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In this paper we formulate some conjectures in sub-Riemannian geometry concerning a characterisation of the Koranyi-Kaplan ball in a group of Heisenberg type through the existence of a solution to suitably overdetermined problems. We prove an integral identity that provides a rigidity constraint for one of the two problems. By exploiting some new invariances of these Lie groups, for domains having partial symmetry we solve these problems by converting them to known results for the classical $p$-Laplacian

In this paper we establish the sharp asymptotic decay of positive solutions of the Yamabe type equation $\frlap u=u^{\frac{Q+2s}{Q-2s}}$ in a homogeneous Lie group, where $\frlap$ represents a suitable pseudodifferential operator modelled on a class of nonlocal operators arising in conformal CR geometry.

Corrigenda to "$L^p$ estimates and asymptotic behavior for finite energy solutions of extremals to Hardy-Sobolev inequalities", Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 363 (2011), no. 1, 37--62.

We show that a compact quaternionic contact manifold of dimension seven that satisfies a Lichnerowicz-type lower Ricci-type bound and has the $P$-function of any eigenfunction of the sub-Laplacian non-negative achieves its smallest possible eigenvalue only if the structure is qc-Einstein. In particular, under the stated conditions, the lowest eigenvalue is achieved if and only if the manifold is qc-equivalent to the standard $3$-Sasakian sphere.

We show that any compact quaternionic contact (qc) hypersurfaces in a hyper-K\"ahler manifold which is not totally umbilical has an induced qc structure, locally qc homothetic to the standard 3-Sasakian sphere. We also show that any nowhere umbilical qc hypersurface in a hyper-K\"ahler manifold is endowed with an involutive 7-dimensional distribution whose integral leafs are locally qc-conformal to the standard 3-Sasakian sphere.

A proof of the monotonicity of an entropy like energy for the heat equation on a quaternionic contact and CR manifolds is proven

We report on some aspects and recent progress in certain problems in the sub-Riemannian CR and quaternionic contact (QC) geometries. The focus are the corresponding Yamabe problems on the round spheres, the Lichnerowicz-Obata first eigenvalue estimates, and the relation between these two problems. A motivation from the Riemannian case highlights new and old ideas which are then developed in the settings of Iwasawa sub-Riemannian geometries.

A complete solution to the quaternionic contact Yamabe equation on the qc sphere of dimension $4n+3$ as well as on the quaternionic Heisenberg group is given. A uniqueness theorem for the qc Yamabe problem in a compact locally 3-Sasakian manifold is shown., Comment: 18 pp, no figure

New smooth solutions of the Strominger system with non vanishing flux, non-trivial instanton and non-constant dilaton based on the quaternionic Heisenberg group are constructed. We show that through appropriate contractions the solutions found in the $G_2$-heterotic case converge to the heterotic solutions on 6-dimensional inner non-K\"ahler spaces previously found by the authors and, moreover, to new heterotic solutions with non-constant dilaton in dimension 5. All solutions satisfy the heterotic equations of motion up to the first order of $\alpha^{\prime}$.

We describe explicitly all quaternionic contact hypersurfaces (qc-hypersurfaces) in the flat quaternion space $\Hnn$ and the quaternion projective space. We show that up to a quaternionic affine transformation a qc-hypersurface in $\Hnn$ is contained in one of the three qc-hyperquadrics in $\Hnn$. Moreover, we show that an embedded qc-hypersurface in a hyper-K\"ahler manifold is qc-conformal to a qc-Einstein space and the Riemannian curvature tensor of the ambient hyper-K\"ahler metric is degenerate along the hypersurface.

