Recognizing the \(\mathsf{G}_2\)-horospherical manifold of Picard number 1 by varieties of minimal rational tangents (Q6152213)

The authors work over the complex numbers, in the holomorphic setting. The main object of interest is the \(G_2\)-horospherical manifold \(\mathbf{X}\) of Picard number \(1\), which is Fano and 7-dimensional. By a result of Pasquier and Perrin, \(\mathbf{X}\) can be deformed nontrivially to the rational homogeneous space \(\mathrm{Lines}(\mathbb{Q}^5)\) parametrizing lines on the 5-dimensional hyperquadric. In this paper, it is shown that \(\mathbf{X}\) is the only smooth projective variety with this property. More precisely, when considering a smooth projective morphism from an 8-dimensional complex manifold to the unit disk, such that all non-central fibers are biregular to \(\mathrm{Lines}(\mathbb{Q}^5)\) (resp. biregular to \(\mathbf{X}\)) then the central fiber is biregular to either \(\mathrm{Lines}(\mathbb{Q}^5)\) or to \(\mathbf{X}\) (resp. biregular to \(\mathbf{X}\)). The above is an application of the following main result of this paper: Let \(X\) be a 7-dimensional Fano manifold of Picard number 1. If the VMRT (variety of minimal rational tangents) of \(X\) at a general point is isomorphic to that of \(\mathbf{X}\), then \(X\) is biregular to \(\mathbf{X}\). In other words, the horospherical manifold \(\mathbf{X}\) is characterized by its VMRT. The method of proof is an adaptation of the one developed by the authors to solve the corresponding problem for symplectic Grassmannians.