If the conformal holonomy group $Hol(\mathcal{T})$ of a simply connected space with conformal structure of signature $(2p-1,2q-1)$ is reduced to $\U(p,q)$ then the conformal holonomy is already contained in the special unitary group $\SU(p,q)$. We present two different proofs of this statement, one using conformal tractor calculus and an alternative proof using Sparling's characterisation of Fefferman metrics.
This paper studies the relation between two notions of holonomy on a conformal manifold. The first is the conformal holonomy, defined to be the holonomy of the normal tractor connection. The second is the holonomy of the Fefferman-Graham ambient metric of the conformal manifold. It is shown that the infinitesimal conformal holonomy and the infinitesimal ambient holonomy always agree up to the order that the ambient metric is defined.
We discuss in this paper the conformal geometry of bi-invariant metrics on compact semisimple Lie groups. For this purpose we develop a conformal Cartan calculus adapted to this problem. In particular, we derive an explicit formula for the holonomy algebra of the normal conformal Cartan connection of a bi-invariant metric. As an example, we apply this calculus to the group $\SO(4)$. Its conformal holonomy group is calculated to be $\SO(7)$.
The local classification of conformally flat Lorentzian manifolds with special holonomy groups is obtained. The corresponding local metrics are certain extensions of Riemannian spaces of constant sectional curvature to Walker metrics.
The main result of this paper is that a Lorentzian manifold is locally conformally equivalent to a manifold with recurrent lightlike vector field and totally isotropic Ricci tensor if and only if its conformal tractor holonomy admits a 2-dimensional totally isotropic invariant subspace. Furthermore, for semi-Riemannian manifolds of arbitrary signature we prove that the conformal holonomy algebra of a $C$-space is a Berger algebra. For Ricci-flat spaces we show how the conformal holonomy can be obtained by the holonomy of the ambient metric and get results for Riemannian manifolds and plane wav…
Given a generic 2-plane field on a 5-dimensional manifold we consider its (3,2)-signature conformal metric [g] as defined in math.DG/0406400. Every conformal class [g] obtained in this way has very special conformal holonomy: it must be contained in the split-real-form of the exceptional group G_2. In this note we show that for special 2-plane fields on 5-manifolds the conformal classes [g] have the Fefferman-Graham ambient metrics which, contrary to the general Fefferman-Graham metrics given as a formal power series, can be written in an explicit form. We propose to study the relations betwee…
For $(M,[g])$ a conformal manifold of signature $(p,q)$ and dimension at least three, the conformal holonomy group $\mathrm{Hol}(M,[g]) \subset O(p+1,q+1)$ is an invariant induced by the canonical Cartan geometry of $(M,[g])$. We give a description of all possible connected conformal holonomy groups which act transitively on the Möbius sphere $S^{p,q}$, the homogeneous model space for conformal structures of signature $(p,q)$. The main part of this description is a list of all such groups which also act irreducibly on $\R^{p+1,q+1}$. For the rest, we show that they must be compact and act deco…
For a conformal manifold, we describe a new relation between the ambient obstruction tensor of Fefferman and Graham and the holonomy of the normal conformal Cartan connection. This relation allows us to prove several results on the vanishing and the rank of the obstruction tensor, for example for conformal structures admitting twistor spinors or normal conformal Killing forms. As our main tool we introduce the notion of a conformal holonomy distribution and show that its integrability is closely related to the exceptional conformal structures in dimensions five and six that were found by Nurow…
We consider the question: can the isotropy representation of an irreducible pseudo-Riemannian symmetric space be realized as a conformal holonomy group? Using recent results of Cap, Gover and Hammerl, we study the representations of SO(2,1), PSU(2,1) and PSp(2,1) as isotropy groups of irreducible symmetric spaces of signature (3,2), (4,4) and (6,8), respectively, describing the geometry induced by a conformal holonomy reduction to the corresponding subgroups. In the case of SO(2,1) we show that conformal manifolds with such a holonomy reduction are always locally conformally flat and hence thi…
A theorem of Lawson and Simons states that the only stable minimal submanifolds in complex projective spaces are complex submanifolds. We generalize their result to the cases of quaternionic and octonionic projective spaces. Our approach gives a unified viewpoint towards conformal and projective geometries.
