On minimal,strongly proximal actions of locally compact groups

Minimal, strongly proximal actions of locally compact groups on compact spaces, also known asboundary actions, were introduced by Furstenberg in the study of Lie groups. In particular, the action of a semi-simple real Lie groupG on homogeneous spacesG/Q, whereQ ⊂G is a parabolic subgroup, are boundary actions. Countable discrete groups admit a wide variety of boundary actions. In this note we show that ifX is a compact manifold with a faithful boundary action of some locally compact groupH, then (under some mild regularity assumption) the groupH, the spaceX, and the action split into a direct product of a semi-simple Lie groupG acting onG/Q and a boundary action of a discrete countable group. The author was partially supported by NSF grants DMS-0049069, 0094245 and GIF grant G-454-213.06/95.     

Geodesic symmetries of homogeneous Kähler Manifolds

D'Atri and Nickerson [6], [7] have given necessary conditions for the geodesic symmetries of a Riemannian manifold to preserve the volume element. We use their results to show that ifG is a compact simple Lie group,T is a maximal torus ofG, andG/T is not symmetric, then anyG-invariant Kähler metric onG/T does not have volume-preserving geodesic symmetries. From the Kähler/de Rham decomposition of a compact homogeneous Kähler manifold [8], our result extends to the invariant Kähler metrics on a quotient of a compact connected Lie group by a maximal torus. In proving these results we compute directly the Ricci tensor of anyG-invariant Kähler metric onG/T forG compact connected andT a maximal torus ofG. The result is an explicit formula giving the value of the Ricci tensor elements in terms of the root structure of the Lie algebra ofG.     

Homogeneous Metrics with Nonnegative Curvature

Given compact Lie groups H⊂G, we study the space of G-invariant metrics on G/H with nonnegative sectional curvature. For an intermediate subgroup K between H and G, we derive conditions under which enlarging the Lie algebra of K maintains nonnegative curvature on G/H. Such an enlarging is possible if (K,H) is a symmetric pair, which yields many new examples of nonnegatively curved homogeneous metrics. We provide other examples of spaces G/H with unexpectedly large families of nonnegatively curved homogeneous metrics.     

On existence of invariant measures

Let G be a Lie group, H ≤ G a closed subgroup and M ≈ G/H. In [14] André Weil gave a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of invariant measures on homogeneous spaces of arbitrary locally compact groups. For Lie groups using the structure theory we give a neater necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a G-invariant measure on M, cf. Theorems (2.1) and (3.2) in the introduction.     

Cohomogeneity one Riemannian manifolds of non-positive curvature

We study a G-manifold M which admits a G-invariant Riemannian metric g of non-positive curvature. We describe all such Riemannian G-manifolds (M,g) of non-positive curvature with a semisimple Lie group G which acts on M regularly and classify cohomogeneity one G-manifolds M of a semisimple Lie group G which admit an invariant metric of non-positive curvature. Some results on non-existence of invariant metric of negative curvature on cohomogeneity one G-manifolds of a semisimple Lie group G are given.     

Equivariant \eta-invariants on homogeneous spaces

Let D be a homogeneous Dirac operator on the quotient M = G/H of two compact connected Lie groups. We construct a deformation ofD and calculate its equivariant -invariant explicitly on the dense subset of G that acts freely onM. On , and differ only by a virtual character of . Moreover, if is a symmetric pair or if D is the untwisted Dirac operator, then on . We also sketch some applications of . Received August 7, 1998     

The geometry of compact homogeneous spaces with two isotropy summands

We give a complete list of all homogeneous spaces M = G/H where G is a simple compact Lie group, H a connected, closed subgroup, and G/H is simply connected, for which the isotropy representation of H on T _p M decomposes into exactly two irreducible summands. For each homogeneous space, we determine whether it admits a G-invariant Einstein metric. When there is an intermediate subgroup H <  K <  G, we classify all the G-invariant Einstein metrics. This is an extension of the classification of isotropy irreducible spaces, given independently by Manturov (Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 141, (1961), 792–795 1034–1037, Tr. Semin. Vector Tensor Anal. 13, (1966), 68–145) and J Wolf (Acta Math. 120, (1968), 59–148 152, (1984) 141–142).      

