Indefinite extrinsic symmetric spaces (Q533693)

A submanifold \(M\) of a finite-dimensional real vector space \(V\) with an inner product (nondegenerate, but not necessarily positive definite) is extrinsic symmetric if it is nondegenerate in the sense that the inner product is nondegenerate on all its tangent spaces and if it is invariant under the reflections at all affine normal spaces of \(M\). Examples of extrinsic symmetric spaces are obtained in the following way: Given a pseudo-Riemannian symmetric space \(G/K\) with associated Cartan decomposition \({\mathfrak g} = {\mathfrak k} \oplus {\mathfrak p}\), and an element \(X \in \mathfrak p\) such that \({\mathrm{ad}}_X^3 = \lambda\, {\mathrm{ad}}_X\) for some \(\lambda \neq 0\), then the orbit \({\mathrm{Ad}}(K)(X)\) is extrinsic symmetric in \(\mathfrak p\). The authors call these extrinsic symmetric spaces of Ferus type, because Ferus proved that, in the case of a Euclidean ambient space, any full, indecomposable extrinsic symmetric space arises in this way. In this paper, the authors investigate the validity of this theorem in the indefinite case. If \(K\) is the transvection group of \(M\) and \(\mathfrak k\) its Lie algebra, then they can still construct a Lie algebra structure on \(\mathfrak g:=\mathfrak k \oplus V\) such that the decomposition \(\mathfrak g=\mathfrak k \oplus V\) is a Cartan decomposition, orthogonal with respect to an \({\mathrm{ad}}_{\mathfrak g}\)-invariant nondegenerate inner product. The question whether \(M\) is of Ferus type, i.e., if there exists \(X\in V\) with \({\mathrm{ad}}_X^3 = \lambda\, {\mathrm{ad}}_X\) such that \(M\) is the \(K\)-orbit through \(X\), is solved affirmatively under the additional assumption that the square of the shape operator in direction of the mean curvature vector \(H\) does not vanish. In the indefinite case, the Lie algebra \(\mathfrak g\) constructed here is not necessarily reductive. In a recent preprint of I. Kath, it is proven that the condition on the shape operator of \(H\) imposed here is equivalent to the semisimplicity of \(\mathfrak g\), and that therefore the extrinsic symmetric spaces covered by the authors' theorem coincide with those listed previously by \textit{H. Naitoh} [Osaka J. Math. 21, 733--764 (1984; Zbl 0556.53031)]. Also, a full description of indefinite extrinsic symmetric spaces was recently given by \textit{I. Kath} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 655, 105--127 (2011; Zbl 1222.53058)].