Privileged coordinates and nilpotent approximation for Carnot manifolds. II: Carnot coordinates (Q2329459)

This paper is a sequel of [the authors, J. Dyn. Control Syst. 25, No. 1, 109--157 (2019; Zbl 1410.53033)]. Let \(M\) be a Carnot manifold, which is a smooth manifold of dimension \(n\) with a filtration of subbundles \(H_1 \subset H_2 \subset \dots\subset H_r = TM\) satisfying \([H_w, H_{w'}] \subset H_{w+w'}\), i.e., Lie brackets of sections of \(H_w\) with sections of \(H_{w'}\) are sections of \(H_{w+w'}\). We fix a local frame of vector fields \(X_1,\dots, X_n\) which is compatible with the filtration, so that the first few are sections of \(H_1\), the next are sections of \(H_2\), and so on; this is called an \(H\)-frame. Fix a point \(a \in M\). The authors study two different methods of constructing a nilpotent Lie group, with underlying set \(\mathbb{R}^n\), that is meant to ``approximate'' \(M\) near \(a\). One way is via the construction of \textit{tangent groups}, credited here to [\textit{N. Tanaka}, Hokkaido Math. J. 44, No. 1, 101--164 (2015; Zbl 1335.53041)]. The filtration \(H_1, \dots, H_r\) gives rise to a nilpotent Lie algebra bundle \(\mathfrak{g}M\) over \(M\), whose fiber over a point \(a \in M\) is of the form \(\mathfrak{g}M(a) = \bigoplus_{i=1}^r H_i(a) / H_{i-1}(a)\). This Lie algebra may also be made into a nilpotent Lie group \(GM(a)\) by equipping it with the Dynkin product group operation given by the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff-Dynkin formula [\textit{E. B. Dynkin}, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, II. Ser. 57, 323--326 (1947; Zbl 0029.24507)]. Moreover, using the given \(H\)-frame \(X_1,\dots, X_n\), the group \(GM(a)\) may be identified with a Lie group \(G(a)\) whose underlying set is \(\mathbb{R}^n\). The other method, that of \textit{nilpotent approximations}, arose from [\textit{G. B. Folland} and \textit{E. M. Stein}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 27, 429--522 (1974; Zbl 0293.35012); \textit{L. P. Rothschild} and \textit{E. M. Stein}, Acta Math. 137, 247--320 (1977; Zbl 0346.35030)]. It involves choosing a system of coordinates \((x_1, \dots, x_n)\) centered at a point \(a \in M\) which is \textit{privileged}, meaning that it is compatible with the given \(H\)-frame in a certain strong sense. One then looks at the vector fields \(X_1, \dots, X_n\) in the chart of the privileged coordinates, and extracts from each an appropriate ``homogeneous part,'' a so-called \textit{model vector field} that naturally extends to all of \(\mathbb{R}^n\). These vector fields form a Lie algebra \(\tilde{\mathfrak{g}}^{(a)}\), and one may define, again via the Dynkin product, a Lie group operation on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) for which they are left-invariant. This group is called the \textit{nilpotent approximation} of \(M\) at \(a\) and denoted \(G^{(a)}\). However, privileged coordinates are not unique, and different choices lead to different (but isomorphic) group operations. The main question of this paper is: When do these two constructions coincide? For which systems of privileged coordinates is the nilpotent approximation \(G^{(a)}\) actually equal to \(G(a)\), in the sense that they define the very same group operation on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) (not merely up to isomorphism)? The authors define a special subclass of privileged coordinates, called \textit{Carnot coordinates}, and show that they are precisely those for which \(G^{(a)} = G(a)\). Such systems of coordinates always exist, and the authors describe how to construct a system of Carnot coordinates, in an effective fashion, out of any arbitrary system of local coordinates. It is also shown that this construction depends smoothly on the point \(a\) and continuously on the \(H\)-frame \(X_1, \dots, X_n\); these results relate to the authors' work on tangent groupoids in [Differ. Geom. Appl. 62, 136-183 (2019; Zbl 1410.53034)]. Various examples and non-examples of Carnot coordinates are also described.