On the dimension of the algebras of local infinitesimal isometries of 3-dimensional special sub-Riemannian manifolds (Q6145636)

The author considers sub-Riemannian structures on a three-dimensional manifold, whose defining distribution is contact, and for which the Reeb vector field is an infinitesimal isometry. In the paper, an infinitesimal isometry is a vector field whose local flow abut any point consists of local diffeomorphisms preserving the sub-Riemannian metric. The author refers to these data as a ``special'' sub-Riemannian manifold. The main result of the paper is that the Lie algebra of infinitesimal isometries has dimension \(1\), \(2\), or \(4\). The construction starts out by showing that a special sub-Riemannian manifold possesses a canonical torsion-free metric connection. The local structure equations for this connection are pulled back by some local section to the orthornomal frame bundle for the sub-Riemannian structure to obtain an exterior differential system on the frame bundle. The key part of the paper is then establishing a one-to-one correspondence between infinitesimal isometries and local integral manifolds of the exterior differential system. The proof of the main result is then completed by understanding these local integral manifolds.