Connecting geodesics and security of configurations in compact locally symmetric spaces (Q2498419)

A set \(D\) in a Riemannian manifold \(M\) is a blocking set for a set \(\Gamma\) of geodesic segments in \(M\) if every element of \(\Gamma\) contains at least one point of \(D\) in its (relative) interior. An (unordered) pair of points \(\{x,y\}\) of \(M\) is secure if the set of geodesic segments connecting \(x\) and \(y\) admits a finite blocking set. Finally, \(M\) is secure if and only if all pairs of points of \(M\) are secure. In this nice paper the authors study the security of pairs of points in compact locally symmetric spaces. The main results are: no pair in a compact locally symmetric space of noncompact type is secure; the set of secure pairs in a compact locally symmetric space of compact type contains an open dense set; a compact locally symmetric space is secure if and only if it is of Euclidean type.