# American Institute of Mathematical Sciences

April  2007, 1(2): 155-173. doi: 10.3934/jmd.2007.1.155

## On configuration spaces of plane polygons, sub-Riemannian geometry and periodic orbits of outer billiards

 1 Department of Mathematics, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States, United States

Received  April 2006 Published  January 2007

Following a recent paper by Baryshnikov and Zharnitsky, we consider outer billiards in the plane possessing invariant curves consisting of periodic orbits. We prove the existence and abundance of such tables using tools from sub-Riemannian geometry. We also prove that the set of 3-periodic outer billiard orbits has empty interior.
Citation: Daniel Genin, Serge Tabachnikov. On configuration spaces of plane polygons, sub-Riemannian geometry and periodic orbits of outer billiards. Journal of Modern Dynamics, 2007, 1 (2) : 155-173. doi: 10.3934/jmd.2007.1.155
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