Weakly symmetric pseudo-Riemannian nilmanifolds (Q2080645)

A Riemannian manifold \((M, g) \) is called weakly symmetric if for any geodesic \(\gamma(t)\) through a point \(x = \gamma(0) \in M \) there is an isometry \(s \) such that \(s \gamma(t)= \gamma(-t)\). This definition can be extended to pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, but sometimes one is interested in the existence of isometries for which the property \(s \gamma(t)= \gamma(-t)\) holds only for non-null geodesics. The authors systematically study pseudo-Riemannian weakly symmetric manifolds of the form \(M = G /H \) where \(G = N \rtimes H\) is a simply connected Lie group which is a semidirect product of a nilpotent normal subgroup \(N\) and a reductive group \(H\).\ It is shown that pseudo-Riemannian weakly symmetric manifolds of the form \(M= G/H=(N \rtimes H)/ H\) are closely related with Riemannian weakly symmetric manifolds \( M_r = G_r/H_r \), where \(H_r\) is the compact real form of the complex group \(H^{\mathbb{C}}\), \( G_r = N_r\rtimes H_r\) is a real form of \(G^{\mathbb{C}}\) and \( N_r\) is the real form of \(M^{\mathbb{C}}\). Since every weakly symmetric Riemannian manifold is a commutative space, the authors assume that, more generally, \(M\) and \(M_r\) are commutative nilmanifolds. Riemannian commutative nilmanifolds have been studied by many authors. In particular, \textit{È. B. Vinberg} [Russ. Math. Surv. 56, No. 1, 1--60 (2001; Zbl 0996.53034); translation from Usp. Mat. Nauk 56, No. 1, 3--62 (2001); Trans. Mosc. Math. Soc. 2003, 45--78 (2003; Zbl 1068.22015); translation from Tr. Mosk. Mat. O.-va 64, 54--89 (2003)] classified all maximal irreducible commutative nilmanifolds. Almost all manifolds from the Vinberg list are weakly symmetric Riemannian manifolds. The authors consider the complexification of these manifolds, describe the real forms of these complex manifolds and calculate the signature of the induced pseudo-Riemannian metric. This gives a large number of interesting new examples of psudo-Riemannian weakly symmetric spaces, in particular many new homogeneous Lorentz and trans-Lorentz (e.g., conformally Lorentz) manifolds.