Conformally compact and complete smooth solutions to the Strominger system with non vanishing flux, non-trivial instanton and non-constant dilaton using the first Pontrjagin form of the (-)-connection} on 6-dimensional non-Kaehler nilmanifold are presented. In the conformally compact case the dilaton is determined by the real slices of the elliptic Weierstrass function. The dilaton of non-compact complete solutions is given by the fundamental solution of the Laplacian on $R^4$., Comment: LaTeX 2e, 17 pages

We prove a quaternionic contact versions of the Obata's sphere theorems. We show that if the first positive eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian on a compact qc manifold of dimension bigger than seven takes the smallest possible value then, up to a homothety of the qc structure, the manifold is qc equivalent to the standard 3-Sasakian sphere. We also give a version of the theorem on non-compact qc manifold which is complete with respect to the associated Riemannian metric using the existence of a function with traceless horizontal Hessian. A qc version of the Liouville theorem is shown for qc-conformal maps between open connected sets of the 3-Sasakian sphere., Comment: v2: corrected some typos, most notable in Section 3.9

A version of Lichnerowicz' theorem giving a lower bound of the eigenvalues of the sub-Laplacian under a lower bound on the Sp(1)Sp(1) component of the qc-Ricci curvature on a compact seven dimensional quaternionic contact manifold is established. It is shown that in the case of a seven dimensional compact 3-Sasakian manifold the lower bound is reached if and only if the quaternionic contact manifold is a round 3-Sasakian sphere., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1112.0779

We prove a CR version of the Obata's result for the first eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian in the setting of a compact strictly pseudoconvex pseudohermitian three dimensional manifold with non-negative CR-Panietz operator which satisfies a Lichnerowicz type condition. We show that if the first positive eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian takes the smallest possible value then, up to a homothety of the pseudohermitian structure, the manifold is the standard Sasakian three dimensional unit sphere., Comment: Improved exposition and remarks on references and citations. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1203.5812

We prove a CR Obata type result that if the first positive eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian on a compact strictly pseudoconvex pseudohermitian manifold with a divergence free pseudohermitian torsion takes the smallest possible value then, up to a homothety of the pseudohermitian structure, the manifold is the standart Sasakian unit sphere. We also give a version of this theorem using the existence of a function with traceless horizontal Hessian on a complete, with respect to Webster's metric, pseudohermitian manifold., Comment: Complete restructuring of the paper including a correction in the 3-D case

The main technical result of the paper is a Bochner type formula for the sub-laplacian on a quaternionic contact manifold. With the help of this formula we establish a version of Lichnerowicz' theorem giving a lower bound of the eigenvalues of the sub-Laplacian under a lower bound on the $Sp(n)Sp(1)$ components of the qc-Ricci curvature. It is shown that in the case of a 3-Sasakian manifold the lower bound is reached iff the quaternionic contact manifold is a round 3-Sasakian sphere. Another goal of the paper is to establish a-priori estimates for square integrals of horizontal derivatives of smooth compactly supported functions. As an application, we prove a sharp inequality bounding the horizontal Hessian of a function by its sub-Laplacian on the quaternionic Heisenberg group., Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX2e

We present a simple explicit construction of hyper-Kaehler and hyper-symplectic (also known as neutral hyper-Kaehler or hyper-parakaehler) metrics in 4D using the Bianchi type groups of class A. The construction underlies a correspondence between hyper-Kaehler and hyper-symplectic structures in dimension four., Comment: Title changed, exposition and terminology clarified, final vesion to appear Class. Quant. Grav. This paper is an expanded version of sections 7 and 8 of arXiv:0903.1398

We determine the best (optimal) constant in the $L^2$ Folland-Stein inequality on the quaternionic Heisenberg group and the non-negative functions for which equality holds., Comment: Corrected typos and improved the presentation

We construct left invariant quaternionic contact (qc) structures on Lie groups with zero and non-zero torsion and with non-vanishing quaternionic contact conformal curvature tensor, thus showing the existence of non-flat quaternionic contact manifolds. We prove that the product of the real line with a seven dimensional manifold, equipped with a certain qc structure, has a quaternionic Kaehler metric as well as a metric with holonomy contained in Spin(7). As a consequence we determine explicit quaternionic Kaehler metrics and Spin(7)-holonomy metrics which seem to be new. Moreover, we give explicit non-compact eight dimensional almost quaternion hermitian manifolds with either a closed fundamental four form or fundamental two forms defining a differential ideal that are not quaternionic Kaehler., Comment: This paper is an expanded version of sections 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 of arXiv:0903.1398

