Metrics with prescribed Ricci curvature of constant rank. I: The integrable case (Q1300959)

Let \(X\) be a real analytic manifold of dimension at least three and \(R\) a given symmetric two-form on \(X\). In the paper under review, the authors are looking for a (local) Riemannian metric \(g\) on \(X\) which has \(R\) as its Ricci curvature tensor \(\text{Ric}(g)\). The corresponding system of partial differential equations for the metric \(g\), \(\text{Ric}(g)=R\), is highly nonlinear and nonelliptic. It is overdetermined because of Bianchi's identity. When \(R\) is nondegenerate, it was shown by \textit{D. M. DeTurck} [Invent. Math. 65, 179-207 (1981; Zbl 0489.53014)] that a local solution always exists. The subject of the present article is the case when \(R\) is degenerate. This is much more involved and local existence is not always guaranteed. Here, the authors assume that \(R\) has constant rank and that the kernel \(K\) of the associated morphism \(R^\flat\colon TX \to T^*X\) is an integrable subbundle of \(TX\). For this case, they give a sufficient condition for the existence of local metrics with the given tensor \(R\) as Ricci tensor. When \(K\) is a line bundle, necessary and sufficient conditions are given. The nonintegrable case will be analyzed in a forthcoming publication.