Motivated by the physical concept of special geometry two mathematical constructions are studied, which relate real hypersurfaces to tube domains and complex Lagrangean cones respectively. Me\-thods are developed for the classification of homogeneous Riemannian hypersurfaces and for the classification of linear transitive reductive algebraic group actions on pseudo Riemannian hypersurfaces. The theory is applied to the case of cubic hypersurfaces, which is the case most relevant to special geometry, obtaining the solution of the two classification problems and the description of the corresponding homogeneous special Kähler manifolds.
We define a Riemannian structure as a pre-homogeneous geometric structure with curvature R. We show that R=0 if and only if the underlying metric has constant curvature. We define pre-homogeneous geometric structures and pose some problems.
We introduce the submersion between two spray structures and propose the submersion technique in spray geometry. Using this technique, as well as global invariant frames on a Lie group, we setup the general theoretical framework for homogeneous spray geometry. We define the spray vector field $η$ and the connection operator $N$ for a homogeneous spray manifold $(G/H,\mathbf{G})$ with a linear decomposition $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{h}+\mathfrak{m}$. These notions generalize their counter parts in homogeneous Finsler geometry. We prove the correspondence between $\mathbf{G}$ and $η$ when the give…
In this paper, we study geodesics and geodesic vectors for homogeneous exponential Finsler space and homogeneous infinite series Finsler space. Further, we find necessary and sufficient condition for a non-zero vector in these homogeneous spaces to be a geodesic vector.
In this paper, first we prove the existence of invariant vector field on a homogeneous Finsler space with infinite series $(α, β)$-metric and exponential metric. Next, we deduce an explicit formula for the the $S$-curvature of homogeneous Finsler space with these metrics. Using this formula, we further derive the formula for mean Berwald curvature of the homogeneous Finsler space with the above mentioned metrics.
In this paper, first we derive an explicit formula for the flag curvature of a homogeneous Finsler space with infinite series $(α, β)$-metric and exponential metric. Next, we deduce it for naturally reductive homogeneous Finsler space with the above mentioned metrics.
Our purpose is to use a Darboux homogenous derivative to understand the harmonic maps with values in homogeneous space. We present a characterization of these harmonic maps from the geometry of homogeneous space. Furthermore, our work covers all type of invariant geometry in homogeneous space.
We consider non-Kaehler compact complex manifolds which are homogeneous under the action of a compact Lie group of biholomorphisms and we investigate the existence of special (invariant) Hermitian metrics on these spaces. We focus on a particular class of such manifolds comprising the case of Calabi-Eckmann manifolds and we prove the existence of an invariant Hermitian metric which is Chern-Einstein, namely whose second Ricci tensor of the associated Chern connection is a positive multiple of the metric itself. The uniqueness is also discussed.
The current paper is devoted to the study of integral curves of constant type in parabolic homogeneous spaces. We construct a canonical moving frame bundle for such curves and give the criterium when it turns out to be a Cartan connection. Generalizations to parametrized curves, to higher-dimensional submanifolds and to general parabolic geometries are discussed.
The main result of this article provides a characterization of reductive homogeneous spaces equipped with some geometric structure (non necessarily pseudo-Riemannian) in terms of the existence of certain connection. The result generalizes the well-known result of Ambrose and Singer for Riemannian homogeneous spaces, as well as its extensions for other geometries found in the literature. The manifold must be connected and simply connected, the connection has to be complete and has to satisfy a set of geometric partial differential equations. If the connection is not complete or the manifold is …
In 1995, S. Adams and G. Stuck as well as A. Zeghib independently provided a classification of non-compact Lie groups which can act isometrically and locally effectively on compact Lorentzian manifolds. In the case that the corresponding Lie algebra contains a direct summand isomorphic to the two-dimensional special linear algebra or to a twisted Heisenberg algebra, Zeghib also described the geometric structure of the manifolds. Using these results, we investigate the local geometry of compact homogeneous Lorentz spaces whose isometry groups have non-compact connected components. It turns out …
Based on the work of Adams and Stuck as well as on the work of Zeghib, we classify the Lie groups which can act isometrically and locally effectively on Lorentzian manifolds of finite volume. In the case that the corresponding Lie algebra contains a direct summand isomorphic to the two-dimensional special linear algebra or to a twisted Heisenberg algebra, we also describe the geometric structure of the manifolds if they are compact. Using these results, we investigate the local geometry of compact homogeneous Lorentz spaces whose isometry groups have non-compact connected components. It turns …
In this paper, we study left invariant conic Finsler metrics on the 2-dimensional non-Abelian Lie group $G$ with nowhere vanishing spray vector fields, and classify those satisfying the constant curvature condition, the Landsberg condition or the Berwald condition respectively. We prove that any left invariant conic Landsberg metric on $G$ must be Berwald. This discovery enable us to propose a homogeneous conic Landsberg Conjecture, which guesses that every homogeneous conic Landsberg metric is Berwald, and prove the 2-dimensional case for it.
