This is the english version of an older article written in french (Classification des variétés approximativement kähleriennes homogènes, Ann. Global Anal. Geom. 27, 201-225, 2005). It contains no new results. However, we modified the structure of the paper, simplified some proofs and added a lot of explanations, especially on 3-symmetric spaces. It can be read as a sort of survey on nearly Kähler manifolds
We classify six-dimensional homogeneous nearly Kähler manifolds and give a positive answer to Gray and Wolf's conjecture: every homogeneous nearly Kähler manifold is a Riemannian 3-symmetric space equipped with its canonical almost Hermitian structure. The only four examples in dimension 6 are $S^3 \times S^3$, the complex projective space $\CM P^3$, the flag manifold $\mathbb F^3$ and the sphere $S^6$. We develop, about each of these spaces, a distinct aspect of nearly Kähler geometry and make in the same time a sharp description of its specific homogeneous structure.
The aim of the paper is to investigate the rigidity and the deformability of pseudoholomorphic curves in the nearly K{ä}hler sphere $\mathbb{S}^6,$ among minimal surfaces in spheres. Under various assumptions we describe the moduli space of all noncongruent minimal surfaces $f\colon M\to\mathbb{S}^n$ that are isometric to a pseudoholomorphic curve in $\mathbb{S}^6.$ Moreover, we prove a Schur type theorem (see \cite[p. 36]{Chnew}) for minimal surfaces in spheres.
Almost contact structures can be identified with sections of a twistor bundle and this allows to define their harmonicity, as sections or maps. We consider the class of nearly cosymplectic almost contact structures on a Riemannian manifold and prove curvature identities which imply the harmonicity of their parametrizing section, thus complementing earlier results on nearly-K{ä}hler almost complex structures.
We study hypersurfaces in a nearly $\mathrm{G}_2$ manifold. We define various quantities associated to such a hypersurface using the $\mathrm{G}_2$ structure of the ambient manifold and prove several relationships between them. In particular, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a hypersurface with an almost complex structure induced from the $\mathrm{G}_2$ structure of the ambient manifold, to be nearly K$\ddot{\text{a}}$hler. Then using the nearly $\mathrm{G}_2$ structure on the round sphere $S^7$, we prove that for a compact minimal hypersurface $M^6$ of constant scalar curvatur…
We study nearly-Kahler 6-manifolds equipped with a cohomogeneity-two Lie group action for which the principal orbits are coisotropic. If the metric is complete, then we show that this last condition is automatically satisfied, and both the acting Lie group and the principal orbits are finite quotients of $S^3 \times S^1$. We partition the class of such nearly-Ka}hler structures into three types (called I, II, III) and prove a local existence and generality result for each type. Metrics of Types I and II are shown to be incomplete. We also derive a quasilinear elliptic PDE system on the 2-dimen…
The structure of nearly Kähler manifolds was studied by Gray in several papers. More recently, a relevant progress on the subject has been done by Nagy. Among other results, he proved that a strict and complete nearly Kähler manifold is locally a Riemannian product of homogeneous nearly Kähler spaces, twistor spaces over quaternionic K{ähler manifolds and six-dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds, where the homogeneous nearly Kähler factors are also 3-symmetric spaces. In the present paper, using the lists of $3$-symmetric spaces given by Wolf & Gray, we display the exhaustive list of irreducibl…
We construct locally homogeneous 6-dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds as quotients of homogeneous nearly Kähler manifolds $M$ by freely acting finite subgroups of $Aut_0(M)$. We show that non-trivial such groups do only exists if $M=S^3\times S^3$. In that case we classify all freely acting subgroups of $Aut_0(M)=SU (2) \times SU (2) \times SU (2)$ of the form $A\times B$, where $A\subset SU (2) \times SU (2)$ and $B\subset SU (2)$.
