On a new normalization for tractor covariant derivatives

DOI10.4171/JEMS/349MaRDI QIDQ690839zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Matthias Hammerl, Petr Somberg, Vladimír Souček, Josef Šilhan

Publication date 29 November 2012

Published in Journal of the European Mathematical Society (JEMS) (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1003.6090

BGG sequence parabolic geometry prolongation of overdetermined PDE's tractor covariant derivatives

Projective differential geometry (53A20) Differential invariants (local theory), geometric objects (53A55) Natural bundles (58A32) Invariance and symmetry properties for PDEs on manifolds (58J70)

Abstract: A regular normal parabolic geometry of type

G / P

on a manifold

M

gives rise to sequences

D_{i}

of invariant differential operators, known as the curved version of the BGG resolution. These sequences are constructed from the normal covariant derivative

a^{o} m

on the corresponding tractor bundle

V,

where

o m

is the normal Cartan connection. The first operator

D_{0}

in the sequence is overdetermined and it is well known that

a^{o} m

yields the prolongation of this operator in the homogeneous case

M = G / P

. Our first main result is the curved version of such a prolongation. This requires a new normalization

i l d e a

of the tractor covariant derivative on

V

. Moreover, we obtain an analogue for higher operators

D_{i}

. In that case one needs to modify the exterior covariant derivative

d^{a^{o} m}

by differential terms. Finally we demonstrate these results on simple examples in projective and Grassmannian geometry. Our approach is based on standard techniques of the BGG machinery.

Review text

A parabolic geometry is a quotient \(G/P\) of a real semisimple Lie group by the action of a parabolic subgroup \(P\). More generally, a parabolic geometry of type \((G,P)\) on a manifold \(M\) is a pair consisting of a principal \(P\)-bundle \(\mathcal{G} \to M\) and a Cartan connection \(\omega \in \Omega^1 ( \mathcal{G} , \mathfrak{g})\). