Kähler and symplectic structures on nilmanifolds (Q1120128)

\textit{W. P. Thurston} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 55, 467-468 (1976; Zbl 0324.53031)] described the first known example of a compact symplectic manifold which does not admit any Kähler structure; more examples of this sort of manifolds have been described more recently by the reviewer, \textit{M. Fernández} and \textit{A. Gray} [see, for instance, Topology 25, 375-380 (1986; Zbl 0596.53030)], or by \textit{D. McDuff} [J. Differ. Geom. 20, 267-277 (1984; Zbl 0567.53031)]. Most of these examples (with the exception of those by D. McDuff) are nilmanifolds, i.e. manifolds of the form \(\Gamma\) \(\setminus G\), where G is a connected simply-connected nilpotent Lie group and \(\Gamma\) is a co-compact discrete subgroup of G. In the paper under review, the authors show the following theorem: ``If a nilmanifold \(\Gamma\) \(\setminus G\) admids a Kähler structure, then G is Abelian and \(\Gamma\) \(\setminus G\) is diffeomorphic to a torus''; the proof relies on the fact that a compact Kähler manifold must satisfy the Hard Lefschetz theorem. \(\{\) Reviewer's remark: a different proof of the same result, resorting to the use of Massey products, has been given by the reviewer, \textit{M. Fernández} and \textit{A. Gray} [see Proc. Int. Conf. Topology and its Appl., Baku 3-9 October 1987, U.R.S.S.].\(\}\) Finally, the authors show how these compact symplectic nilmanifolds \(\Gamma\) \(\setminus G\) can be produced in a natural and systematic way by considering normal coadjoint orbits for some larger nilpotent Lie group.