Homogeneity of magnetic trajectories in the Berger sphere (Q6974069)

The Berger sphere is a normal homogeneous space of positive curvature from Berger's and Wilking's classification in the seminal works [\textit{M. Berger}, Ann. Sc. Norm. Super. Pisa, Sci. Fis. Mat., III. Ser. 15, 179--246 (1961; Zbl 0101.14201); \textit{B. Wilking}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 127, No. 4, 1191--1194 (1999; Zbl 0948.53025)], respectively. The Berger sphere \((\mathrm{SU(2)}\times\mathbb{R})/H_r\), diffeomorphic to the unit 3-sphere \(\mathbb{S}^3\), plays an important role in differential geometry, particularly in the study of collapsing Riemannian manifolds under Gromov-Hausdorff limits. This sphere endowed with a homogeneous contact structure is (homothetic to) a Sasakian space form, whose constant holomorphic sectional curvature is greater than 1.\N\NThe authors consider a more general Berger sphere by defining a complete and simply connected 3-dimensional Sasakian space form \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)\) with \(c>-3, \ c\neq 1.\) The Berger sphere is modeled by the quotient space \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)=\mathrm{U(2)/U(1)}\), which is a naturally reductive homogeneous space.\N\NThe paper presents a detailed study of Hamiltonian systems on \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)\). It begins with the study of geodesics starting from the origin on \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)\), within the framework of Hamiltonian dynamics. In this approach, the geodesic equation on a Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\) is viewed as a Hamiltonian system defined on the phase space, i.e., the total space \(T^*M\) of the cotangent bundle, endowed with its canonical symplectic structure. A central problem in Hamiltonian dynamics is to investigate whether key properties, such as integrability and the existence of periodic orbits, are preserved under perturbations of the symplectic form.\N\NThe geodesic equation can be generalized to the Lorentz equation associated with a magnetic field on a differentiable manifold, where the magnetic field is represented as a closed 2-form. The solutions to the Lorentz equation are known as magnetic curves, and they describe the trajectories of charged particles influenced by the magnetic field. A special type of magnetic field arises on contact manifolds, which are characterized by an exact, hence closed, fundamental \(2\)-form. This form defines what is known as a contact magnetic field.\N\NStarting from [\textit{A. V. Bolsinov} and \textit{B. Ž. Jovanović}, Comment. Math. Helv. 83, No. 3, 679--700 (2008; Zbl 1168.70007)], the authors show that every contact magnetic trajectory on \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)\) is homogeneous and can be expressed as a product of a homogeneous geodesic and a charged Reeb flow. This result shows that on the Berger sphere \(\mathcal{M}^3(c)\), integrability and homogeneity of geodesic flows are preserved under perturbations by a contact magnetic field.\N\NOverall, the paper offers a valuable perspective by bridging classical geometric analysis with modern Hamiltonian mechanics. Its results are relevant for researchers interested in integrable systems, contact geometry, and the dynamics of geodesic flows, situated in the interplay between geometry and physics.