We prove that a 2n-dimensional compact homogeneous nearly Kahler manifold with strictly positive sectional curvature is isometric to CP^{n}, equipped with the symmetric Fubini-Study metric or with the standard Sp(m)-homogeneous metric, n =2m-1, or to S^{6} as Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature. This is a positive answer for a revised version of a conjecture given by Gray.
Each hypersurface of a nearly Kähler manifold is naturally equipped with two tensor fields of $(1,1)$-type, namely the shape operator $A$ and the induced almost contact structure $ϕ$. In this paper, we show that, in the homogeneous NK $\mathbb{S}^6$ a hypersurface satisfies the condition $Aϕ+ϕA=0$ if and only if it is totally geodesic; moreover, similar as for the non-flat complex space forms, the homogeneous nearly Kähler manifold $\mathbb{S}^3\times\mathbb{S}^3$ does not admit a hypersurface that satisfies the condition $Aϕ+ϕA=0$.
In this paper, we show that isotropic Lagrangian submanifolds in a $6$-dimensional strict nearly Kähler manifold are totally geodesic. Moreover, under some weaker conditions, a complete classification of the $J$-isotropic Lagrangian submanifolds in the homogeneous nearly Kähler $\mathbb{S}^3\times \mathbb{S}^3$ is also obtained. Here, a Lagrangian submanifold is called $J$-isotropic, if there exists a function $λ$, such that $g((\nabla h)(v,v,v),Jv)=λ$ holds for all unit tangent vector $v$.
In this paper, extending our previous joint work (Hu et al., Math Nachr 291:343--373, 2018), we initiate the study of Hopf hypersurfaces in the homogeneous NK (nearly Kähler) manifold $\mathbf{S}^3\times\mathbf{S}^3$. First, we show that any Hopf hypersurface of the homogeneous NK $\mathbf{S}^3\times\mathbf{S}^3$ does not admit two distinct principal curvatures. Then, for the important class of Hopf hypersurfaces with three distinct principal curvatures, we establish a complete classification under the additional condition that their holomorphic distributions $\{U\}^\perp$ are preserved by the…
A nearly parallel $G_{2}$-manifold $Y$ is a Riemannian 7-manifold whose cone $C(Y) = \mathbb{R}_{>0} \times Y$ has the holonomy group contained in ${\rm Spin(7)}$. In other words, it is a spin 7-manifold with a real Killing spinor. We have a special class of calibrated submanifolds called Cayley submanifolds in $C(Y)$. An associative submanifold in $Y$ is a minimal 3-submanifold whose cone is Cayley. We study its deformations, namely, Cayley cone deformations, explicitly when it is homogeneous in the 7-sphere $S^{7}$.
In this paper, we study Lagrangian submanifolds of the homogeneous nearly Kähler $6$-dimensional unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^6(1)$. As the main result, we derive a Simons' type integral inequality in terms of the second fundamental form for compact Lagrangian submanifolds of $\mathbb{S}^6(1)$. Moreover, we show that the equality sign occurs if and only if the Lagrangian submanifold is either the totally geodesic $\mathbb{S}^3(1)$ or the Dillen-Verstraelen-Vrancken's Berger sphere $S^3$ discribed in J Math Soc Japan, 42: 565-584, 1990.
In this article the framework created by Cartan to produce local differential invariants for submanifolds of homogeneous spaces is applied to classify all totally geodesic Lagrangian submanifolds and all homogeneous Lagrangian submanifolds of the nearly Kähler manifold of full flags in $\mathbb{C}^3$.
We prove the existence of a one-parameter family of nearly parallel $G_2$-structures on the manifold $S^3\times \mathbb R^4$, which are mutually non isomorphic and invariant under the cohomogeneity one action of the group $SU(2)^3$. This family connects the two locally homogeneous nearly parallel $G_2$-structures which are induced by the homogeneous ones on the sphere $S^7$.