For a conformal manifold we introduce the notion of an ambient connection, an affine connection on an ambient manifold of the conformal manifold, possibly with torsion, and with conditions relating it to the conformal structure. The purpose of this construction is to realise the normal conformal tractor holonomy as affine holonomy of such a connection. We give an example of an ambient connection for which this is the case, and which is torsion free if we start the construction with a C-space, and in addition Ricci-flat if we start with an Einstein manifold. Thus for a $C$-space this example le…
We prove that given a pseudo-Riemannian conformal structure whose conformal holonomy representation fixes a totally lightlike subspace of arbitrary dimension, there is, wrt. a local metric in the conformal class defined off a singular set, a parallel, totally lightlike distribution on the tangent bundle which contains the image of the Ricci-tensor. This generalizes results obtained for invariant lightlike lines and planes and closes a gap in the understanding of the geometric meaning of reducibly acting conformal holonomy groups. We show how this result naturally applies to the classification …
We introduce in this paper normal twistor equations for differential forms and study their solutions, the so-called normal conformal Killing forms. The twistor equations arise naturally from the canonical normal Cartan connection of conformal geometry. Reductions of its holonomy are related to solutions of the normal twistor equations. The case of decomposable normal conformal holonomy representations is discussed. A typical example with an irreducible holonomy representation are the so-called Fefferman spaces. We also apply our results to describe the geometry of solutions with conformal Kill…
We show that if a compact connected $n$-dimensional manifold $M$ has a conformal class containing two non-homothetic metrics $g$ and $\tilde g=e^{2φ}g$ with non-generic holonomy, then after passing to a finite covering, either $n=4$ and $(M,g,\tilde g)$ is an ambikähler manifold, or $n\ge 6$ is even and $(M,g,\tilde g)$ is obtained by the Calabi Ansatz from a polarized Hodge manifold of dimension $n-2$, or both $g$ and $\tilde g$ have reducible holonomy, $M$ is locally diffeomorphic to a product $M_1\times M_2\times M_3$, the metrics $g$ and $\tilde g$ can be written as $g=g_1+g_2+e^{-2φ}g_3$ …
This paper aims to classify the holonomy of the conformal Tractor connection, and relate these holonomies to the geometry of the underlying manifold. The conformally Einstein case is dealt with through the construction of metric cones, whose Riemmanian holonomy is the same as the Tractor holonomy of the underlying manifold. Direct calculations in the Ricci-flat case and an important decomposition theorem complete the classification for definitive signature.
We present three large classes of examples of conformal structures for which the equations for the Fefferman-Graham ambient metric to be Ricci-flat are linear PDEs, which we solve explicitly. These explicit solutions enable us to discuss the holonomy of the corresponding ambient metrics. Our examples include conformal pp-waves and, more importantly, conformal structures that are defined by generic rank 2 and 3 distributions in respective dimensions 5 and 6. The corresponding explicit Fefferman-Graham ambient metrics provide a large class of metrics with holonomy equal to the exceptional non-co…
The holonomy of the ambient metrics of Nurowski's conformal structures associated to generic real-analytic 2-plane fields on 5-manifolds is investigated. It is shown that the holonomy is always contained in the split real form G_2 of the exceptional Lie group, and is equal to G_2 for an open dense set of 2-plane fields given by explicit conditions. In particular, this gives an infinite-dimensional family of metrics of holonomy equal to split G_2. These results generalize work of Leistner-Nurowski. The inclusion of the holonomy in G_2 is established by proving an ambient extension theorem for p…
We prove that Fefferman spaces, associated to non--degenerate CR structures of hypersurface type, are characterised, up to local conformal isometry, by the existence of a parallel orthogonal complex structure on the standard tractor bundle. This condition can be equivalently expressed in terms of conformal holonomy. Extracting from this picture the essential consequences at the level of tensor bundles yields an improved, conformally invariant analogue of Sparling's characterisation of Fefferman spaces.
