I will discuss the emergence of lorentzian symmetric spaces as supersymmetric supergravity backgrounds. I will focus on supergravity theories in dimension 11, 10, and 6, and will concentrate on the determination of the so-called maximally supersymmetric backgrounds, for which a classification exists up to local isometry. A special class of lorentzian symmetric spaces also plays a role in the determination of parallelisable supergravity backgrounds in type II supergravity, which I will also summarise. (To appear in the proceedings of the programme "Geometry of pseudo-riemannian manifolds with application to physics", hosted by the Erwin Schroedinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics.)
We introduce the notion of $\varepsilonη\,$-Einstein $\varepsilon\,$-contact metric three-manifold, which includes as particular cases $η\,$-Einstein Riemannian and Lorentzian (para) contact metric three-manifolds, but which in addition allows for the Reeb vector field to be null. We prove that the product of an $\varepsilonη\,$-Einstein Lorentzian $\varepsilon\,$-contact metric three-manifold with an $\varepsilonη\,$-Einstein Riemannian contact metric three-manifold carries a bi-parametric family of Ricci-flat Lorentzian metric-compatible connections with isotropic, totally skew-symmetric, cl…
This paper presents a series of constructions providing eleven-dimensional bosonic supergravity backgrounds. In particular, we treat Lorentzian manifolds given in terms of twisted products of six-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds and five-dimensional Riemannian manifolds. By considering a representative flux 4-form adapted to this setting, we analyse the system of bosonic supergravity equations and describe the corresponding geometric constraints. The new supergravity backgrounds appear for special cases associated to the adapted flux 4-form. For example, we provide a relation of eleven-dimensi…
In this paper we study homogeneous backgrounds of type IIB supergravity where the underlying geometry is that of a symmetric space. We determine which ten-dimensional lorentzian symmetric spaces (up to local isometry) admit such backgrounds and in about two thirds of the cases we determine fully their moduli space.
A recent study of filtered deformations of (graded subalgebras of) the minimal five-dimensional Poincaré superalgebra resulted in two classes of maximally supersymmetric spacetimes. One class are the well-known maximally supersymmetric backgrounds of minimal five-dimensional supergravity, whereas the other class does not seem to be related to supergravity. This paper is a study of the Kaluza--Klein reductions to four dimensions of this latter class of maximally supersymmetric spacetimes. We classify the lorentzian and riemannian Kaluza--Klein reductions of these backgrounds, determine the frac…
We give a complete description of semi-symmetric algebraic curvature tensors on a four-dimensional Lorentzian vector space and we use this description to determine all four-dimensional homogeneous semi-symmetric Lorentzian manifolds.
We give some properties of semi-symmetric pseudo-Riemannian manifolds. These are foliated manifolds and for the Lorentzian metric, the Ricci operator has only real eigenvalues.
Third-order symmetric Lorentzian manifolds, i.e. Lorentzian manifold with zero third derivative of the curvature tensor, are classified. These manifolds are exhausted by a special type of pp-waves, they generalize Cahen-Wallach spaces and second-order symmetric Lorentzian spaces.
Causal properties of Lorentzian symmetric spaces are investigated in the paper. The global hyperbolicity of the Cahen--Wallach Lorentzian symmetric spaces is proved.
We classify two-symmetric Lorentzian manifolds using methods of the theory of holonomy groups. These manifolds are exhausted by a special type of pp-waves and, like the symmetric Cahen-Wallach spaces, they have commutative holonomy.
We study curvature properties of four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold with two-symmetry property. We then consider Einstein-like metrics, Ricci solitons and homogeneity over these spaces.
In this paper, we address the problem of determining a function in terms of its orbital integrals on Lorentzian symmetric spaces. It has been solved by S. Helgason for even-dimensional isotropic Lorentzian symmetric spaces via a limit formula involving the Laplace-Beltrami operator. The result has been extended by J. Orloff for rank-one semisimple pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces giving the keys to treat the odd-dimensional isotropic Lorentzian symmetric spaces. Indecomposable Lorentzian symmetric spaces are either isotropic or have solvable transvection group. We study orbital integrals inc…
We present two different families of eleven-dimensional manifolds that admit non-restricted extensions of the isometry algebras to geometric superalgebras. Both families admit points for which the superalgebra extends to a super Lie algebra; on the one hand, a family of $N=1$, $ν={}^3\!/\!_4$ supergravity backgrounds and, on the other hand, a family of $N=1$, $ν=1$ supergravity background. Furthermore, both families admit a point that can be identified with an $N=4$, $ν={}^1\!/\!_2$ six-dimensional supergravity background.
The paper is devoted to metric connections with parallel skew-symmetric torsion in Lorentzian signature. This is motivated by recent progress in the Riemannian signature and by possible applications to supergravity theories. We provide a complete information about holonomy algebras, torsion and curvature of the considered connections up to the corresponding objects from the Riemannian signature. Various examples are constructed. It is shown how to construct all simply connected Lorentzian naturally reductive homogeneous spaces of arbitrary dimension from Riemannian naturally reductive homogene…
We show that a Lorentzian homogeneous space admitting a homogeneous structure of type T1 + T3 is either a (locally) symmetric space or a singular homogeneous plane wave.
