On the geometry of the space of oriented lines of Euclidean space (Q2573734): Difference between revisions

This paper deals with the existence of pseudo-Riemannian metrics on the space of oriented lines of \(\mathbb R^n\), which are invariant unter the action of a closed, connected, transitive subgroup of Euclidean isometries. The main theorem asserts that such a pseudo-Riemannian metric exists if and only if the dimension \(n\) is \(3\) or \(7\). It is shown first that a closed, connected group of Euclidean isometries \(H\) that acts transitively on the space of oriented lines is a semidirect product of \(K\) and \(\mathbb R^n\), with \(K\subset SO(n)\) is a closed subgroup acting transitively on \(S^{n-1}\). If we add the restriction of the existence of an invariant pseudo-Riemannian metric, then \(K\) has to be the isometry group of a tensor product in either the quaternions of trace zero (\(n=3\), \(K=SO(3)\)) or the octonions of trace zero (\(n=7\), \(K=G_2\)). It is shown that there are two such pseudo-Riemannian metrics in each dimension, that are Kähler for \(n=3\) or pseudo-Kähler for \(n=7\).