We construct explicit left invariant quaternionic contact structures on Lie groups with zero and non-zero torsion, and with non-vanishing quaternionic contact conformal curvature tensor, thus showing the existence of quaternionic contact manifolds not locally quaternionic contact conformal to the quaternionic sphere. We present a left invariant quaternionic contact structure on a seven dimensional non-nilpotent Lie group, and show that this structure is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group. On the product of a seven dimensional Lie group, equipped with a quaternionic contact structure, with the real line we determine explicit complete quaternionic Kaehhler metrics and $Spin(7)$-holonomy metrics which seem to be new. We give explicit complete non-compact eight dimensional almost quaternion hermitian manifolds with closed fundamental four form which are not quaternionic K\"ahler., Comment: LaTeX2e, 31pages, explicit non quaternionic Kaehler structures with closed fundamental four form and new explicit Spin(7)-holonomy metric are presented in dimension eight

We show that the fundamental 4-form on a quaternionic contact manifold of dimension at least eleven is closed if and only if the torsion endomorphism of the Biquard connection vanishes. This condition characterizes quaternionic contact structures which are locally qc homothetic to 3-Sasakian structures., Comment: LaTeX 2e, 9 pages, no figures, final version to appear in Bull. London Math. Soc

A curvature-type tensor invariant called para contact (pc) conformal curvature is defined on a paracontact manifold. It is shown that a paracontact manifold is locally paracontact conformal to the hyperbolic Heisenberg group or to a hyperquadric of neutral signature if and only if the pc conformal curvature vanishes. In the three dimensional case the corresponding result is achieved through employing a certain symmetric (0,2) tensor. The well known result of Cartan-Chern-Moser giving necessary and sufficient condition a CR-structure to be CR equivalent to a hyperquadric in the complex vector space is presented in-line with the paracontact case. An explicit formula for the regular part of a solution to the sub-ultrahyperbolic Yamabe equation on the hyperbolic Heisenberg group is shown., Comment: 18 pages, substantial clarification of the integrability condition in dimension 3 in both CR and para CR cases, CR-part shortened

A tensor invariant is defined on a quaternionic contact manifold in terms of the curvature and torsion of the Biquard connection involving derivatives up to third order of the contact form. This tensor, called quaternionic contact conformal curvature, is similar to the Weyl conformal curvature in Riemannian geometry and to the Chern-Moser tensor in CR geometry. It is shown that a quaternionic contact manifold is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the standard flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group, or equivalently, to the standard 3-sasakian structure on the sphere iff the quaternionic contact conformal curvature vanishes., Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, exposition clarified, final version, to appear in J.Math.Pures Appl

A complete solution to the quaternionic contact Yamabe problem on the seven dimensional sphere is given. Extremals for the Sobolev inequality on the seven dimensional Hesenberg group are explicitly described and the best constant in the $L^2$ Folland-Stein embedding theorem is determined., Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX 2e, 10pt, exposition extended and clarified, typos corrected, final version to appear in the Journal of the European Math. Soc. (JEMS)

A partial solution of the quaternionic contact Yamabe problem on the quaternionic sphere is given. It is shown that the torsion of the Biquard connection vanishes exactly when the trace-free part of the horizontal Ricci tensor of the Biquard connection is zero and this occurs precisely on 3-Sasakian manifolods. All conformal deformations sending the standard flat torsion-free quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group to a quaternionic contact structure with vanishing torsion of the Biquard connection are explicitly described. A '3-Hamiltonian form' of infinitesimal conformal automorphisms of quaternionic contact structures is presented., Comment: 51 pages, LaTeX 2e, 10pt, corrected Theorem 4.9 and Proposition 8.1

Motivated by the equation satisfied by the extremals of certain Hardy-Sobolev type inequalities, we show sharp $L^q$ regularity for finite energy solutions of p-laplace equations involving critical exponents and possible singularity on a sub-space of $\mathbb{R}^n$, which imply asymptotic behavior of the solutions at infinity. In addition, we find the best constant and extremals in the case of the considered $L^2$ Hardy-Sobolev inequality., Comment: Corrected some typos and misprints and added a few comments and references to improve presentation. New version of Theorem 2.5 and an additional result on uniqueness/comparison principle for the considered p-laplacian equations