Let $X=G/H$ be a homogeneous space of a Lie group $G$. When the isotropy subgroup $H$ is non-compact, a discrete subgroup $Γ$ may fail to act properly discontinuously on $X$. In this article, we address the following question: in the setting where $G$ and $H$ are reductive Lie groups and $Γ\backslash X$ is a standard quotient, to what extent can one deform the discrete subgroup $Γ$ while preserving the proper discontinuity of the action on $X$?
We provide several classification results, including conditions under which local rigidity holds for compact standard quotients $Γ\backslash X$, when a standard quotient can be deformed into a non-standard quotient, a characterization of the largest Zariski-closure of discontinuous groups under small deformations, and conditions under which Zariski-dense deformations occur.
This article gives an up-to-date account of the theory of discrete group actions on non-Riemannian homogeneous spaces. As an introduction of the motifs of this article, we begin by reviewing the current knowledge of possible global forms of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds with constant curvatures, and discuss what kind of problems we propose to pursue. For pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, isometric actions of discrete groups are not always properly discontinuous. The fundamental problem is to understand when discrete subgroups of Lie groups $G$ act properly discontinuously on homogeneous spaces $G/H$ …
We construct sequences of `expander manifolds' and we use them to show that there is a complete connected 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold with discontinuous isoperimetric profile, answering a question of Nardulli and Pansu. Using expander manifolds in dimension 3 we show that for any $ε, M>0$ there is a Riemannian 3-sphere $S$ of volume 1, such that any (not necessarily connected) surface separating $S$ in two regions of volume greater than $ε$, has area greater than $M$.
We show that there is a complete connected 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold with discontinuous isoperimetric profile, answering a question of Nardulli and Pansu.
We define the notion of a smooth pseudo-Riemannian algebraic variety $(X,g)$ over a field $k$ of characteristic $0$, which is an algebraic analogue of the notion of Riemannian manifold and we study, from a model-theoretic perspective, the algebraic differential equation describing the geodesics on $(X,g)$. When $k$ is the field of real numbers, we prove that if the real points of $X$ are Zariski-dense in $X$ and if the real analytification of $(X,g)$ is a compact Riemannian manifold with negative curvature, then the algebraic differential equation describing the geodesics on $(X,g)$ is absolut…
The paper is a study of geodesic in two-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian metrics. Firstly, the local properties of geodesics in a neighborhood of generic parabolic points are investigated. The equation of the geodesic flow has singularities at such points that leads to a curious phenomenon: geodesics cannot pass through such a point in arbitrary tangential directions, but only in certain directions said to be admissible (the number of admissible directions is generically 1 or 3). Secondly, we study the global properties of geodesics in pseudo-Riemannian metrics possessing differentiable groups of…
Let $M$ be complete flat pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous manifold and $Γ\subset\Iso(\RR^n_s)$ its fundamental group. We show that $M$ is a trivial fiber bundle $G/Γ\to M\to\RR^{n-k}$, where $G$ is the Zariski closure of $Γ$ in $\Iso(\RR^n_s)$. Moreover, we show that the $G$-orbits in $\RR^n_s$ are affinely diffeomorphic to $G$ endowed with the (0)-connection. If the induced metric on the $G$-orbits is non-degenerate, then $G$ (and hence $Γ$) has linear abelian holonomy. If additionally $G$ is not abelian, then $G$ contains a certain subgroup of dimension 6. In particular, for non-abelian $G$ orb…
