We define and make an initial study of (even) Riemannian supermanifolds equipped with a homological vector field that is also a Killing vector field. We refer to such supermanifolds as Riemannian Q-manifolds. We show that such Q-manifolds are unimodular, i.e., come equipped with a Q-invariant Berezin volume.
The invariant theory of Killing tensors (ITKT) is extended by introducing the new concepts of covariants and joint invariants of (product) vector spaces of Killing tensors defined in pseudo-Riemannian spaces of constant curvature. The covariants are employed to solve the problem of classification of the orthogonal coordinate webs generated by non-trivial Killing tensors of valence two defined in the Euclidean and Minkowski planes. Illustrative examples are provided.
Given a $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold of arbitrary signature, we illustrate an algebraic method for constructing the coordinate webs separating the geodesic Hamilton-Jacobi equation by means of the eigenvalues of $m \leq n$ Killing two-tensors. Moreover, from the analysis of the eigenvalues, information about the possible symmetries of the web foliations arises. Three cases are examined: the orthogonal separation, the general separation, including non-orthogonal and isotropic coordinates, and the conformal separation, where Killing tensors are replaced by conformal Killing tensors. The m…
In this paper we develop the basic tools for a classification of Killing vector fields of constant length on pseudo--riemannian homogeneous spaces. This extends a recent paper of M. Xu and J. A. Wolf, which classified the pairs $(M,ξ)$ where $M = G/H$ is a Riemannian normal homogeneous space, $G$ is a compact simple Lie group, and $ξ\in \mathfrak{g}$ defines a nonzero Killing vector field of constant length on $M$. The method there was direct computation. Here we make use of the moment map $M \to \mathfrak{g}^*$ and the flag manifold structure of Ad(G)$ξ$ to give a shorter, more geometric proo…
The harmonic action functional allows a natural generalisation to semi-Riemannian supergeometry, referred to as superharmonic action, which resembles the supersymmetric sigma models studied in high energy physics. We show that Killing vector fields are infinitesimal supersymmetries of the superharmonic action and prove three different Noether theorems in this context. En passant, we provide a homogeneous treatment of five characterisations of Killing vector fields on semi-Riemannian supermanifolds, thus filling a gap in the literature.
We define and examine the notion of a Killing section of a Riemannian Lie algebroid as a natural generalisation of a Killing vector field. We show that the various expression for a vector field to be Killing naturally generalise to the setting of Lie algebroids. As an application we examine the internal symmetries of a class of sigma models for which the target space is a Riemannian Lie algebroid. Critical points of these sigma models are interpreted as generalised harmonic maps.
We consider Killing vector fields on standard static space-times and obtain equations for a vector field on a standard static space-time to be Killing. We also provide a characterization of Killing vector fields on standard static space-times with compact Riemannian parts.
We study the twistor equation on pseudo-Riemannian $Spin^c-$manifolds whose solutions we call charged conformal Killing spinors (CCKS). We derive several integrability conditions for the existence of CCKS and study their relations to spinor bilinears. A construction principle for Lorentzian manifolds admitting CCKS with nontrivial charge starting from CR-geometry is presented. We obtain a partial classification result in the Lorentzian case under the additional assumption that the associated Dirac current is normal conformal and complete the Classification of manifolds admitting CCKS in all di…
On a Lorentzian manifold the existence of a parallel null vector field implies certain constraint conditions on the induced Riemannian geometry of a space-like hypersurface. We will derive these constraint conditions and, conversely, show that every real analytic Riemannian manifold satisfying the constraint conditions can be extended to a Lorentzian manifold with a parallel null vector field. Similarly, every parallel null spinor on a Lorentzian manifold induces an imaginary generalised Killing spinor on a space-like hypersurface. Then, based on the fact that a parallel spinor field induces a…
The seven and nine dimensional geometries associated with certain classes of supersymmetric $AdS_3$ and $AdS_2$ solutions of type IIB and D=11 supergravity, respectively, have many similarities with Sasaki-Einstein geometry. We further elucidate their properties and also generalise them to higher odd dimensions by introducing a new class of complex geometries in $2n+2$ dimensions, specified by a Riemannian metric, a scalar field and a closed three-form, which admit a particular kind of Killing spinor. In particular, for $n\ge 3$, we show that when the geometry in $2n+2$ dimensions is a cone we…
