Torsion and homogeneity on contact metric three-manifolds (Q1866738)

A Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\) is said to be ball-homogeneous if the volume of every sufficiently small geodesic ball does not depend on its center but is only a function of its radius. Let \(M\) be a contact metric manifold with the structure \((\eta,g,\varphi,\xi)\). \(M\) is said to be homogeneous if there exists a connected Lie group of isometries acting transitively on \(M\) and leaving \(\eta\) invariant and it is said to be locally homogeneous if the pseudogroup of local isometries acts transitively on \(M\) and leaves \(\eta\) invariant. A contact form \(\eta\) on a contact manifold \(M\) defines a nowhere zero volume form \(\eta\wedge d\eta\). \textit{H. Geiges} and \textit{J. Gonzalo} [Invent. Math. 121, 147-209 (1995; Zbl 1002.53501)] introduced the notion of a taut contact circle to be a pair \((\eta_1, \eta_2)\) of contact forms on \(M\) such that any linear combination \(\lambda_1\eta_1+\lambda_2 \eta_2\), for \((\lambda_1,\lambda_2)\) in the unit circle \(S^1\) of \(\mathbb{R}^2\), defines the same volume form . The torsion tensor \(\tau=\mathcal L_\xi g\), where \(\mathcal L\) is the Lie derivative, and the tensor \(\nabla_\xi\tau\), introduced by \textit{S. S. Chern} and \textit{R. S. Hamilton} [Arbeitstag. Bonn 1984, Proc. Meet. Max-Planck-Inst. Math., Bonn 1984, Lect. Notes Math. 1111, 279-305 (1985; Zbl 0561.53039)], play a fundamental role in the study of the geometry of contact metric manifolds. Recently, \textit{E. Boeckx, D. Perrone} and \textit{L. Vanhecke} [Period. Math. Hung. 36, 79-95 (1998; Zbl 0924.53014)] proved that the standard contact metric structure of the unit tangent sphere bundle \(T_1N\), where \(N\) is a 2- or odd-dimensional Riemannian manifold, satisfies the condition \((*)\) \(\nabla_\xi\tau=2a\tau\varphi\), where \(a\) is a constant, if and only if \(N\) is of constant sectional curvature. The condition \((*)\) is necessary for a contact metric 3-manifold to be homogeneous. In [Isr. J. Math. 114, 301-321 (1999; Zbl 0957.53017)] \textit{G. Calvaruso, D. Perrone} and \textit{L. Vanhecke} partially answer the question whether a 3-dimensional ball-homogeneous manifold is locally homogeneous or not. In this paper, the authors study some relationships between the tensor \(\nabla_{\xi}\tau\) on a contact metric manifold \((M,\eta,g,\varphi,\xi)\) and the homogeneity of that manifold. First, they classify 3-dimensional locally homogeneous contact metric manifolds satisfying the condition \((*)\) with \(a=0\) in terms of Lie groups equipped with left-invariant contact metric structures. Next, the authors prove that a three-dimensional contact metric manifold is locally homogeneous if and only if it is ball-homogeneous and satisfies the condition \((*)\). Finally, they show that a compact three-manifold admits a taut contact circle structure if and only if it admits a locally homogeneous contact metric structure such that \(\nabla_{\xi}\tau=0\).