Nurowski showed that any generic 2-plane field $D$ on a 5-manifold $M$ determines a natural conformal structure $c_D$ on $M$; these conformal structures are exactly those (on oriented $M$) whose normal conformal holonomy is contained in the (split, real) simple Lie group $G_2$. Graham and Willse showed that for real-analytic $D$ the same holds for the holonomy of the real-analytic Fefferman-Graham ambient metric of $c_D$, and that both holonomy groups are equal to $G_2$ for almost all $D$. We investigate here independently interesting plane fields for which the associated holonomy groups are a…
A locally metric connection on a smooth manifold $M$ is a torsion-free connection $D$ on $TM$ with compact restricted holonomy group $\mathrm{Hol}_0(D)$. If the holonomy representation of such a connection is irreducible, then $D$ preserves a conformal structure on $M$. Under some natural geometric assumption on the life-time of incomplete geodesics, we prove that conversely, a locally metric connection $D$ preserving a conformal structure on a compact manifold $M$ has irreducible holonomy representation, unless $\mathrm{Hol}_0(D)=0$ or $D$ is the Levi-Civita connection of a Riemannian metric …
We show that the Igusa-Klein topological torsion and the Bismut-Lott analytic torsion are equivalent for any flat vector bundle whose holonomy is a finite subgroup of $\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb{Q})$. Our proof uses Artin's induction theorem in representation theory to reduce the problem to the special case of trivial flat line bundles, which is a recent result of Puchol, Zhu and the second author. The idea of using Artin's induction theorem appeared in a paper of Ohrt on the same topic, of which our present work is an improvement.
Our aim is to support the choice of two remarkable connections with torsion in a 3-Sasakian manifold, proving that, in contrast to the Levi-Civita connection, the holonomy group in the homogeneous cases reduces to a proper subgroup of the special orthogonal group, of dimension considerably smaller. We realize the computations of the holonomies in a unified way, by using as a main algebraic tool a nonassociative structure, that one of symplectic triple system.
We compute the full holonomy group of compact Lorentzian manifolds with parallel Weyl tensor, which are neither conformally flat nor locally symmetric, for the case where the fundamental group is contained in a distinguished subgroup G of the isometry group of the universal cover. To prove this, we show that every such compact Lorentzian manifold has to be geodesically complete. Moreover we characterize the identity component of the isometry group for this universal cover and show that G is up to a discrete factor contained in the latter. Concretely, we prove that the identity component of the…
In his 1910 "Five Variables" paper, Cartan solved the equivalence problem for the geometry of $(2, 3, 5)$ distributions and in doing so demonstrated an intimate link between this geometry and the exceptional simple Lie groups of type $\textrm{G}_2$. He claimed to produce a local classification of all such (complex) distributions which have infinitesimal symmetry algebra of dimension at least $6$ (and which satisfy a natural uniformity condition), but in 2013 Doubrov and Govorov showed that this classification misses a particular distribution $\bf E$. We produce a closed form for the Fefferman-…
We construct explicit left invariant quaternionic contact structures on Lie groups with zero and non-zero torsion, and with non-vanishing quaternionic contact conformal curvature tensor, thus showing the existence of quaternionic contact manifolds not locally quaternionic contact conformal to the quaternionic sphere. We present a left invariant quaternionic contact structure on a seven dimensional non-nilpotent Lie group, and show that this structure is locally quaternionic contact conformal to the flat quaternionic contact structure on the quaternionic Heisenberg group. On the product of a se…
We classify the possible local holonomy groups of Weyl connections. The Berger-Simons theorem and the Merkulov-Schwachhöfer classification of holonomy groups of irreducible torsion-free connections leaves us with the remaining case, where the Weyl connection $D$ is reducible and non-closed. In this case, it was shown by F. Belgun and A. Moroianu that the Weyl structure is an adapted Weyl structure of a non-closed conformal product. Furthermore we prove that non-closed Einstein-Weyl product structures only exist in dimension $4$.
