Homogeneous and inhomogeneous isoparametric hypersurfaces in rank one symmetric spaces (Q2238198)

We recall first the definition of a cohomogeneity-one action on a Riemannian manifold: this is a proper isometric action whose principal orbits are hypersurfaces. This paper is an important contribution to the folowing problem: find all cohomogeneity one actions on a given Riemannian manifold, or, equivalently, classify the homogeneous hypersurfaces up to isometric congruence. The case of Riemannian symmetric spaces of noncompact type and rank one has been considered. The problem has been solved by \textit{É. Cartan} [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 17, 177--191 (1938; JFM 64.1361.02); Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 17, 177--191 (1938; Zbl 0020.06505)] in the case of a real hyperbolic space. It has been solved by \textit{J. Berndt} and \textit{H. Tamaru} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 359, No. 7, 3425--3438 (2007; Zbl 1117.53041)] in the case of a complex hyperbolic space and in the case of the Cayley hyperbolic space. But the case of a quaternionic hyperbolic space remainded unsolved until the authors obtain the results which are the subject of the present paper. The problem leads to a linear algebraic problem about the protohomogeneous subspaces \(V\) in the quaternonic space \(\mathbb{H}^n\). The real subspace \(V\) is said to be protohomogeneous if there exists a connected Lie subgroup of \(\mathrm{Sp}(1)\mathrm{Sp}(n)\) that acts transitively on the unit sphere of \(V\). In order to study such a subspace one considers the quaternionic Kähler angle of \(V\) which is a triple \((\varphi _1,\varphi _2,\varphi _3)\) of real numbers. This concept plays an important role in this topic. Let \(\mathcal{I}\) be the subspace of real endomorphisms of \(\mathbb{H}^n\) generated by right multiplication by the elements \(i,j,k\) of \(\mathbb{H}\), and, for \(v\in V\), consider the symmetric bilinear form \(L_v\) defined on \(\mathcal{I}\) by \[L_v(J,J')=\langle P_J v,P_{J'}v\rangle\quad (J,J'\in \mathcal{J}),\] and \(P_J=\pi _V\circ J\), where \(\pi _V\) is the orthogonal projection on \(V\). One says that \(V\) has constant quaternionic Kähler angle \((\varphi _1,\varphi _2,\varphi _3)\) if, for any \(v\in V\), the symmetric bilinear form \(L_v\) has eigenvalues \(\cos ^2 \varphi _1\), \(\cos ^2 \varphi _2\), \(\cos ^2 \varphi _3\). A protohomogeneous subspace \(V\) of \(\mathbb{H}^n\) has constant quaternionic angle. The first main result is the classification, up to congruence by elements in \(\mathrm{Sp}(1)\mathrm{Sp}(n)\), of the protohomogeneous subspaces of \(\mathbb{H}^n\) with their quaternionic Kähler angles. The largest part of the paper is devoted to the proof of this classification. Then, as a consequence, the classification of a cohomogeneity-one actions on a quaternionic hyperbolic space is obtained.