Infinitely many new families of complete cohomogeneity one \(G_2\)-manifolds: \(G_2\) analogues of the Taub-NUT and Eguchi-Hanson spaces (Q2039574)

Cohomogeneity-one Riemannian metrics are metrics admitting an isometric Lie group action with generic orbit of codimension one. These types of metrics play an important role in the construction of complete Ricci-flat or Einstein metrics, and in particular in the cases of metrics with holonomy equal to the compact exceptional Lie group \(G_2\). The cohomogeneity-one property allows to reduce the system of nonlinear partial differential equations that characterizes the Einstein or holonomy condition to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE's). In the paper the authors construct infinitely many new 1-parameter families of simply connected complete non-compact \(G_2\)-manifolds with controlled geometry at infinity. More precisely, they obtain infinitely many new 1-parameter families of complete simply connected cohomogeneity one \(G_2\)-manifolds, all with a cohomogeneity one action of \(G = \operatorname{SU}(2) \times \operatorname{SU}(2) \times \operatorname{U}(1).\) This construction is quite remarkable, since they get infinitely many new examples of simply connected \(G_2\)-manifolds with asymptotically conical (AC) geometry and previously the only known examples were the three classical ones constructed by \textit{R. L. Bryant} and \textit{S. M. Salamon} [Duke Math. J. 58, No. 3, 829--850 (1989; Zbl 0681.53021)]. They also recover all complete simply connected \(\operatorname{SU}(2) \times \operatorname{SU}(2) \times \operatorname{U}(1)\)-invariant \(G_2\)-manifolds. Moreover, the authors construct a closely related conically singular \(G_2\)-holonomy space. The metric is smooth away from a single isolated conical singularity, where the geometry becomes asymptotic to the \(G_2\)-cone over the standard nearly Kähler structure on the product of two 3-spheres, and it has asymptotically locally conical (ALC) geometry at infinity. In this way they show that this conically singular ALC \(G_2\)-space is the natural \(G_2\)-analogue of the Taub-NUT metric in 4-dimensional hyper-Kähler geometry and that their new AC \(G_2\)-metrics can be viewed as the analogues of the Eguchi-Hanson metric.