Generalized symmetric planes (Q914150)

A linear space (M,\({\mathcal L})\) is called a stable plane if M and \({\mathcal L}\) carry non-discrete Hausdorff topologies such that the geometric operations are continuous and the set of pairs of intersecting lines is open in \({\mathcal L}\times {\mathcal L}\). A fundamental result of R. Löwen states that for finite dimensional connected stable planes we always have dim M\(=\dim L=2,4,8\) or 16. Let k be a prime. A k-symmetric space is a differentiable manifold M equipped with a collection of diffeomorphisms \(\{s_ x|\) \(x\in M\}\) such that \(s_ x\) has order k and x is an isolated fixed point of \(s_ x\) for all \(x\in M\). Furthermore the mapping \((x,y)\to y^{s_ x}\) is differentiable and we have \(s_ x^{-1}\cdot s_ y\cdot s_ x=s_ z\), where \(z=y^{s_ x}\), for all x,y\(\in M.\) A symmetric plane of order k or k-plane is a stable plane (M,\({\mathcal L})\) where M is also a k-symmetric plane such that all mappings \(s_ x\) induce collineations of (M,\({\mathcal L})\). With every k-plane one can associate an infinitesimal model which consists of a topological translation plane and a Lie algebra with an automorphism of order k. The main result model determines the k-plane up to local isomorphism. In two forthcoming papers the author will use these results to obtain a complete classification of all 4-dimensional stable planes with the property that every point \(p\in M\) is the center of a nontrivial central collineation. The corresponding classification problem for 2-dimensional stable planes has already been solved in a series of papers by Strambach, Salzmann and Löwen.