Closed geodesics on compact nilmanifolds with Chevalley rational structure (Q1003133)

A compact Riemannian manifold \(M\) is said to satisfy the DCG property if the vectors tangent to unit speed closed geodesics are dense in the unit tangent bundle of \(M\). This is a central notion in the study of the distribution of closed geodesics on compact 2-step nilmanifolds, which commenced with \textit{P. Eberlein} [Ann. Sci. Ec. Norm. Super. (4) 27, No. 5, 611--660 (1994; Zbl 0820.53047)], \textit{M. Mast} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 43, No. 3, 885--911 (1994; Zbl 0818.53065)] and \textit{K. Lee, K. Park} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 45, No. 1, 1--14 (1996; Zbl 0862.53037)]. Recently, \textit{L. DeMeyer} [Manuscr. Math. 105, No. 3, 283--310 (2001; Zbl 1076.53049)] proved that, for manifolds \(M=\Gamma \backslash N\) constructed from a simply connected 2-step nilpotent Lie group \(N\) with a lattice \(\Gamma\), under certain restrictions on the group \(N\), the DCG property holds in \(M\). In this paper the author establishes new criteria to establish the DCG property on nilmanifolds \(\Gamma \backslash N\) constructed from a 2-step nilpotent group \(N\) and a lattice \(\Gamma\). The method of proof depends on showing the density of curves passing through lattice points, and is a valuable step forward in the study of the distribution of closed geodesics.