The affine quasi-Einstein equation for homogeneous surfaces (Q1673768)

Let \(M\) be an \(n\)-dimensional smooth manifold, \(n\geq 2\). The authors develop a study of the affine quasi-Einstein equation for homogeneous surfaces. Using the modified Riemannian extension, they obtain new conformally flat generalised quasi-Einstein neutral signature \((2,2)\)-manifolds, new conformally Einstein manifolds and also new warped Einstein manifolds. A pair \(\mathcal{M}=(M,\nabla)\) is said to be an affine manifold if \(\nabla\) is a torsion-free connection on the tangent bundle of \(M\). Thus, the Christoffel symbols are symmetric \(\Gamma^{k}_{ij}=\Gamma^{k}_{ji}\). The Hessian of a function \(f\in C^{\infty}(M)\) is the symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field (notation: \(\partial_{i}=\frac{\partial}{\partial_{x_{i}}}\)) \[ \mathcal{H}_{\nabla}f=\nabla^{2}f=\partial_{i}\partial_{j}f-\Gamma^{k}_{ij}\partial_{k}fdx^{i}\otimes dx^{j}. \] The Hessian defines the second-order partial differential operator \(\mathcal{H}_{\nabla}:C^{\infty}(M)\rightarrow C^{\infty}(S^{2}(M))\). The curvature operator and the Ricci tensor \(\rho_{\nabla}\) are defined by \[ R_{\nabla}(x,y)=\nabla_{x}\nabla_{y}- \nabla_{y}\nabla_{x}-\nabla_{[x,y]},\quad \rho_{\nabla}=Tr\{z\to R_{\nabla}(z,x)y\}. \] If \(\nabla\) is the Levi-Civita connection, the Ricci tensor is symmetric. For affine manifolds, this is no longer true. The symmetrization \(\rho_{s,\nabla}(x,y)\) and the anti-symmetrization \(\rho_{a,\nabla}(x,y)\) of the Ricci tensor are given by \[ \rho_{s,\nabla}(x,y)=\frac{1}{2}\big(\rho_{\nabla}(x,y)+\rho_{\nabla}(y,x)\big), \text{ and } \rho_{a,\nabla}(x,y)=\frac{1}{2}\big(\rho_{\nabla}(x,y)-\rho_{\nabla}(y,x)\big), \] respectively. The tensor \(\rho_{s,\nabla}(x,y)\) is used to define a \(0^{th}\)-order perturbation of the Hessian named the affine quasi-Einstein operator \[ \mathcal{D}_{\mu,\nabla}f=\mathcal{H}_{\nabla}f-\mu f\rho_{s,\nabla}.\tag{1} \] The eigenvalue \(\mu\) is a parameter for the theory. The affine quasi-Einstein equation is \[ \mathcal{D}_{\mu,\nabla}f=0,\tag{2} \] Associated to \(\mu\) we have the eigenspace \[ E(\mu,\nabla)=\operatorname{ker}(\mathcal{D}_{\mu,\nabla})=\{f\in C^{\infty}(M); \;\mathcal{H}_{\nabla}f=\mu f\rho_{s,\nabla}\}.\tag{3} \] The authors remark that \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] \(E(0,\nabla)=\operatorname{ker}(\mathcal{H}_{\nabla})\) is the set of Yamabe solutions. \item[(ii)] if \(\rho_{s,\nabla}=0\), then \(E(\mu,\nabla)=E(0,\nabla)\), for any \(\mu\). \item[(iii)] if \(\mu\neq 0\) and \(f>0\), by considering the function \(\hat{f}=-2\mu^{-1}\log(f)\), i.e., \(f=e^{-\frac{1}{2}\mu \hat{f}}\), the equation (1) converts into the non-linear equation \end{itemize} \[ \mathcal{H}_{\nabla}\hat{f}+2\rho_{s,\nabla}-\frac{1}{2}d\hat{f}\otimes d\hat{f}=0. \tag{4} \] They call attention upon the fact that equation (4) plays an important role in the study of quasi-Einstein equations in neutral signature geometry [the first author et al., Int. J. Math. 29, No. 1, Article ID 1850002, 25 p. (2018; Zbl 1395.53040)]. Let \(\mathcal{N}=(N,g,F,\mu_{N})\) be a quadruple where \((N,g)\) is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold of dimension \(n\), \(F\in C^{\infty}(N)\) and \(\mu_{N}\in\mathbb{R}\). Let \(\nabla^{g}\) be the Levi-Civita connection of \(g\), so the associated Ricci tensor \(\rho_{g}\) is a symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field. In this setting \(\mathcal{N}\) is a quasi-Einstein manifold if \[ \mathcal{H}_{\nabla^{g}}F+2\rho_{g}-\mu_{N}dF\otimes dF=\lambda g, \;\lambda\in\mathbb{R}. \tag{5} \] \(\mathcal{N}\) is said to isotropic if \(\mid\mid dF\mid\mid=0\). By restricting to dimension \(n=4\), the Walker geometry plays an important role by means of the deformed Riemannian extension [the first author et al., J. Math. Soc. Japan 70, No. 1, 25--70 (2018; Zbl 1394.53021); Zbl 1395.53040]. Let \((x_{1},x_{2})\) be local coordinates on an affine surface \(\mathcal{M}=(M,\nabla)\), and let \((y_{1},y_{2})\) be the corresponding dual coordinates on the cotangent bundle \(T^{*}M\), i.e., a 1-form \(\omega\) is