Maximal symmetry and unimodular solvmanifolds (Q1741439)

Every Lie algebra has a unique, maximal solvable ideal, called the radical. A solvable Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ is called completely solvable if $\text{ad}_X:\mathfrak{g}\to\mathfrak{g}$ has only real eigenvalues for all $X\in\mathfrak{g}$. It is known that for any Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ there exists a unique maximal ideal $\mathfrak{s}$ which is completely solvable. If $G$ is a Lie group, then a left-invariant metric $g$ on $G$ is said to be maximally symmetric if for any other left-invariant metric $g'$, there exists a diffeomorphism $\varphi\in\mathfrak{Diff}(G)$ such that $\text{Isom}(M,g')\subset\text{Isom}(M,\varphi^*g)=\varphi\,\text{Isom}(M,g)\,\varphi^{-1}$, and $G$ is called a maximal symmetry space if it admits a metric of maximal symmetry. If $S$ is a nilpotent or completely solvable unimodular group, then it is a maximal symmetry space. For nonunimodular completely solvable groups the situation is not so clear, however in [J. Differ. Geom. 111, No. 1, 1--38 (2019; Zbl 1415.53037)], the present author and \textit{C. S. Gordon} proved that any left-invariant Einstein metric of negative Ricci curvature on a solvable Lie group is maximally symmetric, and the Einstein metric has the largest isometry group. \par In this paper, the author proves that if $R$ is a simply connected, unimodular solvable Lie group, then $R$ is a maximal symmetry space. Also, it is shown that if $R$ is a simply connected, unimodular solvable Lie group which admits a Ricci soliton metric, then the Ricci soliton has maximal symmetry among $R$-invariant metrics.