Conformal equivalence of 3D contact structures on Lie groups (Q273806)

This article is concerned with the classification of \(3\)-dimensional left-invariant contact sub-Riemannian manifolds \((M,\Delta,g)\) which are, in a sense, the simplest examples of sub-Riemannian geometries. \textit{A. Agrachev} and \textit{D. Barilari} [ibid. 18, No. 1, 21--44 (2012; Zbl 1244.53039)], using two basic functional invariants, provided a metric classification of \(3\)-dimensional left-invariant contact sub-Riemannian manifolds: either the manifold is locally isometric to the Heisenberg group \(\mathbb H_3\) or there exist more than three non isometric normalized structures having these invariants or the structures on the manifold are locally isometric if and only if their Lie algebras are isomorphic. The author of the paper under review carries out a \textit{conformal} classification of left-invariant \(3\)-dimensional sub-Riemannian contact manifolds; that is, all smooth maps that preserve angles are considered and not just those that preserve distances. For this kind of classification, the right conformal setting is provided by the Fefferman (or ambient) metric. The main result (Theorem 2) presents an interesting dichotomy: Either the Fefferman metric of \((M,\Delta,g)\) is locally conformal to \(\mathbb H_3\) or its conformal classification coincides with the metric one. Finally, in Section 7, the author studies the conformal group of the Heisenberg group \(\mathrm{Conf}(\mathbb H_3)\) and in Theorem 3 he shows that \((M,\Delta,g)\) is locally conformal to \(\mathbb H_3\) if and only if its Fefferman metric is locally conformal to \(\mathbb H_3\). Moreover, if this is the case, the conformal group of \((M,\Delta,g)\) is isomorphic to the Lie group \(\mathfrak{su}(2,1)\).