In this work, we are interested in a non symmetric homogeneous space, namely $SO(2m)/Sp(m)$. We show that this space admits a structure of $Z_2^2$-symmetric space. We describe all the non degenerated metrics and classify the Riemannian and Lorentzian ones.
It is shown how one can apply the classification of the holonomy algebras of Lorentzian manifolds to solve some problems. In particular, a new proof to the classification of Lorentzian manifolds with recurrent curvature tensor is given; the classification of two-symmetric Lorentzian manifolds is explained; conformally recurrent Lorentzian manifolds are classified; recurrent symmetric bilinear forms on Lorentzian manifolds are described.
We give a summary of recent results on the explicit local form of the second-order symmetric Lorentzian manifolds in arbitrary dimension, and its global version. These spacetimes turn out to be essentially a specific subclass of plane waves.
Lorentzian manifolds with vanishing second covariant derivative of the Riemann tensor are studied. Their existence, classification and explicit local expression are considered. Related issues and open questions are briefly commented.
We classify the simply-connected supersymmetric parallelisable backgrounds of heterotic supergravity. They are all given by parallelised Lie groups admitting a bi-invariant lorentzian metric. We find examples preserving 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 of the 16 supersymmetries.
We classify symmetric backgrounds of eleven-dimensional supergravity up to local isometry. In other words, we classify triples (M,g,F), where (M,g) is an eleven-dimensional lorentzian locally symmetric space and F is an invariant 4-form, satisfying the equations of motion of eleven-dimensional supergravity. The possible (M,g) are given either by (not necessarily nondegenerate) Cahen-Wallach spaces or by products AdS_d x M for 1 < d < 8 and M a not necessarily irreducible riemannian symmetric space of dimension 11-d. In most cases we determine the corresponding F-moduli spaces.
The n-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds with vanishing second covariant derivative of the Riemann tensor (2-symmetric spacetimes) are characterized and classified. The main result is that either they are locally symmetric or they have a covariantly constant null vector field, in this case defining a subfamily of Brinkmann's class in n dimensions. Related issues and applications are considered, and new open questions presented.
We calculate the relevant Spencer cohomology of the minimal Poincaré superalgebra in 5 spacetime dimensions and use it to define Killing spinors via a connection on the spinor bundle of a 5-dimensional lorentzian spin manifold. We give a definition of bosonic backgrounds in terms of this data. By imposing constraints on the curvature of the spinor connection, we recover the field equations of minimal (ungauged) 5-dimensional supergravity, but also find a set of field equations for an $\mathfrak{sp}(1)$-valued one-form which we interpret as the bosonic data of a class of rigid supersymmetric th…
The notion of $Γ$-symmetric space is a natural generalization of the classical notion of symmetric space based on $\z_2$-grading of Lie algebras. In our case, we consider homogeneous spaces $G/H$ such that the Lie algebra $\g$ of $G$ admits a $Γ$-grading where $Γ$ is a finite abelian group. In this work we study Riemannian metrics and Lorentzian metrics on the Heisenberg group $\mathbb{H}_3$ adapted to the symmetries of a $Γ$-symmetric structure on $\mathbb{H}_3$. We prove that the classification of $\z_2^2$-symmetric Riemannian and Lorentzian metrics on $\mathbb{H}_3$ corresponds to the class…
Second-order symmetric Lorentzian spaces, that is to say, Lorentzian manifolds with vanishing second derivative of the curvature tensor R, are characterized by several geometric properties, and explicitly presented. Locally, they are a product M=M_1 x M_2 where each factor is uniquely determined as follows: M_2 is a Riemannian symmetric space and M_1 is either a constant-curvature Lorentzian space or a definite type of plane wave generalizing the Cahen-Wallach family. In the proper case (i.e., with non-zero first covariant derivative of R at some point), the curvature tensor turns out to be de…
We calculate the Spencer cohomology of the $(1,0)$ Poincaré superalgebras in six dimensions: with and without R-symmetry. As the cases of four and eleven dimensions taught us, we may read off from this calculation a Killing spinor equation which allows the determination of which geometries admit rigidly supersymmetric theories in this dimension. We prove that the resulting Killing spinors generate a Lie superalgebra and determine the geometries admitting the maximal number of such Killing spinors. They are divided in two branches. One branch consists of the lorentzian Lie groups with bi-invari…
We determine the Killing superalgebras underpinning field theories with rigid unextended supersymmetry on Lorentzian four-manifolds by re-interpreting them as filtered deformations of $\mathbb{Z}$-graded subalgebras with maximum odd dimension of the $N{=}1$ Poincaré superalgebra in four dimensions. Part of this calculation involves computing a Spencer cohomology group which, by analogy with a similar result in eleven dimensions, prescribes a notion of Killing spinor, which we identify with the defining condition for bosonic supersymmetric backgrounds of minimal off-shell supergravity in four d…
We present a maximally supersymmetric IIB string background. The geometry is that of a conformally flat lorentzian symmetric space G/K with solvable G, with a homogeneous five-form flux. We give the explicit supergravity solution, compute the isometries, the 32 Killing spinors, and the symmetry superalgebra, and then discuss T-duality and the relation to M-theory.
