Curvature homogeneous manifolds in dimension 4 (Q2050613)

A Riemannian manifold \(M\) is called \textbf{curvature homogeneous} if, for any points \(p,q\in M\), there exists a linear isometry \(f:T_pM \to T_qM\) that preserves the curvature tensors: \(f^*R_q=R_p\). \textit{I. M. Singer} asked [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 13, 685--697 (1960; Zbl 0171.42503)] whether a curvature homogeneous manifold is always \textbf{homogeneous}, that is, its isometry group acts transitively on it. There exist several counterexamples; see [\textit{E. Boeckx} et al., Riemannian manifolds of conullity two. Singapore: World Scientific (1996; Zbl 0904.53006)] and the references therein. Concerning cohomogeneity-one manifolds (i.e., Riemannian manifolds on which a Lie group \(G\) acts whose generic orbits are hypersurfaces), \textit{K. Tsukada} [Tôhoku Math. J. 40, 221--244 (1988; Zbl 0651.53037)] constructed a complete metric on a two-dimensional vector bundle over \(P^2(\mathbb R)\), the normal bundle of the Veronese surfaces \(P^2(\mathbb R)\subset P^2(\mathbb C)\). The main result of the paper under review shows that, for a 4-dimensional simply connected Riemannian manifold \(M\) and a cohomogeneity-one action on it by a compact Lie group \(G\), any smooth complete curvature homogeneous \(G\)-invariant metric is either isometric to a symmetric space or to the Tsukada example.