In this paper, we explore the similarity between normal homogeneity and $δ$-homogeneity in Finsler geometry. They are both non-negatively curved Finsler spaces. We show that any connected $δ$-homogeneous Finsler space is $G$-$δ$-homo-geneous, for some suitably chosen connected quasi-compact $G$. So $δ$-homogeneous Finsler metrics can be defined by a bi-invariant singular metric on $G$ and submersion, just as normal homogeneous metrics, using a bi-invariant Finsler metric on $G$ instead. More careful analysis shows, in the space of all Finsler metrics on $G/H$, the subset of all $G$-$δ$-homogen…
In this survey article we provide an introduction to submanifold geometry in symmetric spaces of noncompact type. We focus on the construction of examples and the classification problems of homogeneous and isoparametric hypersurfaces, polar and hyperpolar actions, and homogeneous CPC submanifolds.
Motivated by Felix Klein's notion that geometry is governed by its group of symmetry transformations, Charles Ehresmann initiated the study of geometric structures on topological spaces locally modeled on a homogeneous space of a Lie group. These locally homogeneous spaces later formed the context of Thurston's 3-dimensional geometrization program. The basic problem is for a given topology S and a geometry X = G/H, to classify all the possible ways of introducing the local geometry of G/H into S. For example, a sphere admits no local Euclidean geometry: there is no metrically accurate Euclidea…
A Finsler geometry may be understood as a homogeneous variational problem, where the Finsler function is the Lagrangian. The extremals in Finsler geometry are curves, but in more general variational problems we might consider extremal submanifolds of dimension $m$. In this minicourse we discuss these problems from a geometric point of view.
We classify all special homogeneous curves. A special homogeneous curve $\mathcal{H}$ consists of connected components of the hyperbolic points in the level set $\{h=1\}$ of a homogeneous polynomial $h$ in two real variables of degree at least three, and admits a transitive group action of a subgroup $G\subset\mathrm{GL}(2)$ on $\mathcal{H}$ that acts via linear coordinate change.
The theory of $G$-structures provides us with a unified framework for a large class of geometric structures, including symplectic, complex and Riemannian structures, as well as foliations and many others. Surprisingly, contact geometry - the "odd-dimensional counterpart" of symplectic geometry - does not fit naturally into this picture. In this paper, we introduce the notion of a homogeneous $G$-structure, which encompasses contact structures, as well as some other interesting examples that appear in the literature.
The variation of Hodge structure of a Calabi-Yau 3-fold induces a canonical Kähler metric on its Kuranishi moduli space, known as the Weil-Petersson metric. Similarly, special pseudo Kähler manifolds correspond to certain (abstract) variations of Hodge structure which generalize the above example. We give the classification of homogeneous special pseudo Kähler manifolds of semisimple groups with compact stabilizer.
Space-times which allow a slicing into homogeneous spatial hypersurfaces generalize the usual Bianchi models. One knows already that in these models the Bianchi type may change with time. Here we show which of the changes really appear. To this end we characterize the topological space whose points are the 3-dimensional oriented homogeneous Riemannian manifolds; locally isometric manifolds are considered as same.
We prove that any compact complex homogeneous space with vanishing first Chern class after an appropriate deformation of the complex structure admits a homogeneous Calabi-Yau with torsion structure, provided that it also has an invariant volume form. A description of such spaces among the homogeneous C-spaces is given as well as many examples and a classification in the 3-dimensional case. We calculate the cohomology ring of some of the examples and show that in dimension 14 there are infinitely many simply-connected spaces with the same Hodge numbers and torsional Chern classes admitting such…
We study the geometry of homogeneous hypersurfaces and their focal sets in complex hyperbolic spaces. In particular, we provide a characterization of the focal set in terms of its second fundamental form and determine the principal curvatures of the homogeneous hypersurfaces together with their multiplicities.
The purpose of this paper is to establish a completely new partial regularity theory on certain homogeneous complex Monge-Ampere equations. Our partial regularity theory will be obtained by studying foliations by holomorphic curves and and their relations to homogeneous complex Monge-Ampere equations. As applications, we will prove the uniqueness of extremal Kähler metrics and give an necessary condition for existence of extremal Kähler metrics. Further applications will be discussed in our forthcoming papers.
