Rational Curves on Real Classical Groups

Abstract

This paper is concerned with rational curves on real classical groups. Our contributions are three-fold: (i) We determine the structure of quadratic rational curves on real classical groups. As a consequence, we completely classify quadratic rational curves on $\mathrm{U}_n$, $\mathrm{O}_n(\mathbb{R})$, $\mathrm{O}_{n-1,1}(\mathbb{R})$ and $\mathrm{O}_{n-2,2}(\mathbb{R})$. (ii) We prove a decomposition theorem for rational curves on real classical groups, which can be regarded as a non-commutative generalization of the fundamental theorem of algebra and partial fraction decomposition. (iii) As an application of (i) and (ii), we generalize Kempe's Universality Theorem to rational curves on homogeneous spaces.