Sub-Riemannian optimal synthesis for Carnot groups with the structure of a path geometry

Abstract

This paper explicitly constructs the complete set of optimal sub-Riemannian geodesics starting from a point for certain Carnot groups of step two. These are groups of dimension 2n+1 equipped with a left-invariant distribution of dimension n+1 such that at each point, there is a unique direction defining a nontrivial Lie bracket. A suitable explicit expression of geodesics, together with symmetries of the structure, allows us to identify the cut time and the cut locus by applying the so-called extended Hadamard technique.