Ambient connections realising conformal tractor holonomy (Q2466855)

A Riemannian conformal structure on a smooth \(n\)-manifold \(M\) gives rise to a connection on an invariantly defined rank \(n+2\) vector bundle over \(M \) with structure group \({\text{SO}}(n+1,1)\), equivalent to the well-known Cartan connection of conformal differential geometry. In many ways, this `tractor' connection replaces the Levi-Civita connection of Riemannian geometry. In particular, its holonomy provides an interesting conformal invariant. In this article, the authors show that this `tractor holonomy' may be realised as the affine holonomy of a suitable connection, possibly with torsion, on an `ambient space,' a Lorentzian manifold of dimension \(n+2\) containing the bundle of conformal scales over~\(M\). The terminology derives from the ambient metric construction of \textit{C. L.~Fefferman} and \textit{C. R.~Graham} [``Conformal invariants'', in Élie Cartan et les mathématiques d'aujourd'hui, The mathematical heritage of Élie Cartan, Sémin. Lyon 1984, Astérisque, No. Hors Sér. 1985, 95--116 (1985; Zbl 0602.53007)] but here the notion is weakened along the lines suggested by \textit{A.~Čap} and \textit{A. R.~Gover} [Ann.\ Global Anal.\ Geom.\ 24, No. 3, 231--259 (2003; Zbl 1039.53021)] so that the ambient space need not be Ricci-flat. Roughly speaking, the ambient connection chosen by the authors has the Cotton tensor of the original metric as its torsion. In particular, if there is a metric in the conformal class whose Cotton tensor vanishes (a so-called \(C\)-space), then the conformal holonomy is realised as the Lorentzian holonomy of a suitable ambient metric (and is therefore a Berger algebra). More restrictively, if there is an Einstein metric in the conformal class, then this ambient metric coincides with the Fefferman-Graham construction.