Normal forms of germs of two-dimensional distributions in \({\mathbb{R}}^ 4\) (Q923439)

A smooth distribution of dimension k in \({\mathbb{R}}^ n\) is a family \(V=\{V_ a\}_{a\in {\mathbb{R}}^ n}\) of k-dimensional subspaces \(V_ a\subset T_ a{\mathbb{R}}^ n\), smoothly depending on \(a\in {\mathbb{R}}^ n\) [\textit{A. M. Vershik} and \textit{V. Ya. Gershkovich}, Itogi Nauki Tekh., Ser. Sovrem. Probl. Mat., Fundam. Napravleniya 16, 5-85 (1987)]. Denote by W(k,n) the set of germs of such a distribution. A germ at a is stable if it is equivalent to a germ at a nearby \(a'\) of a perturbed distribution, with respect to the group of germs of smooth diffeomorphisms. In this note several results concerning the stability of germs from W(2,4) are announced. In particular, for codimension 2 (where stability first fails), stable normal forms of the corresponding germs are obtained [\textit{R. B. Gardner}, Prog. Math. 27, 117-180 (1983; Zbl 0522.49028)], whereas for codimension 3 the classification (with respect to the group of locally smooth diffeomorphisms) of the corresponding germs (all of which turn out to be unstable) is done by invoking the functional modules [\textit{A. M. Vershik} and \textit{V. Ya. Gershkovich}, Math. Notes 44, No.5, 806-810 (1988); translation from Mat. Zametki 44, No.5, 596-603 (1988; Zbl 0667.58003)].