Constant mean curvature surfaces in sub-Riemannian geometry (Q927628)

The authors study the minimal and isoperimetric surface problem in a class of \textit{verticallly rigid} sub-Riemannian spaces, that is, spaces \((M, V, h)\) built form a manifold \(M\), a distribution \(V\) and an inner product \(h\) on \(V\) such that V admits a smooth complement \(W\) which is orthogonal to \(V\) for a Riemannian metric \(g\) extending \(h\) in such a way that a global frame \(T_1, \dots, T_m\) of \(W\) becomes orthonormal and admits an equivalence relation \(\equiv\) on the set \(\{1, \dots, m\}\) such that \(g([X, T_j], T_i) = 0\) whenever \(X\) is a section of \(V\) and \(i\equiv j\). The main results read as follows. Theorem 1.1: A noncharacteristic C\(^2\) hypersurface of a vertically rigid sub-Riemannian manifold is a critical point of the first variation of perimeter if and only if its horizontal mean curvature vanishes. Theorem 1.2: If a C\(^2\) hypersurface of a vertically rigid sub-Riemannian space is a solution to the isoperimetric problem, then its horizontal mean curvature is locally constant.