expressed locally by \(\omega=y_{1}dx^{1}+y_{2}dx^{2}\). Let \(\Phi\) be an auxiliary symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field. The deformed Riemannian extension is given by \textit{E. Calviño-Louzao} et al. [Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A, Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 465, No. 2107, 2023--2040 (2009; Zbl 1186.53056)] \[ g_{\nabla,\Phi}=2dx^{i}\otimes dy_{i}+\big\{-2y_{k}\Gamma^{k}_{ij}+\Phi_{ij}\big\}dx^{i}\circ dx^{j}. \] They remark that these neutral signature metrics are invariants defined. Letting \(\pi:T^{\ast}M\rightarrow M\) be the natural projection, the following identities are verified for any \(\hat{f}\in C^{\infty}(M)\): \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] \(\mathcal{H}_{g_{\nabla,\Phi}}\pi^{\ast}\hat{f}=\pi^{\ast}\mathcal{H}_{\nabla}\hat{f}\), \item[(ii)] \(\rho_{g_{\nabla,\Phi}}=2\pi^{\ast}\rho_{s,\nabla}\), \item[(iii)] \(\| d\pi^{\ast}\hat{f}\|_{g_{\nabla,\Phi}}=0\). \end{itemize} Theorem A. Let \((M,\nabla)\) be an affine surface and assume \(\hat{f}\in C^{\infty}(M)\) satisfies Equation (3), or equivalently, \(f=e^{-\frac{1}{2}\mu \hat{f}}\in E(\mu,\nabla)\). Let \(F=\pi^{\ast}\hat{f}\), and let \(\Phi\) be an arbitrary symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field on \(M\). If \(\mu_{T^{\ast}M}=\frac{\mu}{2}\), then \((T^{\ast}M,g_{\nabla,\Phi},F,\mu_{T^{\ast}M})\) is a self-dual isotropic quasi-Einstein Walker manifold of signature \((2,2)\) with \(\lambda=0\). The article calls attention upon the fact that given a quasi-Einstein manifold \((N,g,F,\mu_{N})\), where \(\mu_{N}=1/r\), \(r\) a positive integer, there exists an appropriate Einstein fiber \(E\) of dimension \(r\) so that the warped product \(N\times_{\psi} E\) is Einstein where \(\psi=e^{-1F/r}\), see [\textit{B. Opozda}, Differ. Geom. Appl. 21, No. 2, 173--198 (2004; Zbl 1063.53024)]. Applying Theorem A, the authors construct self-dual isotropic quasi-Einstein Walker manifolds of neutral signature \((2,2)\) from quasi-Einstein surfaces. They remark the importance of getting solutions to the affine quasi-Einstein Equation (2) for general \(\mu\), in particular, for \(\mu=2/r\). They claim that the parameter \(\mu=-\frac{1}{n-2}\) is a distinguished value. For \(n\geq 3\), \((N,g,f,\mu=-\frac{1}{n-2})\) is a quasi-Einstein manifold iff the metric \(e^{-\frac{2}{n-2}f}g\) is Einstein [\textit{W. Kühnel} and \textit{H.-B. Rademacher}, in: Recent developments in pseudo-Riemannian geometry. Zürich: European Mathematical Society. 261--298 (2008; Zbl 1155.53037)]. In the case \(n=4\), because \(\mu_{T^{\ast}M}=\frac{1}{2}\mu_{M}\), given a solution with parameter \(\mu_{m}=-\frac{1}{m-1}\), they obtain a conformally Einstein Riemannian extension \((T^{\ast}M,g_{\nabla},\Phi)\) [\textit{E. M. Patterson} and \textit{A. G. Walker}, Q. J. Math., Oxf. II. Ser. 3, 19--28 (1952; Zbl 0048.15603)]. A local description of homogeneous affine surfaces has been given by Opozda [loc. cit.]. They fall into 3 families: \begin{itemize} \item[{\((\mathcal{A})\)}] there exists a coordinate atlas so that the Christoffel symbols \(\Gamma^{k}_{ij}\) are constant. (generalizes the Euclidean connection) \item[{\((\mathcal{B})\)}] There exists a coordinate atlas so that the Christoffel symbols have the form \(\Gamma^{k}_{ij}=(x^{1})^{-1}C^{k}_{ij}\), for some constant \(C^{k}_{ij}\) and \(x^{1}>0\). (generalizes the hyperbolic plane) \item[{\((\mathcal{C})\)}] \(\nabla\) is the Levi-Civita connection of a metric of constant Gauss curvature. \end{itemize} Theorem A is applied to obtain non-trivial solutions of the affine quasi-Einstein Equation (2) for the geometries of types \(\mathcal{A}\) and \(\mathcal{B}\). This leads to new examples of half conformally flat and conformally Einstein isotropic quasi-Einstein manifolds of signature \((2,2)\). Using the results from [\textit{D.-S. Kim} and \textit{Y. H. Kim}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 131, No. 8, 2573--2576 (2003; Zbl 1029.53027)], they construct new higher-dimensional Einstein manifolds. Their methods rely strongly on the dimension of the eigenspaces defined in Equation (3).