structures (Q1728203)

A \textit{quaternionic contact} (qc) \textit{structure} on a smooth manifold $M$ is a corank-3 distribution $\mathcal D$ of contact type endowed with a compatible $\mathrm{Sp}(n)\mathrm{Sp}(1)$ structure. More precisely, this means that there exists a smooth scalar product $g$ on $\mathcal D$ and a rank-3 sub-bundle of $\mathrm{End}(\mathcal D)$, locally spanned by three almost complex structures $I_1,I_2, I_3$ which satisfy the quaternionic relation $I_1I_2=I_3$, are orthogonal with respect to $g$, i.e., $g(I_\alpha\cdot, I_\alpha\cdot)=g(\cdot,\cdot)$, and furthermore $d\eta_\alpha=2g(I_\alpha\cdot,\cdot)$, $\alpha\in\{1,2,3\}$, where $\eta_1$, $\eta_2$ and $\eta_3$ are three local one-forms whose kernels define $\mathcal D$. Specific examples are given by the 3-Sasakian manifolds, such as the quaternionic Hopf fibration $\mathbb{S}^3\rightarrow \mathbb{S}^{4n+3}\rightarrow \mathbb{HP}^n$. On a qc manifold of dimension greater than $7$ there exists a canonical connection compatible with the qc structure, called the Biquard \textit{connection} [ \textit{O. Biquard}, Métriques d'Einstein asymptotiquement symétriques. Paris: Société Mathématique de France (2000; Zbl 0967.53030)]. The main result of the paper is a Bonnet-Myers type theorem for qc manifolds. It states that a complete qc manifold of dimension bigger than 7 is compact, provided a certain positivity condition involving the horizontal Ricci curvature of the Biquard connection is met. Furthermore, under these hypotheses, a sharp lower bound on the sub-Riemannian diameter of the manifold is given. This generalizes a result of [\textit{R. K. Hladky}, Ann. Global Anal. Geom. 47, No. 1, 99--115 (2015; Zbl 1317.53048)], where a similar conclusion is shown to hold under additional hypotheses and more involved positivity bounds. The proof builds on a Bonnet-Myers type theorem for fat sub-Riemannian structures [\textit{L. Rizzi} and \textit{P. Silveira}, ``Sub-Riemannian ricci curvatures and universal diameter bounds for 3-Sasakian manifolds'', J. Inst. Math. Jussieu 18, No. 4, 783--827 (2019; \url{doi:10.1017/S1474748017000226})].