A class of locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric contact metric spaces (Q1300328)

\textit{T. Takahashi} [Tôhoku Math. J. 29, 91-113 (1977; Zbl 0343.53030)] introduced the notion of a (locally) \(\varphi\)-symmetric space in the context of Sasakian geometry as follows: a Sasakian space is locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric if it satisfies the curvature condition \(g((\nabla_XR) (Y,Z) V,W)=0\), for all vector fields \(X,Y,Z,V\) and \(W\) orthogonal to the characteristic vector field \(\xi\), where \(\nabla\) is the Levi Civita connection and \(R\) the associated Riemannian curvatue. This condition is equivalent for the local reflections with respect to the integral curves of \(\xi\) to be isometries. At least two different generalizations of the notion of a locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric space to the broader class of contact metric manifolds have been made: locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric in the weak sense, that is, contact metric spaces satisfying the above curvature condition, and locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric in the strong sense, contact metric spaces such that its characteristic reflections are local isometries. In the present paper, the author considers contact metric manifolds whose characteristic vector field \(\xi\) belongs to the \((k,\mu)\)-nullity distribution for some real numbers \(k\) and \(\mu\). This means that the curvature tensor \(R\) satisfies \(R(X,Y)\xi=k (\eta(Y) X-\eta(X)Y) +\mu (\eta (Y)hX- \eta(X) hY)\) for all vector fields \(X\) and \(Y\), where \(h\) denotes, up to a scaling factor, the Lie derivative of the structure tensor \(\varphi\) in the direction of \(\xi\). He proves that a non-Sasakian contact metric manifold, such that its characteristic vector field belongs to the \((k,\mu)\)-nullity distribution, is a locally homogeneous contact metric space. Moreover, these spaces are all locally \(\varphi\)-symmetric in the strong sense.