In this text we combine the notions of supergeometry and supersymmetry. We construct a special class of supermanifolds whose reduced manifolds are (pseudo) Riemannian manifolds. These supermanifolds allow us to treat vector fields on the one hand and spinor fields on the other hand as equivalent geometric objects. This is the starting point of our definition of {supersymmetric Killing structures}. The latter combines subspaces of vector fields and spinor fields, provided they fulfill certain field equations. This naturally leads to a superalgebra that extends the supersymmetry algebra to the c…
Let (M^n,g) be a Riemannian spin manifold. The basic equations in supergravity models of type IIa string theory with 4-form flux involve a 3-form T, a 4-form F, a spinorial covariant derivative \nabla depending on \nabla^g, T, F, and a \nabla-parallel spinor field Ψ. We classify and construct many explicit families of solutions to this system of spinorial field equations by means of non-integrable special geometries. The latter include α-Sasakian structures in dimensions 5 and 7, almost Hermitian structures in dimension 6 and cocalibrated G_2-structures in dimension 7. We show that there are s…
We prove that a smooth Riemannian manifold admitting an imaginary generalized Killing spinor whose Dirac current satisfies an additional algebraic constraint condition can be embedded as spacelike Cauchy hypersurface in a smooth Lorentzian manifold on which the given spinor extends to a null parallel spinor. This is in contrast to a corresponding Cauchy problem for real generalized Killing spinors into Riemannian manifolds. The construction is based on first order symmetric hyperbolic PDE-methods. In fact, the coupled evolution equations for metric and spinor as considered here extend and gene…
Using the Lie derivative of the metric we define a class of Lie algebras of vector fields by generalising the concept of Killing vectors. As a Lie algebra they define locally a group action on the pseudo-Riemannian manifold through exponentiation. The motivation behind studying these infinitesimal group actions is the investigation of $\mathcal{I}$-degenerate pseudo-Riemannian spaces, i.e., spaces having identical polynomial curvature invariants. In particular, we show that all the known examples of $\mathcal{I}$-degenerate pseudo-Riemannian spaces possess such vector fields.
This paper locally classifies finite-dimensional Lie algebras of conformal and Killing vector fields on $\mathbb{R}^2$ relative to an arbitrary pseudo-Riemannian metric. Several results about their geometric properties are detailed, e.g. their invariant distributions and induced symplectic structures. Findings are illustrated with two examples of physical nature: the Milne--Pinney equation and the projective Schrödinger equation on the Riemann sphere.
We obtain all the three-dimensional Lorentzian metrics which admit three Killing vectors. The classification has been done with the aid of the formalism which exploits the obstruction criteria for the Killing equations recently developed by present authors. The current classification method does not rely on the transitivity property of the isometry group. It turns out that the Lorentzian manifold harbors a much richer spectrum of metrics with various Segre types, compared to the Riemannian case.
We study the Lie point symmetries of a general class of partial differential equations (PDE) of second order. An equation from this class naturally defines a second-order symmetric tensor (metric). In the case the PDE is linear on the first derivatives we show that the Lie point symmetries are given by the conformal algebra of the metric modulo a constraint involving the linear part of the PDE. Important elements in this class are the Klein--Gordon equation and the Laplace equation. We apply the general results and determine the Lie point symmetries of these equations in various general classe…
We develop a new method in order to classify the Bianchi I spacetimes which admit conformal Killing vectors (CKV). The method is based on two propositions which relate the CKVs of 1+(n-1) decomposable Riemannian spaces with the CKVs of the (n-1) subspace and show that if 1+(n-1) space is conformally flat then the (n-1) spacetime is maximally symmetric. The method is used to study the conformal algebra of the Kasner spacetime and other less known Bianchi type I matter solutions of General Relativity.
We demonstrate how a combination of our recently developed methods of partner symmetries, symmetry reduction in group parameters and a new version of the group foliation method can produce noninvariant solutions of complex Monge-Ampère equation (CMA) and provide a lift from invariant solutions of CMA satisfying Boyer-Finley equation to non-invariant ones. Applying these methods, we obtain a new noninvariant solution of CMA and the corresponding Ricci-flat anti-self-dual Einstein-Kähler metric with Euclidean signature without Killing vectors, together with Riemannian curvature two-forms. There …