Rarita-Schwinger fields on nearly parallel \(\operatorname{G}_2\)-manifolds (Q6141343)

Nearly parallel \(G_2\)-manifolds are Riemanian 7-manifolds admitting real Killing spinors. Equivalently, they are the cross-sections of Riemannian cones with holonomy contained in \(\mathrm{Spin}_7\). Nearly parallel \(G_2\)-manifolds are in particular Einstein with positive scalar curvature. The paper under review studies the Rarita-Schwinger operator acting on 1-form valued spinors on a nearly parallel \(G_2\)-manifold and, following the classical work [\textit{M. Y. Wang}, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 40, No. 3, 815--844 (1991; Zbl 0724.53031)], relates Rarita-Schwinger fields to deformations of Killing spinors (i.e., of the nearly parallel \(G_2\)-structure itself) and Einstein deformations of the underlying Einstein metric. More precisely, the representation theory of the exceptional Lie group \(G_2\) implies identifications between twisted spinor bundles and (sub)bundles of the space of differential forms. On a manifold with holonomy \(G_2\) these identifications imply that Dirac operators can be expressed as differential operators acting on differential forms. On a nearly parallel \(G_2\)-manifold, however, only a certain ``canonical'' torsion-full connection has holonomy contained in \(G_2\) and therefore operators calculated using the Levi-Civita connection must first be related to those calculated using the canonical connection, as for example in [\textit{B. Alexandrov} and \textit{U. Semmelmann}, Asian J. Math. 16, No. 4, 713--744 (2012; Zbl 1266.53048)]. Finally, representation theoretic calculations along established lines (see for example [\textit{B. Alexandrov} and \textit{U. Semmelmann}, Asian J. Math. 16, No. 4, 713--744 (2012; Zbl 1266.53048)]) allow the author to calculate the space of Rarita-Schwinger fields on certain homogeneous examples.