We study unbendable rational curves, i.e., nonsingular rational curves in a complex manifold of dimension $n$ with normal bundles isomorphic to $mathcal{O}_{mathbb{P}^1}(1)^{oplus p} oplus mathcal{O}_{mathbb{P}^1}^{oplus (n-1-p)}$ for some nonnegative integer $p$. Well-known examples arise from algebraic geometry as general minimal rational curves of uniruled projective manifolds. After describing the relations between the differential geometric properties of the natural distributions on the deformation spaces of unbendable rational curves and the projective geometric properties of their varieties of minimal rational tangents, we concentrate on the case of $p=1$ and $n leq 5$, which is the simplest nontrivial situation. In this case, the families of unbendable rational curves fall essentially into two classes: Goursat type or Cartan type. Those of Goursat type arise from ordinary differential equations and those of Cartan type have special features related to contact geometry. We show that the family of lines on any nonsingular cubic 4-fold is of Goursat type, whereas the family of lines on a general quartic 5-fold is of Cartan type, in the proof of which the projective geometry of varieties of minimal rational tangents plays a key role.
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