Factoring a Lie group into a compactly embedded and a solvable subgroup (Q1568087)

Let \(G\) be a connected real Lie group. Then \(G\) admits a maximal compact subgroup \(K\) (unique up to conjugation). It is well-known that \(G\) can be decomposed as \(G=KS\) with \(K\cap S=\{e\}\) where \(e\) is the unit element and \(S\) is a closed submanifold of \(G\). If \(G\) is semisimple with finite center \(S\) can be chosen to be a solvable subgroup by Iwasawa's theorem. The same is true if \(G\) is the identity component of a real algebraic group. As can be seen from examples of semisimple Lie groups with infinite center, the natural setting of Iwasawa's theorem is to replace ``maximal compact'' by ``maximal compactly embedded''. This means that \(\text{Ad} (K)\) is relatively compact in the automorphism group of the Lie algebra \({\mathfrak g}\) of \(G\). In the paper under review the author shows that given a maximal compactly embedded subgroup \(K\) one can always find a connected solvable subgroup \(S\) of \(G\) such that \(G=KS\), \(K\cap S\) is the identity component of the center of \(G\), and \(S\) contains the nilradical of \(G\).