Compactification of certain Clifford-Klein forms of reductive homogeneous spaces (Q2396615)

In this paper, the authors describe compactifications of certain families of reductive homogeneous spaces \(G/H\) by embedding \(G\) into a larger group \(G'\) and realizing \(G/H\) as a \(G\)-orbit in a flag manifold of \(G'\). Making use of these compactifications and a construction of domains of discontinuity, the authors compactify Clifford-Klein forms of \(G/H\), that is, quotient manifolds \(\Gamma\setminus G/H\) with \(\Gamma\) being a word hyperbolic group whose action on \(G/H\) is given by an Anosov representation \(\rho:\Gamma\to C\hookrightarrow G'\), and they show that these Clifford-Klein forms are topologically tame, that is, homeomorphic to interiors of compact manifolds with boundary. Any real reductive Lie group \(G\) can be seen as an affine symmetric space \((G\times G)/\roman{Diag}(G)\) under the action of \(G\times G\) by left and right multiplication. \(G\) with this structure is called a group manifold. The authors consider the case when \(G\) is \(\roman{O}(p,q)\), \(\roman{O}(m,\mathbb C)\), \(\roman{Sp}(2n,\mathbb R)\), \(\roman{Sp}(2n,\mathbb C)\), \(\roman{Sp}(p,q)\), \(\roman{U}(p,q)\), or \(\roman{O}^*(2m)\). In other words, \(G=\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b)\) is the group of \(\mathbb K\)-linear automorphisms of a nondegenerate \(\mathbb R\)-bilinear form \(b:V\otimes_{\mathbb R}V\to \mathbb K\) on a \(\mathbb K\)-vector space \(V\) for \(\mathbb K=\mathbb R\), \(\mathbb C\), or the ring \(\mathbb H\) of quaternions, and \(b\) is \(\mathbb K\)-linear in the second variable and symmetric or antisymmetric if \(\mathbb K=\mathbb R\) or \(\mathbb C\), or Hermitian or anti-Hermitian if \(\mathbb K=\mathbb C\) or \(\mathbb H\). A smooth compactification of \(G=\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b)\) is described by embedding it into the compact space of maximal \((b\oplus-b)\)-isotropic \(\mathbb K\)-subspaces of \((V\oplus V,b\oplus-b)\). If \(n\in\mathbb N\) is the real rank of \(G=\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b)\) and \(N=\dim_{\mathbb K}(V)\geq 2n\) is the real rank of \(\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b\oplus-b)\), then \(\mathcal{F}_i(b)=\mathcal{F}_i(-b)\) is the space of \(i\)-dimensional \(b\)-isotropic subspaces of \(V\) for \(1\leq i\leq n\). The main result of this paper states that for \(G=\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b)\) the space \(X=\mathcal{F}_N(b\oplus-b)\) of maximal \((b\oplus-b)\)-isotropic \(\mathbb K\)-subspaces of \(V\oplus V\) is a smooth compactification of the group manifold \((G\times G)/\roman{Diag}(G)\). Also, the authors construct a compactification of the orbifold \(\rho(\Gamma)\backslash G\), where a discrete group \(\Gamma\) is word hyperbolic and a representation \(\rho:\Gamma\to G=\roman{Aut}_{\mathbb K}(b)\) is \(P_1(b)\)-Anosov for the stabilizer \(P_1(b)\) in \(G\) of a \(b\)-isotropic line. Moreover, it is shown that if \(\Gamma\) is a torsion-free word hyperbolic group, \(G\) is a real reductive algebraic group, and \(P\) is a proper parabolic subgroup of \(G\), then for any \(P\)-Anosov representation \(\rho:\Gamma\to G\), the quotient \(\rho(\Gamma)\backslash G\) is a topologically tame manifold.