Normal holonomy of orbits and Veronese submanifolds (Q500078)

From the abstract: The following conjecture promises to generalize the rank-rigidity theorem for Euclidean submanifolds: Let \(M^n\), \(n \geq 2\), be a full and irreducible homogeneous submanifold of the sphere \(S^{N-1} \subset \mathbb R^N\) such that the normal holonomy group is not transitive (on the unit sphere of the normal space to the sphere). Then \(M^n\) must be an orbit of an irreducible \(s\)-representation (i.e., the isotropy representation of a semisimple Riemannian symmetric space). If \(n = 2\), then the normal holonomy group is always transitive unless \(M\) is a homogeneous isoparametric hypersurface of the sphere (so the conjecture is true in this case). We prove the conjecture when \(n=3\). In this case \(M^3\) must be either isoparametric or a Veronese submanifold. We also prove the conjecture for \(n \geq 3\) when the normal holonomy acts irreducibly and the codimension is the maximal possible \(n(n+1)/2\). This gives a characterization of Veronese submanifolds in terms of normal holonomy. We also extend this last result by replacing the homogeneity assumption by the assumption of minimality (in the sphere). Another result of the paper, used for the case \(n = 3\), is that the number of irreducible factors of the local normal holonomy group, for any Euclidean submanifold \(M^n\), is less than or equal to \([n/2]\), which is the rank of the orthogonal group \(\mathrm{SO}(n)\). This bound is sharp and improves the known bound \(n(n-1)/2\).