This article explores special Lagrangian submanifolds in $\mathbb{CP}^3$, viewed as a nearly Kähler manifold, from two different perspectives. Intrinsically, using a moving frame set-up, and extrinsically, using $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ moment-type maps. We describe new homogeneous examples, from both perspectives, and classify totally geodesic special Lagrangian submanifolds. We show that every special Lagrangian in $\mathbb{CP}^3$, or the flag manifold $\mathbb{F}_{1,2}(\mathbb{C}^3)$ admitting a symmetry of an $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ subgroup of nearly Kähler automorphisms is automatically homogeneous.
We study multi-moment maps induced by a two-torus action on the four homogeneous nearly Kähler six-manifolds. Their explicit expression and stationary orbits are derived. The configuration of fixed-points and one-dimensional orbits is worked out for generic six-manifolds equipped with an $\mathrm{SU}(3)$-structure admitting a two-torus symmetry. Projecting the subspaces obtained to the orbit space yields a trivalent graph. We illustrate this result concretely on the homogeneous nearly Kähler examples.
We study the foliation space of complex and invariant (by torsion of intrinsic Hermitian connection) umbilic distribution on an isometric immersion from a nearly Kähler manifold $M$ into the Euclidean space. Under suitable conditions this leaf space is nearly Kähler and $M$ can be decomposed into a product of this leaf space and a 6-dimensional locally homogeneous nearly Kähler manifold.
In a previous paper, the authors together with L. Vrancken initiated the study of $3$-dimensional CR submanifolds of the nearly K\" ahler homogeneous $\mathbb S^3\times \mathbb S^3$. As is shown by Butruille this is one of only four homogeneous $6$-dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds. Besides its almost complex structure $J$ it also admits a canonical almost product structure $P$. Along a $3$-dimensional CR submanifold the tangent space of $\mathbb S^3\times\mathbb S^3$ can be naturally split as the orthogonal sum of three $2$-dimensional vector bundles $\mathcal D_1$, $\mathcal D_2$ and $\mat…
In this article we study isometric immersions of nearly Kähler manifolds into a space form (specially Euclidean space) and show that every nearly Kähler submanifold of a space form has a totally umbilic foliation whose leafs are 6-dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds. Moreover using this foliation we show that there is no non-homogeneous 6-dimensional nearly Kähler submanifold of a space form. We prove some results towards a classification of nearly Kähler hypersurfaces in standard space forms.
The space $SL(2,\mathbb{R})\times SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ admits a natural homogeneous pseudo-Riemannian nearly Kaehler structure. We investigate almost complex surfaces in this space. In particular we obtain a complete classification of the totally geodesic almost complex surfaces and of the almost complex surfaces with parallel second fundamental form.
Nearly Kähler manifolds are the Riemannian 6-manifolds admitting real Killing spinors. Equivalently, the Riemannian cone over a nearly Kähler manifold has holonomy contained in G2. In this paper we study the deformation theory of nearly Kähler manifolds, showing that it is obstructed in general. More precisely, we show that the infinitesimal deformations of the homogeneous nearly Kähler structure on the flag manifold are all obstructed to second order.
$H$-umbilicity was introduced as an analogue of total umbilicity for Lagrangian submanifolds since, in some relevant cases, totally umbilical Lagrangian submanifolds are automatically totally geodesic. In this paper, we show that in the homogeneous nearly Kähler $\mathbb{S}^3\times\mathbb{S}^3$, also $H$-umbilical Lagrangian submanifolds are automatically totally geodesic.
Any $6$-dimensional strict nearly Kähler manifold is Einstein with positive scalar curvature. We compute the coindex of the metric with respect to the Einstein-Hilbert functional on each of the compact homogeneous examples. Moreover, we show that the infinitesimal Einstein deformations on $F_{1,2}=\mathrm{SU}(3)/T^2$ are not integrable into a curve of Einstein metrics.
