Abstract
Let M be a smooth manifold and Dm, m ≥ 2, be the set of rank m distributions on M endowed with the Whitney C∞ topology. We show the existence of an open set Om dense in Dm, so that every nontrivial singular curve of a distribution D of Om is of minimal order and of corank one. In particular, for m ≥ 3, every distribution of Om does not admit nontrivial rigid curves. As a consequence, for generic sub-Riemannian structures of rank greater than or equal to three, there do not exist nontrivial minimizing singular curves.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 45-73 |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| Journal | Journal of Differential Geometry |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2006 |