Pseudo-Riemannian manifolds with simple Jacobi operators. (Q1396386)

A (pseudo-)Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\) is called Osserman if the eigenvalues of the Jacobi operator \(R_X\) depend only on the norm of \(X\), but in no other way on the vector \(X\) at \(p\in M\). The present paper defines special Osserman manifolds by assuming additional conditions on the eigenvalues and eigenspaces of \(R_X\). The Riemannian Osserman manifolds are essentially known, accordingly the authors focus at the pseudo-Riemannian ones. Their main result reads: a complete and simply connected special pseudo-Osserman, manifold is isometric to a complex or paracomplex space form, or a quaternionic or paraquaternionic space form, or a plane over the octonions or the anti-octonions. Here a paracomplex or paraquaternionic structure is some modification of an almost complex or almost quaternionic structure, respectively.