Complex structures on nilpotent Lie algebras (Q5931439)

Nilmanifolds form a class of spaces which have proved very useful for testing geometric conditions through topology. For instance, while there are many symplectic nilmanifolds, no non-toral nilmanifold can be Kähler. This is a purely rational homotopy consequence since nilmanifolds always have non-trivial Massey products. Also, by work of Nomizu, nilmanifold cohomology is the same as the Lie algebra cohomology of the nilpotent Lie algebra associated to the defining nilpotent Lie group. Thus, it is often sufficient to study nilmanifolds at the level of Lie algebras. In this paper, the author puts this approach into practice by considering complex (and symplectic) structures on nilpotent Lie algebras of dimension \(6\). He proceeds to classify \(6\)-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras for which the associated nilpotent Lie group has a left invariant complex structure (which therefore descends to the accompanying nilmanifold). This is done in an explicit manner and does not use the known classification of nilpotent Lie algebras of dimension \(6\). Finally, the author parametrizes complex (and symplectic) structures on \(6\)-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras and discusses associated deformations.