Geometry and analysis of control-affine systems: motion planning, heat and Schrödinger evolution

This thesis is dedicated to two problems arising from geometric control theory, regarding control-affine systems $\dot q= f_0(q)+\sum_{j=1}^m u_j f_j(q)$, where $f_0$ is called the drift. In the first part we extend the concept of complexity of non-admissible trajectories, well understood for sub-Riemannian systems, to this more general case, and find asymptotic estimates. In order to do this, we also prove a result in the same spirit as the Ball-Box theorem for sub-Riemannian systems, in the context of control-affine systems equipped with the L1 cost. Then, in the second part of the thesis, we consider a family of 2-dimensional driftless control systems. For these, we study how the set where the control vector fields become collinear affects the diffusion dynamics. More precisely, we study whether solutions to the heat and Schrödinger equations associated with this Laplace-Beltrami operator are able to cross this singularity, and how its the presence affects the spectral properties of the operator, in particular under a magnetic Aharonov–Bohm-type perturbation.