Rigidity of the Lie algebra of unimodular vector fields (Q679314)

Every deformation theory is controlled by a suitable cohomology theory (Lie algebra cohomology in the present paper). The invariants classifying the infinitesimal deformations lie in the second cohomology group; if this group is 0, the given algebra is \textit{infinitesimally rigid}. For certain algebras, this group is non trivial, but the infinitesimal deformations cannot be extended to a formal deformation (nor to an algebraic deformation, what the authors call a \textit{true} deformation). The obstructions lie in the third cohomology group. The first section of the paper surveys deformation theory; a complete exposition can be found in \textit{M. Gerstenhaber} and \textit{S. D. Schack} [Algebraic cohomology and deformation theory, NATO-ASI Ser., Ser. C 247, 11-264 (1988; Zbl 0676.16022)]. In this paper, the authors deal with the Lie algebra \({\mathcal {SA}}(V)\) of unimodular vector fields on a compact manifold \(V\), restricting themselves to the so-called \textit{local cochains}. They prove that if the dimension of the manifold is different from 3, then \(H^2=0\), and hence the algebra is rigid. In dimension 3, \(H^2 \neq 0\), but the authors detail intricate analysis regarding the obstructions, proving that the infinitesimal deformations cannot be extended to formal deformations. Thus the algebra \({\mathcal {SA}}(V)\) is rigid in every dimension.