arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ludovic Rifford.
We introduce a method of mixed convex integration and demonstrate its suitability for solving a particular class of semilinear second-order partial differential relations. As an application, we provide a new proof of a result on scalar curvature originally established by Lohkamp.
A longstanding open question in sub-Riemannian geometry is the following: are sub-Riemannian length minimizers smooth? We give a negative answer to this question, exhibiting an example of a $C^2$ but not $C^3$ length-minimizer of a real-analytic (even polynomial) sub-Riemannian structure.
The Lonely Runner Conjecture asserts that if $n$ runners with distinct constant speeds run on the unit circle $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$ starting from $0$ at time $0$, then each runner will at some time $t>0$ be lonely in the sense that she/he will be separated by a distance at least $1/n$ from all the others at time $t$. In investigating the size of $t$, we show that an upper bound for $t$ in terms of a certain number of rounds (which, in the case where the lonely runner is static, corresponds to the number of rounds of the slowest non-static runner) is equivalent to a covering problem in dimension $n-2$. We formulate a conjecture regarding this covering problem and prove it to be true for $n=3,4,5,6$. Then, we use our method of proof to demonstrate that the Lonely Runner Conjecture with Free Starting Positions is satisfied for $n=3,4$. Finally, we show that the so-called gap of loneliness in one round (with respect to the Lonely Runner Conjecture), where we have $m+1$ runners including one static runner, is bounded from below by $1/(2m-1)$ for all integer $m\geq 2$.
Building on a result by Tao, we show that a certain type of simple closed curve in the plane given by the union of the graphs of two $1$-Lipschitz functions inscribes a square whose sidelength is bounded from below by a universal constant times the maximum of the difference of the two functions.
We prove that two-step analytic sub-Riemannian structures on a compact analytic manifold equipped with a smooth measure and Lipschitz Carnot groups satisfy measure contraction properties.
Given a totally nonholonomic distribution of rank two on a three-dimensional manifold we investigate the size of the set of points that can be reached by singular horizontal paths starting from a same point. In this setting, the Sard conjecture states that that set should be a subset of the so-called Martinet surface of 2-dimensional Hausdorff measure zero. We prove that the conjecture holds in the case where the Martinet surface is smooth. Moreover, we address the case of singular real-analytic Martinet surfaces and show that the result holds true under an assumption of non-transversality of the distribution on the singular set of the Martinet surface. Our methods rely on the control of the divergence of vector fields generating the trace of the distribution on the Martinet surface and some techniques of resolution of singularities.
The question of which costs admit unique optimizers in the Monge-Kantorovich problem of optimal transportation between arbitrary probability densities is investigated. For smooth costs and densities on compact manifolds, the only known examples for which the optimal solution is always unique require at least one of the two underlying spaces to be homeomorphic to a sphere. We introduce a (multivalued) dynamics which the transportation cost induces between the target and source space, for which the presence or absence of a sufficiently large set of periodic trajectories plays a role in determining whether or not optimal transport is necessarily unique. This insight allows us to construct smooth costs on a pair of compact manifolds with arbitrary topology, so that the optimal transportation between any pair of probility densities is unique.
Given a compact Riemannian manifold, we prove a uniform Franks' lemma at second order for geodesic flows and apply the result in persistence theory.
Given a smooth nonfocal compact Riemannian manifold, we show that the so-called Ma--Trudinger--Wang condition implies the convexity of injectivity domains. This improves a previous result by Loeper and Villani.
We study metric contraction properties for metric spaces associated with left-invariant sub-Riemannian metrics on Carnot groups. We show that ideal sub-Riemannian structures on Carnot groups satisfy such properties and give a lower bound of possible curvature exponents in terms of the datas.
Given a closed Riemannian manifold, we show how to close an orbit of the geodesic flow by a small perturbation of the metric in the $C^1$ topology.
We study the optimal transport problem in the Euclidean space where the cost function is given by the value function associated with a Linear Quadratic minimization problem. Under appropriate assumptions, we generalize Brenier's Theorem proving existence and uniqueness of an optimal transport map. In the controllable case, we show that the optimal transport map has to be the gradient of a convex function up to a linear change of coordinates. We give regularity results and also investigate the non-controllable case.
We study the optimal transport problem in sub-Riemannian manifolds where the cost function is given by the square of the sub-Riemannian distance. Under appropriate assumptions, we generalize Brenier-McCann's Theorem proving existence and uniqueness of the optimal transport map. We show the absolute continuity property of Wassertein geodesics, and we address the regularity issue of the optimal map. In particular, we are able to show its approximate differentiability a.e. in the Heisenberg group (and under some weak assumptions on the measures the differentiability a.e.), which allows to write a weak form of the Monge-Ampère equation.
Given a continuous viscosity solution of a Dirichlet-type Hamilton-Jacobi equation, we show that the distance function to the conjugate locus which is associated to this problem is locally semiconcave on its domain. It allows us to provide a simple proof of the fact that the distance function to the cut locus associated to this problem is locally Lipschitz on its domain. This result, which was already an improvement of a previous one by Itoh and Tanaka, is due to Li and Nirenberg. Finally, we give applications of our results in Riemannian geometry. Namely, we show that the distance function to the conjugate locus on a Riemannian manifold is locally semiconcave. Then, we show that if a Riemannian manifold is a deformation of the round sphere, then all its tangent nonfocal domains are strictly uniformly convex.
Let $M$ be a smooth connected and complete manifold of dimension $n$, and $Δ$ be a smooth nonholonomic distribution of rank $m\leq n$ on $M$. We prove that, if there exists a smooth Riemannian metric on $Δ$ for which no nontrivial singular path is minimizing, then there exists a smooth repulsive stabilizing section of $Δ$ on $M$. Moreover, in dimension three, the assumption of the absence of singular minimizing horizontal paths can be dropped in the Martinet case. The proofs are based on the study, using specific results of nonsmooth analysis, of an optimal control problem of Bolza type, for which we prove that the corresponding value function is semiconcave and is a viscosity solution of a Hamilton-Jacobi equation, and establish fine properties of optimal trajectories.
Under appropriate assumptions on the dimension of the ambient manifold and the regularity of the Hamiltonian, we show that the Mather quotient is small in term of Hausdorff dimension. Then, we present applications in dynamics.
We study nonlinear systems with observation errors. The main problem addressed in this paper is the design of feedbacks for globally asymptotically controllable (GAC) control affine systems that render the closed loop systems input to state stable with respect to actuator errors. Extensions for fully nonlinear GAC systems with actuator errors are also discussed.