Homogeneous metrics with prescribed Ricci curvature on spaces with non-maximal isotropy (Q6172853)

The main subject of this paper is the study of homogeneous metrics with prescribed Ricci curvature. Let \(G\) be a compact Lie group and \(H\) a closed subgroup. The prescribed Ricci curvature problem is to find a \(G\)-invariant Riemannian metric \(g\) on the homogeneous space \(M=G/H\) such that its Ricci curvature \(\mathrm{Ric}_g\) is proportional to a given symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field \(T\) on \(M\). In a number of cases, the metric \(g\) exists only for certain values of the proportionality constant \(c\in\mathbb{R}\). In an earlier work by the second author [J. Geom. Phys. 106, 275--283 (2016; Zbl 1341.53080)], the existence of the metric \(g\) and the constant \(c > 0\) was proved for the case when \(H\) is a maximal connected Lie subgroup of \(G\) (with \(\dim M \geq 3\)). In this paper, the authors consider the problem of prescribed Ricci curvature on \(M\) when the maximality assumption on \(H\) is dropped. The main result obtained is a sufficient condition for the metric \(g\) and the constant \(c\) satisfying \(\mathrm{Ric}_g = c\, T\). This condition is also necessary if the isotropy representation of \(M\) splits into two inequivalent irreducible summands. The last part is devoted to the application of the main result to the case when \(M\) is a generalised flag manifold. As a concrete example, the authors consider the space \(G_2/\mathrm{U}(2)\), where \(\mathrm{U}(2)\) corresponds to the long root of \(G_2\).