We describe the multi-moment map associated to an almost Hermitian manifold which admits an action of a torus by holomorphic isometries. We investigate in particular the case of a $\mathbb T^3$ action on the homogeneous nearly Kähler $ S^3\times S^3$. We find that the multi-moment map in this case acts more-or-less similarly to the moment map of a toric manifold, while the more general case does not.
The moduli space NK of infinitesimal deformations of a nearly Kähler structure on a compact 6-dimensional manifold is described by a certain eigenspace of the Laplace operator acting on co-closed primitive (1,1) forms. Using the Hermitian Laplace operator and some representation theory, we compute the space NK on all 6-dimensional homogeneous nearly Kähler manifolds. It turns out that the nearly Kähler structure is rigid except for the flag manifold F(1,2)=SU_3/T^2, which carries an 8-dimensional moduli space of infinitesimal nearly Kähler deformations, modeled on the Lie algebra su_3 of the i…
In this article, we show that a hypersurface of the nearly Kahler $CP^3$ or $F_{1,2}$ cannot have its shape operator and induced almost contact structure commute together. This settles the question for six-dimensional homogeneous nearly Kahler manifolds, as the cases of $S^6$ and $S^3 \times S^3$ were previously solved, and provides a counterpart to the more classical question for the complex space forms $CP^n$ and $CH^n$. The proof relies heavily on the construction of $CP^3$ and $F_{1,2}$ as twistor spaces of $S^4$ and $CP^2$
We study the deformation theory of $\mathrm{G}_2$-instantons on nearly $\mathrm{G}_2$ manifolds. There is a one-to-one correspondence between nearly parallel $\mathrm{G}_2$ structures and real Killing spinors, thus the deformation theory can be formulated in terms of spinors and Dirac operators. We prove that the space of infinitesimal deformations of an instanton is isomorphic to the kernel of an elliptic operator. Using this formulation we prove that abelian instantons are rigid. Then we apply our results to describe the deformation space of the canonical connection on the four normal homoge…
We give a systematic way to construct almost conjugate pairs of finite subgroups of $Spin(2n+1)$ and $Pin(n)$ for $n\in \mathbb{N}$ sufficiently large. As a geometric application, we give an infinite family of pairs $M_1^{d_n}$ and $M_2^{d_n}$ of nearly Kähler manifolds that are isospectral for the Dirac and Laplace operator with increasing dimensions $d_n>6$. We provide additionally a computation of the volume of (locally) homogeneous six dimensional nearly Kähler manifolds and investigate the existence of Sunada pairs in this dimension.
${\mathrm G}_2$-structures with parallel skew-symmetric torsion
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS（巴黎萨克雷大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Institute of Mathematics “Simion Stoilow” of the Romanian Academy（罗马尼亚科学院西米恩·斯托伊洛数学研究所）；Universität Stuttgart（斯图加特大学）
Associative submanifolds $A$ in nearly parallel $G_2$-manifolds $Y$ are minimal 3-submanifolds in spin 7-manifolds with a real Killing spinor. The Riemannian cone over $Y$ has the holonomy group contained in ${\rm Spin(7)}$ and the Riemannian cone over $A$ is a Cayley submanifold. Infinitesimal deformations of associative submanifolds were considered by the author. This paper is a continuation of the work. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for an infinitesimal associative deformation to be integrable (unobstructed) to second order explicitly. As an application, we show that the infi…
We prove Gray & Wolf's conjecture that a Riemannian homogeneous manifold admitting a strict nearly Kahler structure is 3-symmetric. We actually classify them in dimension 6 and use previous results of Swann, Cleyton and Nagy to prove the conjecture in higher dimensions.
