On the fundamental group of compact homogeneous manifolds carrying an invariant fat distribution (Q2628062)

The main result of the paper is the following: Let \(M=G/H\) be a homogeneous space of a compact Lie group \(G\). If \(M\) admits a \(G\)-invariant fat distribution, then \(\pi_1(M)\) is finite. The meaning of fatness is explained in the paper. Roughly, it is related to a property of the Levi-Tanaka form of the distribution. The key point in the proof is to show that the \(G\)-invariance of the fat distribution forces the Ricci tensor to be positive, so that (by homogeneity) Myer's theorem implies that \(\pi_1(M)\) is finite.