An example of a compact calibrated manifold associated with the exceptional Lie group \(G_ 2\) (Q1083035)

The author gives an example of a compact 7-dimensional manifold \(V^ 7\) with a 2-fold vector cross product such that the associated 3-form is closed. This manifold is a \(G_ 2\) analogue of a symplectic manifold, and like Kodaira-Thurston's manifold it can be realized as a nilmanifold. The Kodaira-Thurston manifold cannot be Kählerian for topological reasons. We show that with respect to the natural metric, \(V^ 7\) does not have a parallel vector cross product, so the holonomy group is not a subgroup of \(G_ 2\).