Dolbeault cohomology for \(G_2\)-manifolds (Q1381448)

Cocalibrated \(G_2\)-manifolds are 7-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with a distinguished 3-form which is coclosed. \textit{S. Salamon} [in `Riemannian geometry and holonomy groups' (Pitman Res. Notes Math. Ser. 201, Longman, Harlow) (1989; Zbl 0685.53001)] defined a differential complex \(({\mathcal A}^q (M), \breve D_q)\) related with the \(G_2\)-structure of \(M\). In the present paper, the authors study this complex and its cohomology groups \(\breve H^q (M)\); they turn out to be the \(G_2\) analogues of the Dolbeault complex and the Dolbeault cohomology, respectively, of a complex manifold. Then, special properties of the groups \(\breve H^q (M)\) of a cocalibrated \(G_2\)-manifold and, in particular, of a \(G_2\)-manifold whose holonomy group is contained in \(G_2\), are shown; these properties lead to topological obstructions for a 7-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold \(M\) to have a subgroup of \(G_2\) as holonomy group, obstructions which are expressed in terms of the Betti numbers of \(M\), adding new conditions to those first found by \textit{E. Bonan} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. A 262, 127-129 (1966; Zbl 0134.39402)]. Furthermore, a natural spectral sequence that relates the groups \(\breve H^q (M)\) to the de Rham groups of \(M\) is considered (this is the \(G_2\) analogue of Fröhlicher's spectral sequence for a complex manifold), and its degeneracy is studied; in particular, examples of compact nilmanifolds with no degenerated spectral sequence are constructed and, in order to compute \(\breve H^q(M)\) for them, an ``approximation to the Nomizu theorem'' is obtained [\textit{K. Nomizu}, Ann. Math., II. Ser. 59, 531-538 (1954; Zbl 0058.02202)].