Exact \(G_2 \)-structures on unimodular Lie algebras (Q783998)

This paper focuses on the study of 7-dimensional compact manifolds of the form \(\Gamma\backslash G\), where \(G\) is a simply connected Lie group and \(\Gamma\) is a cocompact lattice, admitting invariant \(G_2\)-structure which are exact. Since their study is carried out at the Lie algebra level, they deal with unimodular Lie algebras \(\mathfrak g\) of dimension 7, and nondegenerate 3-forms defined on them which are exact with respect to the Chevalley-Eilenberg complex. They treat the case of Lie algebras satisfying \(b_2(\mathfrak g)=b_3(\mathfrak g)=0\) (\(b_i(\mathfrak g)\) denotes the \(i\)-th Betti number of \(\mathfrak g\)), which are necessarily solvable. They show that if they admit closed (and thus exact) \(G_2\)-structures, their corresponding simply connected Lie groups do not admit lattices. Therefore, no compact manifold of the form \(\Gamma\backslash G\) described above arises from these Lie algebras. The authors discuss an example of a 7-dimensional Lie algebra \(\mathfrak g\) verifying \(b_3(\mathfrak g)=0\neq b_2(\mathfrak g)\), also admitting exact \(G_2\)-structures, whose corresponding Lie group neither admits lattices. They state thus the question of existence of closed \(G_2\)-structures on 7-dimensional Lie algebras satisfying \(b_3(\mathfrak g)=0\) and whose corresponding simply connected Lie group admits a lattice.