\(G_2\) and the rolling distribution (Q2272256)

Two balls of different radii, \(r\) and \(R\), rolling along each other, without slipping or spinning, are considered. The configuration space for this system is a 5-dimensional manifold on which the no-slip/no-spin condition defines a rank 2 distribution, the rolling distribution which is related with the exceptional Lie group \(G_2\). A theorem concerning properties if this distribution was proved by Élie Cartan in 1898 which is valid only for the radii ratio \(3:1\) or \(1:3\). The authors propose another proof of this theorem avoiding the Cartan's sophisticated approach.