Homogeneous spaces with polar isotropy

 We consider homogeneous spaces G/K with G a simple compact Lie group, endowed with an arbitrary G-invariant Riemannian metric. We classify those spaces where the action of K on G/K is polar and show that such spaces are locally symmetric. Moreover we give a classification of pairs (G,K) with G compact semisimple such that K has polar linear isotropy representation. Received: 16 May 2002 / Revised version: 8 November 2002 Published online: 3 March 2003 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 53C35, 57S15     

Remarks on the wonderful compactification of semisimple algebraic groups

We prove that ifG is a semisimple algebraic group of adjoint type over the field of complex numbers,H is the subgroup of all fixed points of an involution σ ofG that is induced by an involution σ of the simply connected coveringĜ ofG, then the wonderful compactification of the homogeneous spaceG/H is isomorphic to the G.I.T quotientG ^ss (L)//H of the wonderful compactificationG ofG for a suitable choice of a line bundleL onG. We also prove a functorial property of the wonderful compactifications of semisimple algebraic groups of adjoint type.     

Projective homogeneity

We consider aC simply connected manifoldM endowed with a projective structureP and under an additional hypothesis on the projective curvature tensor, we find necessary and sufficient conditions in order thatM turns out to be a reductive homogeneous spaceG/H whereG is a Lie group acting onM as a group of automorphisms ofP.     

Homogenous projective factors for actions of semi-simple Lie groups

We analyze the structure of a continuous (or Borel) action of a connected semi-simple Lie group G with finite center and real rank at least 2 on a compact metric (or Borel) space X, using the existence of a stationary measure as the basic tool. The main result has the following corollary: Let P be a minimal parabolic subgroup of G, and K a maximal compact subgroup. Let λ be a P-invariant probability measure on X, and assume the P-action on (X,λ) is mixing. Then either λ is invariant under G, or there exists a proper parabolic subgroup Q⊂G, and a measurable G-equivariant factor map ϕ:(X,ν)→(G/Q,m), where ν=∫ _K kλdk and m is the K-invariant measure on G/Q. Furthermore, The extension has relatively G-invariant measure, namely (X,ν) is induced from a (mixing) probability measure preserving action of Q. Oblatum 14-X-1997 & 18-XI-1998 / Published online: 20 August 1999     

Polar actions on Hilbert space

An isometricH-action on a Riemannian manifoldX is calledpolar if there exists a closed submanifoldS ofX that meets everyH-orbit and always meets orbits orthogonally (S is called a section). LetG be a compact Lie group equipped with a biinvariant metric,H a closed subgroup ofG ×G, and letH act onG isometrically by (h ₁,h ₂) ·x = h ₁ xh ₂ ⁻¹ · LetP(G, H) denote the group ofH ¹-pathsg: [0, 1] →G such that (g(0),g (1)) ∈H, and letP(G, H) act on the Hilbert spaceV = H ⁰([0, 1], g) isometrically byg * u = gug ⁻¹ −g′g ⁻¹. We prove that if the action ofH onG is polar with a flat section then the action ofP(G, H) onV is polar. Principal orbits of polar actions onV are isoparametric submanifolds ofV and are infinite-dimensional generalized real or complex flag manifolds. We also note that the adjoint actions of affine Kac-Moody groups and the isotropy action corresponding to an involution of an affine Kac-Moody group are special examples ofP(G, H)-actions for suitable choice ofH andG. Work supported partially by NSF Grant DMS 8903237 and by The Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik in Bonn.     

Invariant Einstein metrics on flag manifolds with four isotropy summands

A generalized flag manifold is a homogeneous space of the form G/K, where K is the centralizer of a torus in a compact connected semisimple Lie group G. We classify all flag manifolds with four isotropy summands by the use of \mathfrakt{\mathfrak{t}}-roots. We present new G-invariant Einstein metrics by solving explicity the Einstein equation. We also examine the isometric problem for these Einstein metrics.     

