The complex geometry of two exceptional flag manifolds (Q2210725)

The exceptional Lie group \(G_{2}\) admits two non-conjugate embeddings of \(U(2)\), we denote by \(Z\) and \(Q\) the two smooth quotients \(G_{2}/U(2)\) with their canonical complex structure. The variety \(Q\) is diffeomorphic to the quadric fivefold, and \(Z\) is the Salamon twistor space of the exceptional Wolf space. It is known that \(Z\) and \(Q\) carry, respectively, two and four invariant almost complex structures, up to conjugation. The paper under review computes the degree of all Chern polynomials of degree \(5\) of the different invariant complex structures of \(Z\) and \(Q\). Moreover, the authors prove that \(Z\) has a unique Kählerian complex structure. The same was proved for \(Q\) by \textit{E. Brieskorn} [Math. Ann. 155, 184--193 (1964; Zbl 0119.37703)]. The proof is based on the explicit calculation of the Chern numbers of any Kählerian manifold \(X\) homeomorphic to \(Z\). Such computations imply that \(X\) is a Fano fivefold of index and coindex \(3\), so that it is biholomorphic to \(Z\) by a result of [\textit{S. Mukai}, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, No. 9, 3000--3002 (1989; Zbl 0679.14020)]. The second theorem is a necessary condition for the Hopf problem. First of all, it is proved that \(Q\) is diffeomorphic, among others, to the projectivized holomorphic tangent and cotangent bundles of the \(6\)-sphere \(S^{6}\). Hence, if \(S^{6}\) admits a complex structure, then \(Q\) would be diffeomorphic to two different non-Kähler complex structures.