Homogeneous spaces with sections (Q1772012)

Let \(M\) be a connected complete Riemannian manifold. A section in \(M\) is a connected, totally geodesic, homogeneous submanifold \(\Sigma\) with the property that for all geodesics \(\gamma : {\mathbb R} \to M\) there exists an isometry \(g\) of \(M\) such that \(g \cdot \gamma({\mathbb R}) \subset \Sigma\) and \(g \cdot \gamma(0) = p\) for a fixed point \(p \in \Sigma\). If \(M\) admits a section \(\Sigma\) then \(M\) is said to be \(\Sigma\)-homogeneous. The authors show that each \(\Sigma\)-homogeneous space with \(\dim \Sigma = 2\) is locally symmetric. They also give examples of \(\Sigma\)-homogeneous spaces with \(\dim \Sigma \in \{3,4\}\) which are not locally symmetric. In fact, they classify all generalized Heisenberg groups which are \(N_3\)-homogeneous, where \(N_3\) is the three-dimensional Heisenberg group; and they classify all non-symmetric Damek-Ricci spaces which are \({\mathbb C} H^2\)-homogeneous, where \({\mathbb C} H^2\) is the two-dimensional complex hyperbolic space.