Conformally Einstein product spaces (Q344155)

This paper studies the pseudo-Riemannian Einstein manifolds which are (locally or globally) conformally equivalent to a metric product of two pseudo-Riemannian manifolds. Given two pseudo-Riemannian manifolds \((M_1,g_1)\) and \((M_2,g_2)\), then \(M_1\times M_2\) is nontrivially conformally Einstein if there exists a non-constant function \(f\) such that the metric \(\tilde{g}=f^{-2}(g_1+g_2)\) is Einstein on \(M_1\times M_2\). The main result (Theorem 3.2) states that either the Einstein metric is a warped product (and so the conformal factor \(f\) is constant along one of the factor manifolds, i.e., it depends only on one factor \(M_i\)), or else the conformal factor \(f\) has additively separated variables. The paper then examines the special case where one of these manifolds is \(1\)-dimensional. The authors also prove that if the conformal factor depends on both manifolds, and these manifolds are at least \(3\)-dimensional, then the Einstein metric on \(M_1\times M_2\) is the product of two Einstein metrics (each of them admitting a non-trivial conformal gradient field); a classification of this case is provided. The case where each factor is \(2\)-dimensional is also studied. In this case, special extremal metrics are found. Finally, an assertion made by \textit{A. L. Besse} [Einstein manifolds. Reprint of the 1987 edition. Berlin: Springer (2008; Zbl 1147.53001)] on \(4\)-dimensional Einstein warped product is proved. In the article there is a lot of corollaries (for examples, if \(\dim(M_1\times M_2)=4\) the authors provide a local classification of conformally Einstein products) and many examples: it has to be noted that explicit and integral solutions to the problem are provided in the examples. A short version of this paper is [in: Pure and applied differential geometry, PADGE 2012. In memory of Franki Dillen. Proceedings of the international conference, Leuven, Belgium, August 27--30, 2012. Aachen: Shaker. 161--167 (2013; Zbl 1301.53070)] The paper contains the following sections: Introductions and notation; Conformally Einstein spaces: basic equations; Conformally Einstein products: main theorem; Conformally Einstein products of type \(\mathbb{R}\times M_*\); \(4\)-dimensional conformally Einstein products: towards a classification.