Maximality of compression semigroups

LetG be a connected semisimple Lie group andr an involution onG. Further letL be an open subgroup of the groupG ^r ofr-fixed points andP⊂-G a parabolic subgroup. The semigroupS(L,P)∶={g∈G∶gLP⊂-LP} is called the compression semigroup of theL-orbit of the base point in the flag manifoldG/P. We show that compression semigroups for open orbits and regular symmetric pairs are maximal semigroups. Supported by a DFG Heisenberg-grant.     

Global rigidity of holomorphic Riemannian metrics on compact complex 3-manifolds

We study compact complex 3-manifolds M admitting a (locally homogeneous) holomorphic Riemannian metric g. We prove the following: (i) If the Killing Lie algebra of g has a non trivial semi-simple part, then it preserves some holomorphic Riemannian metric on M with constant sectional curvature; (ii) If the Killing Lie algebra of g is solvable, then, up to a finite unramified cover, M is a quotient Γ\G, where Γ is a lattice in G and G is either the complex Heisenberg group, or the complex SOL group. S. Dumitrescu was partially supported by the ANR Grant BLAN 06-3-137237.     

A poisson formula for solvable Lie groups

Given a probability measure μ on a locally compact second countable groupG the space of bounded μ-harmonic functions can be identified withL ^∞(η, α) where (η, α) is a BorelG-space with a σ-finite quasiinvariant measure α. Our goal is to show that when μ is an arbitrary spread out probability measure on a connected solvable Lie groupG then the μ-boundary (η, α) is a contractive homogeneous space ofG. Our approach is based on a study of a class of strongly approximately transitive (SAT) actions ofG. A BorelG-space η with a σ-finite quasiinvariant measure α is called SAT if it admits a probability measurev≪α, such that for every Borel set A with α(A)≠0 and every ε>0 there existsg∈G with ν(gA)>1−ε. Every μ-boundary is a standard SATG-space. We show that for a connected solvable Lie group every standard SATG-space is transitive, characterize subgroupsH⊆G such that the homogeneous spaceG/H is SAT, and establish that the following conditions are equivalent forG/H: (a)G/H is SAT; (b)G/H is contractive; (c)G/H is an equivariant image of a μ-boundary.     

Nonnegatively curved fixed point homogeneous 5-manifolds

Let G be a compact Lie group acting effectively by isometries on a compact Riemannian manifold M with nonempty fixed point set Fix(M, G). We say that the action is fixed point homogeneous if G acts transitively on a normal sphere to some component of Fix(M, G), equivalently, if Fix(M, G) has codimension one in the orbit space of the action. We classify up to diffeomorphism closed, simply connected 5-manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature and an effective fixed point homogeneous isometric action of a compact Lie group.     

Einstein homogeneous bisymmetric fibrations

We consider a homogeneous fibration G/L → G/K, with symmetric fiber and base, where G is a compact connected semisimple Lie group and L has maximal rank in G. We suppose the base space G/K is isotropy irreducible and the fiber K/L is simply connected. We investigate the existence of G-invariant Einstein metrics on G/L such that the natural projection onto G/K is a Riemannian submersion with totally geodesic fibers. These spaces are divided in two types: the fiber K/L is isotropy irreducible or is the product of two irreducible symmetric spaces. We classify all the G-invariant Einstein metrics with totally geodesic fibers for the first type. For the second type, we classify all these metrics when G is an exceptional Lie group. If G is a classical Lie group we classify all such metrics which are the orthogonal sum of the normal metrics on the fiber and on the base or such that the restriction to the fiber is also Einstein.     

Unique ergodicity of flows on homogeneous spaces

LetG be a unimodular Lie group, Γ a co-compact discrete subgroup ofG and ‘a’ a semisimple element ofG. LetT _a be the mapgΓ →ag Γ:G/Γ →G/Γ. The following statements are pairwise equivalent: (1) (T _a, G/Γ,θ) is weak-mixing. (2) (T _a, G/Γ) is topologically weak-mixing. (3) (G ^u, G/Γ) is uniquely ergodic. (4) (G ^u, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic. (5) (G ^u, G/Γ) is point transitive. (6) (G ^u, G/Γ) is minimal. If in additionG is semisimple with finite center and no compact factors, then the statement “(T _a, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic” may be added to the above list. The authors were partially supported by NSF grant MCS 75-05250.