Two-step homogeneous geodesics in pseudo-Riemannian manifolds (Q2663177)

The authors study two-step homogeneous geodesics, a generalization of homogeneous geodesics, in pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous spaces. The definition of a pseudo-Riemannian two-step homogeneous geodesic (Definition 1.1) is inspired by the Riemannian analogue in [\textit{A. Arvanitoyeorgos} and \textit{N. P. Souris}, Taiwanese J. Math. 20, No. 6, 1313--1333 (2016; Zbl 1357.53053)]. A pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous space is a two-step geodesic orbit space (two-step g.o. space) if all geodesics are two-step homogeneous. The article claims to initiate a systematic study of such geodesics and in which spaces they appear. Criteria for a geodesic to be two-step homogeneous are given in Theorem 3.1 and the results of Section 4. Section 5 provides criteria for a pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous manifold to be a two-step homogeneous space. Section 6 exhibits an example of a two-step g.o. space which is not a geodesic orbit space. Finally the left-invariant two-step homogeneous Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian metrics on \(\operatorname{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\) are classified.