Length spectra of sub-Riemannian metrics on compact Lie groups

Abstract

Length spectra for Riemannian metrics are well studied, while sub-Riemannian length spectra have been largely unexplored. Here we give the length spectrum for a canonical sub-Riemannian structure attached to any compact Lie group by restricting its Killing form to the sum of the root spaces. Surprisingly, the shortest loops are the same in both the Riemannian and sub-Riemannian cases. We provide specific calculations for SU(2) and SU(3).