In this paper, a survey of the recent results about the classification of the connected holonomy groups of the Lorentzian manifolds is given. A simplification of the construction of the Lorentzian metrics with all possible connected holonomy groups is obtained. As the applications, the Einstein equation, Lorentzian manifolds with parallel and recurrent spinor fields, conformally flat Walker metrics and the classification of 2-symmetric Lorentzian manifolds are considered.
We present conformal structures in signature (3,2) for which the holonomy of the Fefferman-Graham ambient metric is equal to the non-compact exceptional Lie group G_{2(2)}. We write down the resulting 8-parameter family of G_{2(2)}-metrics in dimension seven explicitly in an appropriately chosen coordinate system on the ambient space.
We show that if a connected compact kählerian surface $M$ with nonpositive gaussian curvature is furnished with a closed conformal vector field $ξ$ whose singular points are isolated, then $M$ is isometric to a flat torus and $ξ$ is parallel. We also consider the case of a connected complete kählerian manifod $M$ of complex dimension $n>1$ and furnished with a nontrivial closed conformal vector field $ξ$. In this case, it is well known that the singularities of $ξ$ are automatically isolated and the nontrivial leaves of the distribution generated by $ξ$ and $Jξ$ are totally geodesic in $M$. As…
Infinitesimal conformal transformations of $R^n$ are always polynomial and finitely generated when $n>2$. Here we prove that the Lie algebra of infinitesimal conformal polynomial transformations over $R^n$, $n>1$, is maximal in the Lie algebra of polynomial vector fields. When $n$ is greater than 2 and $p,q$ are such that $p+q=n$, this implies the maximality of an embedding of $so(p+1,q+1,R)$ into polynomial vector fields that was revisited in recent works about equivariant quantizations. It also refines a similar but weaker theorem by V. I. Ogievetsky.
We show rigidity of the first conformal Steklov eigenvalue on annuli and Möbius bands. The proof relies, among others, on uniqueness results due to Fraser--Schoen, a compactness theorem of the second named author, and recent work of the authors on asymptotic control of Steklov eigenvalues in glueing constructions.
Ejiri gave a negative answer to a conjecture of Lichnerowicz concerning Riemannian manifolds with constant scalar curvature admitting an infinitesimal non isometric conformal transformation. With this aim he constructed a warped product of a circle of lenght $T$ and a compact manifold. But he omitted in his analysis the condition that $T$ must to be big enough. Here we give an explicit sharp bound $T_0 < T$ that will make the proof complete. Our presentation is self-contained and mainly uses bifurcation techniques. Moreover, we show that there are other such examples and contribute some result…
In some recent papers, the relations existing between the metric properties of Randers spaces and the conformal geometry of stationary Lorentzian manifolds were discovered and investigated. In this note, we focus on the equality between the index of a geodesic in a Randers space and that of its lightlike lift in the associated conformal stationary spacetime. Moreover we make some remarks about regularity of the energy functional of a Finsler metric on the infinite dimensional manifold of $H^1$ curves between two points, in connection with infinite dimensional techniques in Morse Theory.
Inspired by the results in a recent paper by G. Galloway and C. Vega (see arXiv:1712.00785), we investigate a number of geometric consequences of the existence of a timelike conformal Killing vector field on a globally hyperbolic spacetime with compact Cauchy hypersurfaces, especially in connection with the so-called Bartnik's splitting conjecture. In particular we give a complementary result to the main theorem in Galloway and Vega's paper.