Non-Walker self-dual neutral Einstein four-manifolds of Petrov type III (Q836232)

The main result of this paper describes the local structure of all non Walker self dual oriented Einstein four manifolds \((M,g)\) of neutral signature which are of Petrov type III. They are locally parametrized by solutions of a system of four first order quasi linear partial differential equations imposed on eight unknown real valued functions of two real variables. A result of the paper shows that type III self dual neutral Einstein four manifolds can have zero scalar curvature. There also exist Ricci flat strictly non Walker self dual neutral four dimensional manifolds and it is proved that Ricci flat or not, these manifolds not need to be locally homogeneous, althought they are curvature homogeneous. The geometry of \(g\) gives rise at least locally, to other structures. For instance an affine connection which allows to identify \(M\) locally with the total space of an affine plane bundle \(\mathcal A\) over a surface \(\Sigma\). However most ingredients cannot be canonically recovered by the metric \(g\). The ideal form of a structure theorem for a class of metrics would be that one involving a construction that uses natural invariants of the metric in question, a goal which still appears elusive for this kind of metrics.