Transitive actions of locally compact groups on locally contractible spaces (Q2344045)

Recall that a locally compact group \(G\) is called almost connected if \(G/G^0\) is compact, where \(G^0\) is the identity component. In [Acta Sci. Math. 36, 323--344 (1974; Zbl 0269.57019)], \textit{J. Szenthe} stated: If a \(\sigma\)-compact, almost connected locally compact group \(G\) acts as a transitive and faithful transformation group on a locally contractible space \(X\), then \(X\) is a manifold and \(G\) is a Lie group. However, it turned out that one of Szenthe's key lemmas is false [\textit{S. A. Antonyan}, Arch. Math. 98, No. 6, 555--560 (2012; Zbl 1245.22007)]. In the article, the authors close this gap and generalize Szenthe's result. Independent corrections were obtained simultaneously by \textit{S. Antonyan} and \textit{T. Dobrowolski} [Forum Math. 27, No. 4, 2157--2175 (2015; Zbl 1342.22033)] and \textit{A. A. George Michael} [``On locally contractible homogeneous spaces'', Preprint, (2012)]. The main results can be stated as follows. Theorem A. Let \(G\) be a compact group, \(K\subseteq G\) be a closed subgroup and \(N:=\bigcap_{g\in G}gKg^{-1}\) be the kernel of the \(G\)-action on \(X:=G/K\). If \(X\) contains a non-empty open subset which is contractible in \(X\), then \(X\) is a closed manifold and \(G/N\) is a compact Lie group acting transitively on \(X\). Theorem B. Let \(G\) be a locally compact group, \(K\subseteq G\) be a closed subgroup and \(N:=\bigcap_{g\in G}gKg^{-1}\) be the kernel of the \(G\)-action on \(X:=G/K\). If \(X\) is locally contractible, then \(X\) is a manifold. If, moreover, \(X\) is connected or \(G\) is almost connected, then \(G/N\) is a Lie group acting transitively on \(X\). In an erratum [J. Reine Angew. Math. 702, 245--246 (2015; Zbl 1330.22024)], the authors notice that the proof of Lemma 3.4 of the article under review is incorrect, and furnish a correct proof.