Let $M^n$ be an $n$-dimensional umbilic-free hypersurface in the $(n+1)$-dimensional Lorentzian space form $M^{n+1}_1(c)$. Three basic invariants of $M^n$ under the conformal transformation group of $M^{n+1}_1(c)$ are a $1$-form $C$, called conformal $1$-form, a symmetric $(0,2)$ tensor $B$, called conformal second fundamental form, and a symmetric $(0,2)$ tensor $A$, called Blaschke tensor. The so-called para-Blaschke tensor $D^λ=A+λB$, the linear combination of $A$ and $B$, is still a symmetric $(0,2)$ tensor. A spacelike hypersurface is called a para-Blaschke isoparametric spacelike hypersu…
We give the global mathematical formulation of a class of generalized four-dimensional theories of gravity coupled to scalar matter and to Abelian gauge fields. In such theories, the scalar fields are described by a section of a surjective pseudo-Riemannian submersion $π$ over space-time, whose total space carries a Lorentzian metric making the fibers into totally-geodesic connected Riemannian submanifolds. In particular, $π$ is a fiber bundle endowed with a complete Ehresmann connection whose transport acts through isometries between the fibers. In turn, the Abelian gauge fields are "twisted"…
We consider 3+1 rotationally symmetric Lorentzian Einstein spacetime manifolds with $Λ>0$ and reduce the equations to 2+1 Einstein equations coupled to `shifted' wave maps. Subsequently, we prove various (explicit) positive mass-energy theorems. No smallness is assumed.
The notion of $Γ$-symmetric space is a natural generalization of the classical notion of symmetric space based on $\Z_2$-grading of Lie algebras. In our case, we consider homogeneous spaces $G/H$ such that the Lie algebra $\g$ of $G$ admits a $Γ$-grading where $Γ$ is a finite abelian group. In this work we study Riemannian metrics and Lorentzian metrics on the Heisenberg group $\mathbb{H}_3$ adapted to the symmetries of a $Γ$-symmetric structure on $\mathbb{H}_3$. We prove that the classification of $\z$-symmetric Riemannian and Lorentzian metrics on $\mathbb{H}_3$ corresponds to the classific…
We consider weighted parallel spinors in Lorentzian Weyl geometry in arbitrary dimensions, choosing the weight such that the integrability condition for the existence of such a spinor, implies the geometry to be Einstein-Weyl. We then use techniques developed for the classification of supersymmetric solutions to supergravity theories to characterise those Lorentzian EW geometries that allow for a weighted parallel spinor, calling the resulting geometries supersymmetric. The overall result is that they are either conformally related to ordinary geometries admitting parallel spinors (w.r.t. the …
In this work we study riemannian metrics on flag manifolds adapted to the symmetries of these homogeneous nonsymmetric spaces. We first introduce the notion of riemannian $Γ$-symmetric space when $Γ$ is a general abelian finite group, the symmetric case corresponding to $Γ=\Z_2$. We describe and study all the riemannian metrics on $SO(2n+1)/SO(r_1)\times SO(r_2)\times SO(r_3)\times SO(2n+1-r_1-r_2-r_3)$ for which the symmetries are isometries. We consider also the lorentzian case and give an example of a lorentzian homogeneous space which is not a symmetric space.
Together with spaces of constant sectional curvature and products of a real line with a manifold of constant curvature, the socalled Egorov spaces and $\varepsilon$-spaces exhaust the class of $n$-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds admitting a group of isometries of dimension at least ${1/2} n(n-1)+1$, for almost all values of $n$ [Patrangenaru V., Geom. Dedicata 102 (2003), 25-33]. We shall prove that the curvature tensor of these spaces satisfy several interesting algebraic properties. In particular, we will show that Egorov spaces are Ivanov-Petrova manifolds, curvature-Ricci commuting (indee…
We present an approach to solvable pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces based on papers of M.Cahen, M.Parker and N.Wallach. Thereby we reproduce the classification of solvable symmetric triples of Lorentzian signature $(1,n-1)$ and complete the case of signature $(2,n-2)$. Moreover we discuss the topology of non-simply-connected symmetric spaces.
We study constant mean curvature Lorentzian hypersurfaces of $\mathbb{R}^{1,d+1}$ from the point of view of its Cauchy problem. We completely classify the spherically symmetric solutions, which include among them a manifold isometric to the de Sitter space of general relativity. We show that the spherically symmetric solutions exhibit one of three (future) asymptotic behaviours: (i) finite time collapse (ii) convergence to a time-like cylinder isometric to some $\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{S}^d$ and (iii) infinite expansion to the future converging asymptotically to a time translation of the de Si…