The main result of this paper is a construction of fundamental domains for certain group actions on Lorentz manifolds of constant curvature. We consider the simply connected Lie group G~, the universal cover of the group SU(1,1) of orientation-preserving isometries of the hyperbolic plane. The Killing form on the Lie group G~ gives rise to a bi-invariant Lorentz metric of constant curvature. We consider a discrete subgroup Gamma_1 and a cyclic discrete subgroup Gamma_2 in G~ which satisfy certain conditions. We describe the Lorentz space form Gamma_1\G~/Gamma_2 by constructing a fundamental do…
Homogeneous compatible almost complex structures on symplectic manifolds are studied, focusing on those which are special, meaning that their Chern-Ricci form is a multiple of the symplectic form. Non Chern-Ricci flat ones are proven to be covered by co-adjoint orbits. Conversely, compact isotropy co-adjoint orbits of semi-simple Lie groups are shown to admit special compatible almost complex structures whenever they satisfy a necessary topological condition. Some classes of examples including twistor spaces of hyperbolic manifolds and discrete quotients of Griffiths period domains of weight t…
Given a parabolic geometry, it is sometimes possible to find special metrics characterised by some invariant conditions. In conformal geometry, for example, one asks for an Einstein metric in the conformal class. Einstein metrics have the special property that their geodesics are distinguished, as unparameterised curves, in the sense of parabolic geometry. This property characterises the Einstein metrics. In this article we initiate a study of corresponding phenomena for other parabolic geometries, in particular for the hypersurface CR and contact Legendrean cases.
We generalise the notion of contact manifold by allowing the contact distribution to have codimension two. There are special features in dimension six. In particular, we show that the complex structure on a three-dimensional complex contact manifold is determined solely by the underlying contact distribution.
We present a new proof of the classification of complex simple Lie algebras via the projective geometry of homogeneous varieties. Our proof proceeds by constructing homogeneous varieties using the ideals of the secant and tangential varieties of homogeneous varieties already constructed. Our algorithms make no reference to root systems. Our proofs use properties of root systems, but not their classification.
The target space of a (4,0) supersymmetric two-dimensional sigma model with Wess-Zumino term has a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion and holonomy contained in Sp(n).Sp(1), QKT-connection. We study the geometry of QKT-connections. We find conditions to the existence of a QKT-connection and prove that if it exists it is unique. Studying conformal transformations we obtain a lot of (compact) examples of QKT manifolds. We present a (local) description of 4-dimensional homogeneous QKT structures relying on the known result of naturally reductive homogeneous Riemannian manifolds. We con…
We examine homogeneous metrics on spheres and determine which ones have positive sectional curvature. The answer is subtle and surprisingly difficult to prove. In some cases we also determine their pinching constants. This completes the classification of all homogeneous metrics with positive curvature (apart from one special Aloff Wallach space where the set of homogeneous metrics is too large).
The principal group of a Klein geometry has canonical left action on the homogeneous space of the geometry and this action induces action on the spaces of sections of vector bundles over the homogeneous space. This paper is about construction of differential operators invariant with respect to the induced action of the principal group of a particular type of parabolic geometry. These operators form sequences which are related to the minimal resolutions of the k-Dirac operators studied in Clifford analysis.
We construct metrics with the holonomy group SU(2) on the tangent bundles of weighted complex projective lines and give a geometric description of the moduli space of special Kahler metrics on a K3-surface in the neighborhood of the flat orbifold $T^4/Z_3$.
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…
We present a new simple proof of the fact that certain group manifolds as well as certain homogeneous spaces G/H of dimension 4n admit a quaternionic triple of integrable complex structures that are covariantly constant with respect to the same torsionful Bismut connection, i.e. exhibit the HKT geometry. The key observation is that different complex structures are interrelated by automorphisms of the Lie algebra. To construct the quaternion triples, one only needs to construct the proper automorphisms, which is a more simple problem.
