Homogeneous Einstein metrics and butterflies (Q6100765)

A Riemannian manifold \((M, g)\) is called Einstein if it has constant Ricci tensor, that is if \(\mathrm{Ric}(g) =\lambda\cdot g\), \(\lambda\in \mathbb{R}\). The present work refers to the homogeneous setting, where a compact homogeneous space \((M, g)\) is a compact Riemannian manifold on which a compact Lie group \(G\) acts transitively by isometries. Then, it has a presentation \(M = G/H\), where \(H\) is a compact subgroup of \(G\). General existence results are difficult to obtain. However, in [\textit{C. Böhm}, J. Differ. Geom. 67, No. 1, 79--165 (2004; Zbl 1098.53039); \textit{C. Böhm} et al., Geom. Funct. Anal. 14, No. 4, 681--733 (2004; Zbl 1068.53029)], the authors reduced the existence problem to the study of Lie algebraic objects, such as simplicial complexes and graphs. On the other hand, \textit{M. M. Graev} [Trans. Mosc. Math. Soc. 2012, 1--28 (2012; Zbl 1278.53043); translation from Tr. Mosk. Mat. O.-va 73, No. 1, 1--35 (2012)], associated with a compact homogeneous space \(G/H\) the nerve \(X_{G/H}\), whose non-contractibility implies the existence of a \(G\)-invariant Einstein metric on \(G/H\). The nerve \(X_{G/H}\) is a compact semialgebraic set defined Lie-theoretically by intermediate subgroups. The first goal of the present paper is to present a very detailed analysis of Graev's work. The second one is to give a shorter proof of the following first author's result in [J. Differ. Geom. 67, No. 1, 79--165 (2004; Zbl 1098.53039)]: if the simplicial complex \(\Delta _{G/H}\) of a compact homogeneous space with finite fundamental group and \(G, H\) connected, is not contractible, then \(G/H\) admits a \(G\)-invariant Einstein metric. The paper also reviews some known classification results, and proposes some open problems about homogeneous Einstein metrics.