We begin a systematic study of these spaces, initially following along the lines of Eberlein's comprehensive study of the Riemannian case. In particular, we integrate the geodesic equation, discuss the structure of the isometry group, and make a study of lattices and periodic geodesics.
Some major differences from the Riemannian theory appear. There are many flat groups (versus none), including Heisenberg groups. While still a semidirect product, the isometry group can be strictly larger than the obvious analogue. Everything is illustrated with explicit examples.
We introduce the notion of pH-type, which refines Kaplan's H-type and completes Ciatti's partial extension. We give a general construction for algebras of pH-type.
This is a survey article with a limited list of references (as required by the publisher) which appears in the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, eds. J.-P. Francoise, G.L. Naber and Tsou S.T. Oxford: Elsevier, 2006. vol.4, pp.94--104.
We determine the complete conjugate locus along all geodesics parallel or perpendicular to the center (Theorem 2.3). When the center is 1-dimensional we obtain formulas in all cases (Theorem 2.5), and when a certain operator is also diagonalizable these formulas become completely explicit (Corollary 2.7). These yield some new information about the smoothness of the pseudoriemannian conjugate locus. We also obtain the multiplicities of all conjugate points.
This is partly an expository paper, where the authors' work on pseudoriemannian Einstein metrics on nilpotent Lie groups is reviewed. A new criterion is given for the existence of a diagonal Einstein metric on a nice nilpotent Lie group. Classifications of special classes of Ricci-flat metrics on nilpotent Lie groups of dimension $\leq8$ are obtained. Some related open questions are presented.
We give a basic treatment of lattices $Γ$ in these groups. Certain tori $T_F$ and $T_B$ provide the model fiber and the base for a submersion of $Γ\backslash N$. This submersion may not be pseudoriemannian in the usual sense, because the tori may be degenerate. We then begin the study of periodic geodesics in these compact nilmanifolds, obtaining a complete calculation of the period spectrum of certain flat spaces.
Let M be a connected compact pseudoRiemannian manifold acted upon topologically transitively and isometrically by a connected noncompact simple Lie group G. If m_0, n_0 are the dimensions of the maximal lightlike subspaces tangent to M and G, respectively, where G carries any bi-invariant metric, then we have n_0 \leq m_0. We study G-actions that satisfy the condition n_0 = m_0. With no rank restrictions on G, we prove that M has a finite covering \hat{M} to which the G-action lifts so that \hat{M} is G-equivariantly diffeomorphic to an action on a double coset K\backslash L/Γ, as considered i…
We study the Ricci tensor of left-invariant pseudoriemannian metrics on Lie groups. For an appropriate class of Lie groups that contains nilpotent Lie groups, we introduce a variety with a natural $\mathrm{GL}(n,\mathbb{R})$ action, whose orbits parametrize Lie groups with a left-invariant metric; we show that the Ricci operator can be identified with the moment map relative to a natural symplectic structure. From this description we deduce that the Ricci operator is the derivative of the scalar curvature $s$ under gauge transformations of the metric, and show that Lie algebra derivations with…
Every finite dimensional real representation of a compact real semisimple Lie algebra determines a metric 2-step nilpotent Lie algebra and a corresponding simply connected metric 2-step nilpotent Lie group N. We study the differential geometry of N using representation theory of the complexified complex semisimple Lie algebra.
A Lie algebra is called nonsoliton if it does not admit a soliton inner product. We demonstrate that the subset of nonsoliton Lie algebras in the moduli space of indecomposable n-dimensional N-graded nilpotent Lie algebras is discrete if and only if n <= 7.
In this paper we study contact structure on 2-step nilpotent, Heisenberg type Lie groups. We decompose this Lie groups to center and orthogonal complement, then investigate properties of both orthogonal Lie subgroups. Finally, we provide a connection between matchings in groups and field extensions and 2-step nilpotent Lie groups.
