Higher elastica: geodesics in jet space (Q2095616)

The \(k\)-jet of a function \(f \in C^\infty(\mathbb{R})\) can be identified with the \(k\)-th order Taylor polynomial of \(f\) centered at a given point \(x_0 \in \mathbb{R}\). More abstractly, it is the information needed to describe the behavior of \(f\) near \(x_0\) up to \(k\)-th order. It can be represented by a \(k+2\)-tuple \((x, u_k, u_{k-1}, \dots, u_1, y)\), corresponding to \(y = f(x)\) and \(u_i = f^{(i)}(x)\) for \(1 \le i \le k\). The space \(\mathcal{J}^k\) of all \(k\)-jets has a natural Carnot group structure, whose first layer is two-dimensional and corresponds to the \((x, u_k)\) plane. Recall that the Carnot group \(\mathcal{J}^1\) is isomorphic to the Heisenberg group, and \(\mathcal{J}^2\) to the Engel group. Then \(\mathcal{J}^k\) can be equipped with a left-invariant sub-Riemannian metric. In this paper, the author studies the geodesics of this metric. The first main result is that the Hamiltonian system which defines these geodesics is integrable, in the sense that it admits the maximum number of conserved quantities. Next, the author considers the two-dimensional projection \((x(s), u_k(s))\) of a geodesic \(\gamma(s)\) into the \((x, u_k)\) plane. Since a geodesic is, in particular, a horizontal curve, it is uniquely determined by this projection. The second main result is that the projections of geodesics are precisely those curves in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) with the property that the curvature \(\kappa(s)\) is given by \(p(x(s))\) for some polynomial \(p\) of degree at most \(k-1\). Such curves are known as Euler elastica. In the last section, the geodesics are classified into four types according to the properties of the projected curve: periodic in \(x\), asymptotic to one line (homoclinic), or asymptotic to two lines (heteroclinic) in either a ``direct'' or ``turn-back'' fashion. It is shown, in particular, that the heteroclinic case is possible if and only if \(k > 2\). The paper ends with a conjecture claiming that length minimizing geodesics always have projections of either homoclinic or direct heteroclinic type.