On certain isometric representations for multidimensional spaces of constant curvature (Q1186143)

The discovery by Kaluza-Klein of the possibility to unify gravitation and electromagnetism in the framework of 5-dimensional space-time with compactified fifth dimension clearly suggests the necessity of applying the known apparatus of multidimensional geometry to the unification procedure of all interactions, that is to say, it requires us of compactifying the initial \(D\)-dimensional manifold \(M_ D\) into the product of a space-time \(M_{1,3}\) and a compact manifold \(\Sigma_{D- 4}: M_ D=M_{1,3}\times \Sigma_{D-4}\). At this stage, the space of constant curvature, derived by projecting a higher dimensional pseudo- Euclidean space onto the space of one dimension lower, may be of particular importance. Under this point of view, Section 1 presents, as preparation for what follows, the isometric representation of a multidimensional space of constant curvature with various signature, and also presents the transition laws from one representation to another. After classifying all the indices involved in tensors in Section 2, Sections 3 and 4 describe in detail the scheme of decomposing pseudo- Riemannian spherical, hyperbolic and conical spaces into the direct product of two lower dimensional spaces. Section 5 gives an information on the stereographic projection, Cayley transform and Klein projection, which give rise to the respective representation of the space forms. The last section is a summary of results, stated in the form of commutative diagrams.