We study complex product structures on nilpotent Lie algebras, establishing some of their main properties, and then we restrict ourselves to 6 dimensions, obtaining the classification of 6-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting such structures. We prove that any complex structure which forms part of a complex product structure on a 6-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra must be nilpotent in the sense of Cordero-Fernández-Gray-Ugarte. A study is made of the torsion-free connection associated to the complex product structure and we consider also the associated hypercomplex structures on the 1…
A flat pseudo-Euclidean Lie algebra is a real Lie algebra with a non degenerate symmetric bilinear form and a left symmetric product whose the commutator is the Lie bracket and such that the left multiplications are skew-symmetric. We show that the center of a flat pseudo-Euclidean nilpotent Lie algebra of signature $(2,n-2)$ must be degenerate and all flat pseudo-Euclidean nilpotent Lie algebras of signature $(2,n-2)$ can be obtained by using the double extension process from flat Lorentzian nilpotent Lie algebras. We show also that the center of a flat pseudo-Euclidean 2-step nilpotent Lie a…
In this article we show that the only 2-step nilpotent Lie groups which carry a non-degenerate left invariant Killing-Yano 2-form are the complex Lie groups. In the case of 2-step nilpotent complex Lie groups arising from connected graphs, we prove that the space of left invariant Killing-Yano 2-forms is one-dimensional.
We study the question of the existence of left-invariant Sasaki contact structures on the seven-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups. It is shown that the only Lie group allowing Sasaki structure with a positive definite metric tensor is the Heisenberg group. We find a complete list of the 22 classes of seven-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups which admit pseudo-Sasaki structure. We also present a list of 25 classes of seven-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups admitting a $K$-contact structure, but not the pseudo-Sasaki structure. All the contact structures considered are central extensions of six-dime…
We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of isometric immersions of a simply connected Riemannian manifold into a two-step nilpotent Lie group. This comprises the case of immersions into $H$-type groups.
We determine the moduli space of metric 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras of dimension up to 6. This space is homeomorphic to a cone over a 4-dimensional contractible simplicial complex.
The goals of this article are twofold : 1) to compute the conjugate locus of a geodesic that lies in the center of a simply connected, 2-step nilpotent Lie group with a left invariant metric 2) compare the isometry types of two such nilpotent Lie groups whose conjugate loci for central geodesics are "the same" in a suitable sense. The first goal is achieved. The second is elusive, but we obtain a partial result.
In this paper, we consider left-invariant para-complex structures on six-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups. A complete list of six-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups that admit para-Kähler structures is obtained, explicit expressions for para-complex structures are found, and curvature properties of associated para-Kähler metrics are investigated. It is shown that paracomplex structures are nilpotent and the corresponding para-Kähler metrics are Ricci-flat.
We prove injectivity and a support theorem for the X-ray transform on $2$-step nilpotent Lie groups with many totally geodesic $2$-dimensional flats. The result follows from a general reduction principle for manifolds with uniformly escaping geodesics.
In this paper an alternative definition of the Rumin complex $(E_0^\bullet,d_c)$ is presented, one that relies on a different concept of weights of forms. In this way, the Rumin complex can be constructed on any nilpotent Lie group equipped with a Carnot-Carathéodory metric. Moreover, this construction allows for the direct application of previous non-vanishing results of $\ell^{q,p}$ cohomology to all nilpotent Lie groups that admit a positive grading.
