A perspective on totally geodesic submanifolds of the symmetric space \(G_2/\text{SO}(4)\) (Q6904078)

A submanifold \(\Sigma\) of a Riemannian manifold \(M\) is said to be totally geodesic if every geodesic of \(\Sigma\) is also a geodesic of \(M\). The classification of totally geodesic submanifolds in exceptional symmetric spaces of rank two was obtained in [\textit{S. Klein}, Osaka J. Math. 47, No. 4, 1077--1157 (2010; Zbl 1215.53046)]. This classification is generalized to irreducible exceptional symmetric spaces of arbitrary rank in [\textit{A. Kollross} and \textit{A. Rodríguez-Vázquez}, Adv. Math. 418, Article ID 108949, 37 p. (2023; Zbl 1518.53052)]. The paper under review revisits the classification of totally geodesic submanifolds in the group \(\mathrm{G}_2\) and in \(\mathrm{G}_2/\mathrm{SO}(4)\) under a more algebraic flavor. The authors provide a very detailed description of the examples from several perspectives. They also relate their work with previous classifications, and clarify several subtle points.