We prove the instability of some families of Riemannian manifolds with non-trivial real Killing spinors. These include the invariant Einstein metrics on the Aloff-Wallach spaces $N_{k, l}={\rm SU}(3)/i_{k, l}(S^{1})$ (which are all nearly ${\rm G}_2$ except $N_{1,0}$), and Sasaki Einstein circle bundles over certain irreducible Hermitian symmetric spaces. We also prove the instability of most of the simply connected non-symmetric compact homogeneous Einstein spaces of dimensions $5, 6, $ and $7$, including the strict nearly Kähler ones (except ${\rm G}_2/{\rm SU}(3)$).
For geometries with a closed three-form we briefly overview the notion of multi-moment maps. We then give concrete examples of multi-moment maps for homogeneous hypercomplex and nearly Kaehler manifolds. A special role in the theory is played by Lie algebras with second and third Betti numbers equal to zero. These we call (2,3)-trivial. We provide a number of examples of such algebras including a complete list in dimensions up to and including five.
We formulate the deformation theory for instantons on nearly Kähler six-manifolds using spinors and Dirac operators. Using this framework we identify the space of deformations of an irreducible instanton with semisimple structure group with the kernel of an elliptic operator, and prove that abelian instantons are rigid. As an application, we show that the canonical connection on three of the four homogeneous nearly Kähler six-manifolds G/H is a rigid instanton with structure group H. In contrast, these connections admit large spaces of deformations when regarded as instantons on the tangent bu…
A Riemann-Cartan manifold is a Riemannian manifold endowed with an affine connection which is compatible with the metric tensor. This affine connection is not necessarily torsion free. Under the assumption that the manifold is a homogeneous space, the notion of homogeneous Riemann-Cartan space is introduced in a natural way. For the case of the odd dimensional spheres $\mathbb{S}^{2n+1}$ viewed as homogeneous spaces of the special unitary groups, the classical Nomizu's Theorem on invariant connections has permitted to obtain an algebraical description of all the connections which turn the sphe…
We consider Lie(G)-valued G-invariant connections on bundles over spaces G/H, RxG/H and R^2xG/H, where G/H is a compact nearly Kaehler six-dimensional homogeneous space, and the manifolds RxG/H and R^2xG/H carry G_2- and Spin(7)-structures, respectively. By making a G-invariant ansatz, Yang-Mills theory with torsion on RxG/H is reduced to Newtonian mechanics of a particle moving in a plane with a quartic potential. For particular values of the torsion, we find explicit particle trajectories, which obey first-order gradient or hamiltonian flow equations. In two cases, these solutions correspond…
We consider G-equivariant dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory with torsion on manifolds of the form MxG/H where M is a smooth manifold, and G/H is a compact six-dimensional homogeneous space provided with a never integrable almost complex structure and a family of SU(3)-structures which includes a nearly Kahler structure. We establish an equivalence between G-equivariant pseudo-holomorphic vector bundles on MxG/H and new quiver bundles on M associated to the double of a quiver Q, determined by the SU(3)-structure, with relations ensuring the absence of oriented cycles in Q. When M=R^2, …
We construct new families of solutions of the heterotic G$_2$ system on squashed homogeneous 3-Sasakian manifolds, that is, using squashed metrics on either the 7-sphere or the Aloff-Wallach space $N_{1,1}$. We obtain AdS$_3$ solutions for all values of the squashing parameter $s$ except for the nearly-parallel G$_2$ value $s=1/\sqrt{5}$, for which we don't find any solutions. Along the process, we construct different G$_2$-instanton connections on bundles over these squashed manifolds.
For gauge groups $U(1)$ and $SO(3)$ we classify invariant $G_2$-instantons for homogeneous coclosed $G_2$-structures on Aloff-Wallach spaces $X_{k,l}$. As a consequence, we give examples where $G_2$-instantons can be used to distinguish between different strictly nearly parallel $G_2$-structures on the same Aloff-Wallach space. In addition to this, we find that while certain $G_2$-instantons exist for the strictly nearly parallel $G_2$-structure on $X_{1,1}$, no such $G_2$-instantons exist for the tri-Sasakian one. As a further consequence of the classification, we produce examples of some oth…