In the study of discontinuous groups for non-Riemannian homogeneous spaces, the idea of "continuous analogue" gives a powerful method (T. Kobayashi [Math. Ann. 1989]). For example, a semisimple symmetric space G/H admits a discontinuous group which is not virtually abelian if and only if G/H admits a proper SL(2,R)-action (T. Okuda [J. Differential Geom. 2013]). However, the action of discrete subgroups is not always approximated by that of connected groups. In this paper, we show that the theorem cannot be extended to general homogeneous spaces G/H of reductive type. We give a counterexample …
This article discusses the existence problem of a compact quotient of a symmetric space by a properly discontinuous group with emphasis on the non-Riemannian case. Discontinuous groups are not always abundant in a homogeneous space $G/H$ if $H$ is non-compact. The first half of the article elucidates general machinery to study discontinuous groups for $G/H$, followed by the most update and complete list of symmetric spaces with/without compact quotients. In the second half, as applications of general theory, we prove: (i) there exists a 15 dimensional compact pseudo-Riemannian manifold of sign…
Properly discontinuous actions of a surface group by affine automorphisms of $\mathbb R^d$ were shown to exist by Danciger-Gueritaud-Kassel. We show, however, that if the linear part of an affine surface group action is in the Hitchin component, then the action fails to be properly discontinuous. The key case is that of linear part in $\mathsf{SO}(n,n-1)$, so that the affine action is by isometries of a flat pseudo-Riemannian metric on $\mathbb R^d$ of signature $(n,n-1)$. Here, the translational part determines a deformation of the linear part into $\mathsf{PSO}(n,n)$-Hitchin representations …
Let $ρ:Γ\rightarrow PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$ be a Zariski dense Borel-Anosov representation, for $\mathbb{K}$ equal to $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$. Let $o$ be a form of signature $(p,d-p)$ on $\mathbb{K}^d$ (where $0<p<d)$. Let $\mathsf{S}^o$ be the corresponding geodesic copy of the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSO(o)$, inside the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$. For certain choices of $o$ and every $t$ large enough, we show exponential bounds for the number of $γ\inΓ$ for which the distance between $\mathsf{S}^o$ and $ργ\cdot\mathsf{S}^o$ is smaller than $t$. Under an extra as…
Let $(M,g_0)$ be a compact $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold with a finite number of singular points, where the metric is asymptotic to a non-negatively curved cone over $(\mathbb{S}^{n-1},g)$. We show that there exists a smooth Ricci flow starting from such a metric with curvature decaying like C/t. The initial metric is attained in Gromov-Hausdorff distance and smoothly away from the singular points. In the case that the initial manifold has isolated singularities asymptotic to a non-negatively curved cone over $(\mathbb{S}^{n-1}/Γ,g)$, where $Γ$ acts freely and properly discontinuously, w…
This article studies the volume of compact quotients of reductive homogeneous spaces. Let $G/H$ be a reductive homogeneous space and $Γ$ a discrete subgroup of $G$ acting properly discontinuously and cocompactly on $G/H$. We prove that the volume of $Γ\backslash G/H$ is the integral, over a certain homology class of $Γ$, of a $G$-invariant form on $G/K$ (where $K$ is a maximal compact subgroup of $G$). As a corollary, we obtain a large class of homogeneous spaces the compact quotients of which have rational volume. For instance, compact quotients of pseudo-Riemannian spaces of constant curvatu…
For $n \geq 1$, the twistor space $\mathfrak{Z}(\mathbb{S}^{2n})$ of the conformal $2n$-sphere is biholomorphic to the Zariski closure, taken in the complex Grassmannian manifold $\mathbf{G}(n+1, 2n+2)$, of the set of graphs of skew-symmetric linear endomorphism of $\mathbb{C}^{n+1}$. We use this fact to describe a natural stratification of the twistor space $\mathfrak{Z}(\mathbb{S}^{2n})$ with $n \geq 3$, in terms of what we have called {\it generalised complex orthogonal Stiefel manifolds} of $\mathbb{C}^{n+1}$. In particular, the twistor space $\mathfrak{Z}(\mathbb{S}^{6})$ is biholomorphic…
Sharpness of proper and cocompact actions on reductive homogeneous spaces
CNRS and Laboratoire Alexander Grothendieck, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Université Paris-Saclay（法国国家科学研究中心与亚历山大·格罗滕迪克实验室，高等科学研究所，巴黎萨克雷大学）；DMA, ENS（数学与应用数学系，巴黎高等师范学院）
