No label defined (Q4516132)

The action of an isometry group \(G\) of a Riemannian manifold \(M\) which is closed in the full isometry group has many good properties. For example, it is proper, all orbits are closed, all stabilizers are compact and the orbit space is a metric space. In the case of a Lorentz manifold \(M\) the situation becomes more complicated and the action of an isometry group \(G\) is not proper in general. The main aim of the book is to study global properties of isometry groups of Lorentz manifolds \(M\) and in particular to give a description of Lie groups which admit isometric non-proper actions on a Lorentz manifold \(M\). Chapters 1-5 contain some basic results from topology and differential topology, theory of foliations, transformation groups, theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras. Subalgebras of the Lorentz Lie algebra \(so(1,n)\) are studied in Chapter 6. In particular, the author proves that the only semisimple subalgebras of \(so(1,n)\) without compact ideal are standardly embedded subalgebras \(so(1,m)\), \(m <n\). Chapter 7 presents Kowalski lemma and its generalizations, which give a powerful tool for the study of isometric actions of semisimple Lie groups. Chapters 8-10 collect some examples of isometric action of Lie groups on compact and non-compact Lorentz manifolds. A theorem is stated that the only semisimple Lie groups \(G\) with finite centre which admit a non-proper isometric action on a Lorentz manifold are groups locally isomorphic to \(SO(1,n)\) or \(SO(2,n)\). A description of Lie groups, which admit isometric action on a compact Lorentz manifold \(M\) and which are isomorphic to the connected isometry group of \(M\), is given in Chapter 11 and 12. The list of such groups is very short. Chapter 13 presents a construction of all compact Lorentz manifolds whose isometry group contains a subgroup isomorphic to SL\((2,\mathbb{R})\) or twisted Heisenberg group \(H\). The last two Chapters 14, 15 treat orbit non-proper isometric actions of a Lie group \(G\) on a Lorentz manifold \(M\). This implies that some point \(x \in M\) has non-compact connected stabilizer \(G^0_x\). The author gives a description of Lie groups with simply connected nilradical, which admit an isometric non-proper action on a Lorentz manifold.