In this paper, we study Lorentzian left invariant Einstein metrics on nilpotent Lie groups. We show that if the center of such Lie groups is degenerate then they are Ricci-flat and their Lie algebras can be obtained by the double extension process from an abelian Euclidean Lie algebra. We show that all nilpotent Lie groups up to dimension $5$ endowed with a Lorentzian Einstein left invariant metric have degenerate center and we use this fact to give a complete classification of these metrics. We show that if $\mathfrak{g}$ is the Lie algebra of a nilpotent Lie group endowed with a Lorentzian l…
We study HKT structures on nilpotent Lie groups and on associated nilmanifolds. We exhibit three weak HKT structures on $\R^8$ which are homogeneous with respect to extensions of Heisenberg type Lie groups. The corresponding hypercomplex structures are of a special kind, called abelian. We prove that on any 2-step nilpotent Lie group all invariant HKT structures arise from abelian hypercomplex structures. Furthermore, we use a correspondence between abelian hypercomplex structures and subspaces of ${\frak sp}(n)$ to produce continuous families of compact and noncompact of manifolds carrying no…
In this note we consider 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras associated with graphs. We prove that 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras $\n$ and $\n'$ associated with graphs $(S, E)$ and $(S', E')$ respectively are isomorphic if and only if $(S, E)$ and $(S', E')$ are isomorphic.
We show that the distribution of symmetry of a naturally reductive nilpotent Lie group coincides with the invariant distribution induced by the set of fixed vectors of the isotropy. This extends a known result on compact naturally reductive spaces. We also address the study of the quotient by the foliation of symmetry.
We consider real 2-step metric nilpotent Lie algebras associated to graphs with possibly repeated edge labels as constructed by Ray in 2016. We determine how the structure of the egde labeling within the graph contributes to the abelian factor in these Lie algebras. Furthermore, we explicitly compute the abelian factor of the 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras associated with some families of graphs such as star graphs, cycles, Schreier graphs, and properly edge-colored graphs. We also study the singularity properties of these Lie algebras in certain cases.
In this work we study the problem of existence of symplectic structures on free nilpotent Lie algebras. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for even dimensional ones. The one dimensional central extension for odd dimensional free nilpotent Lie algebras is also considered.
In this paper we study some affine structures on nilpotent Lie algebras endowed with a contact form. These affine structures are constructed from an affine structure on a symplectic Lie algebra by a central extension.
We consider a method popular in the literature of associating a two-step nilpotent Lie algebra with a finite simple graph. We prove that the two-step nilpotent Lie algebras associated with two graphs are Lie isomorphic if and only if the graphs from which they arise are isomorphic.
We classify the nilpotent Lie algebras of real dimension eight and minimal center that admit a complex structure. Furthermore, for every such nilpotent Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$, we describe the space of complex structures on $\mathfrak{g}$ up to isomorphism. As an application, the nilpotent Lie algebras having a non-trivial abelian $J$-invariant ideal are classified up to eight dimensions.
We present the classification of real nilpotent quasi-filiform Lie algebras endowed with a complex structure. A nilpotent Lie algebra g is called quasi-filiform is the nilindex is equal to dim(n)-2. We recall that the filiform case (nilindex =dim(g)-1) has already been studied.
We classify real 6-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras for which the corresponding Lie group has a left-invariant complex structure, and estimate the dimensions of moduli spaces of such structures.
We associate a two-step nilpotent Lie algebra to an arbitrary Schreier graph. We then use properties of the Schreier graph to determine necessary and sufficient conditions for this Lie algebra to extend to a three-step nilpotent Lie algebra. As an application, if we start with pairs of non-isomorphic Schreier graphs coming from Gassmann-Sunada triples, we prove that the pair of associated two-step nilpotent Lie algebras are always isometric. In contrast, we use a well-known pair of Schreier graphs to show that the associated three-step nilpotent extensions need not be isometric.
We study nilpotent Lie algebras endowed with a complex structure and a quadratic structure which is pseudo-Hermitian for the given complex structure. We propose several methods to construct such Lie algebras and describe a method of double extension by planes to get an inductive description of all of them. As an application, we give a complete classification of nilpotent quadratic Lie algebras where the metric is Lorentz-Hermitian and we fully classify all nilpotent pseudo-Hermitian quadratic Lie algebras up to dimension 8 and their inequivalent pseudo-Hermitian metrics.
