On the geometry of quadratic second-order Abel ordinary differential equations (Q1708278)

In this paper, the author studies the contact geometry of the second-order differential equation \[ A(x,y,y')(y'')^2+ 2B(x,y,y')y''+ C(x, y, y')= 0, \] often called a quadratic Abel equation (QAE), in the complex domain. Here the coefficients \(A,B,C: \mathbb{C}^3\to\mathbb{C}\) are holomorphic functions satisfying the non-degeneracy condition \(B^2- AC\neq 0\). The contact classification was obtained by \textit{V. V. Shurygin} (jun.) [Lobachevskii J. Math. 34, No. 3, 264--271 (2013; Zbl 1283.34048)]. The author presents a new approach, based on the alternative idea that every QAE is the kernel of a nonlinear differential operator defined by a quadratic form on the Cartan distribution in the 1-jet space. This establishes a one-to-one correspondence between QAEs and quadratic forms on the Cartan distribution, and finally, allows one to solve the problem of the contact equivalence of QAEs.