Using tools from Dirac geometry and through an explicit construction, we show that every Poisson homogeneous space of any Poisson Lie group admits an integration to a symplectic groupoid. Our theorem follows from a more general result which relates, for a principal bundle $M\to M/H$, integrations of a Dirac structure on $M/H$ to $H$-admissible integrations of its pullback Dirac structure on $M$ by pre-symplectic groupoids. Our construction gives a distinguished class of explicit real or holomorphic pre-symplectic and symplectic groupoids over semi-simple Lie groups and some of their homogeneou…
Simply-connected homogeneous spacetimes for kinematical and aristotelian Lie algebras (with space isotropy) have recently been classified in all dimensions. In this paper, we continue the study of these "maximally symmetric" spacetimes by investigating their local geometry. For each such spacetime and relative to exponential coordinates, we calculate the (infinitesimal) action of the kinematical symmetries, paying particular attention to the action of the boosts, showing in almost all cases that they act with generic non-compact orbits. We also calculate the soldering form, the associated viel…
We study the geometry of Lie groups $G$ with a continuous Finsler metric, assuming the existence of a subgroup $K$ such that the metric is right-invariant for the action of $K$. We present a systematic study of the metric and geodesic structure of homogeneous spaces $M$ obtained by the quotient $M\simeq G/K$. Of particular interest are left-invariant metrics of $G$ which are then bi-invariant for the action of $K$. We then focus on the geodesic structure of groups $K$ that admit bi-invariant metrics, proving that one-parameter groups are short paths for those metrics, and characterizing all ot…
We prove the existence of canonical tubular neighbourhoods around complex submanifolds of Kähler manifolds that are adapted to both the holomorphic and symplectic structure. This is done by solving the complex Homogeneous Monge-Ampère equation on the deformation to the normal cone of the submanifold. We use this to establish local regularity for global weak solutions, giving local smoothness to the (weak) geodesic rays in the space of (weak) Kähler potentials associated to a given complex submanifold. We also use it to get an optimal regularity result for naturally defined plurisubharmonic env…
Let M_0=G_0/H be a (pseudo)-Riemannian homogeneous spin manifold, with reductive decomposition g_0=h+m and let S(M_0) be the spin bundle defined by the spin representation Ad:H->\GL_R(S) of the stabilizer H. This article studies the superizations of M_0, i.e. its extensions to a homogeneous supermanifold M=G/H whose sheaf of superfunctions is isomorphic to Lambda(S^*(M_0)). Here G is the Lie supergroup associated with a certain extension of the Lie algebra of symmetry g_0 to an algebra of supersymmetry g=g_0+g_1=g_0+S via the Kostant-Koszul construction. Each algebra of supersymmetry naturally…
This is an expanded and updated version of a lecture series I gave at Seoul National University in September 1997. It is in some sense an update of the 1979 Griffiths and Harris paper with a similar title. I discuss: Homogeneous varieties, Topology and consequences Projective differential invariants, Varieties with degenerate Gauss images, When can a uniruled variety be smooth?, Dual varieties, Linear systems of bounded and constant rank, Secant and tangential varieties, Systems of quadrics with tangential defects, Recognizing uniruled varieties, Recognizing intersections of quadrics, Recogniz…
We study the integrability of Poisson and Dirac structures that arise from quotient constructions. From our results we deduce several classical results as well as new applications. We also give explicit constructions of Lie groupoids integrating two interesting families of geometric structures: (i) a special class of Poisson homogeneous spaces of symplectic groupoids integrating Poisson groups and (ii) Dirac homogeneous spaces.
We outline the solution of the Killing spinor equations of the heterotic supergravity. In addition, we describe the classification of all half supersymmetric solutions.
The moduli space of the Calabi-Yau three-folds, which play a role as superstring ground states, exhibits the same {\em special geometry} that is known from nonlinear sigma models in $N=2$ supergravity theories. We discuss the symmetry structure of special real, complex and quaternionic spaces. Maps between these spaces are implemented via dimensional reduction. We analyze the emergence of {\em extra} and {\em hidden} symmetries. This analysis is then applied to homogeneous special spaces and the implications for the classification of homogeneous quaternionic spaces are discussed.
The geometry that is defined by the scalars in couplings of Einstein-Maxwell theories in N=2 supergravity in 4 dimensions is denoted as special Kaehler geometry. There are several equivalent definitions, the most elegant ones involve the symplectic duality group. The original construction used conformal symmetry, which immediately clarifies the symplectic structure and provides a way to make connections to quaternionic geometry and Sasakian manifolds.
This paper is a survey on special geometric structures that admit conformal Killing spinors based on lectures, given at the ``Workshop on Special Geometric Structures in String Theory'', Bonn, September 2001 and at ESI, Wien, November 2001. We discuss the case of Lorentzian signature and explain which geometries occur up to dimension 6.
A simple Almost-Riemmanian Structure on a Lie group G is defined by a linear vector field and dim(G)-1 left-invariant ones. We state results about the singular locus, the abnormal extremals and the desingularization of such ARS's, and these results are illustrated by examples on the 2D affine and the Heisenberg groups.These ARS's are extended in two ways to homogeneous spaces, and a necessary and sufficient condition for an ARS on a manifold to be equivalent to a general ARS on a homogeneous space is stated.