In math.DG/0312243 we developed a general classification scheme for metric Lie algebras, i.e. for finite-dimensional Lie algebras equipped with a non-degenerate invariant inner product. Here we determine all nilpotent Lie algebras l with dim l'=2 which are used in this scheme. Furthermore, we classify all nilpotent metric Lie algebras of dimension at most 10.
To any connected and simply connected nilpotent Lie group N, one can associate its group of affine transformations Aff(N). In this paper, we study simply transitive actions of a given nilpotent Lie group G on another nilpotent Lie group N, via such affine transformations. We succeed in translating the existence question of such a simply transitive affine action to a corresponding question on the Lie algebra level. As an example of the possible use of this translation, we then consider the case where dim(G)=dim(N) less than 6. Finally, we specialize to the case of abelian simply transitive affi…
A 2-step nilpotent Lie algebra n is said to be of type (p,q)if dim(n)=p+q and dim([n,n])=p. By considering a class of 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras naturally attached to graphs, we prove that there exist indecomposable, 2-step nilpotent Lie groups of type (p,q) which do not admit a nilsoliton metric for every pair (p,q) such that 20 < q and q-2 < p < 1/2q^2-5/2q+10. This improves a result due to Jablonski.
In this paper, we consider the Rumin complex on homogenenous nilpotent Lie groups. We present an alternative construction to the classical one on Carnot groups using ideas from parabolic geometry. We also give the explicit computations for the Engel group with this approach.
We formulate and prove that there are "abundant" in nilpotent orbits in real semisimple Lie algebras, in the following sense. If S denotes the collection of hyperbolic elements corresponding the weighted Dynkin diagrams coming from nilpotent orbits, then S span the maximally expected space, namely, the (-1)-eigenspace of the longest Weyl group element. The result is used to the study of fundamental groups of non-Riemannian locally symmetric spaces.
We consider a family of 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras associated to uniform complete graphs on odd number of vertices. We prove that the symmetry group of such a graph is the holomorph of the additive cyclic group $\Z_n$. Moreover, we prove that the (Lie) automorphism group of the corresponding nilpotent Lie algebra contains the dihedral group of order $2n$ as a subgroup.
The main goal of this paper is to compute $μ(\g)$ and $μ_{nil}(\g)$ for each nilpotent Lie algebra $\g$ of dimension 6 over a field of characteristic zero $\k$. Here $μ(\g)$ and $μ_{nil}(\g)$ is the minimal dimension of a faithful representation of $\g$ and the minimal dimension of a faithful nilrepresentation of $\g$, respectively. We also give a minimal faithful representation and nilrepresentation for each nilpotent Lie algebra of dimension $\leq 6$.
The only known examples of noncompact Einstein homogeneous spaces are standard solvmanifolds (special solvable Lie groups endowed with a left invariant metric), and according to a long standing conjecture, they might be all. The classification of Einstein solvmanifolds is equivalent to the one of Einstein nilradicals, i.e. nilpotent Lie algebras which are nilradicals of the Lie algebras of Einstein solvmanifolds. Up to now, there have been found very few examples of graded nilpotent Lie algebras that can not be Einstein nilradicals. In particular, in each dimension, there are only finitely man…
We provide an alternative method for obtaining of compatible Poisson structures on Lie groups by means of the adjoint representations of Lie algebras. In this way, we calculate some compatible Poisson structures on four dimensional and nilpotent six dimensional symplectic real Lie groups. Then using Magri-Morosi's theorem we obtain new bi-Hamiltonian systems with four dimensional and nilpotent six dimensional symplectic real Lie groups as phase spaces.
We construct families of functions in involution for transverse Poisson structures at nilpotent elements of Lie-Poisson structures on simple Lie algebras by using the argument shift method. Examples show that these families contain completely integrable systems that consist of polynomial functions. We provide a uniform construction of these integrable systems for an infinite family of distinguished nilpotent elements of semisimple type.
