Intrinsic geometry of oriented congruences in three dimensions

Starting from the classical notion of an oriented congruence (i.e. a foliation by oriented curves) in R-3, we abstract the notion of an oriented congruence structure. This is a 3-dimensional CR manifold (M, H, J) with a preferred splitting of the tangent space TM = V circle plus H. We find all local invariants of such structures using Cartan's equivalence method refining Cartan's classification of 3-dimensional CR structures. We use these invariants and perform Fefferman like Constructions, to obtain interesting Lorentzian metrics in four dimensions, which include explicit Ricci-flat and Einstein metrics, as well as not conformally Einstein Bach-flat metrics. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.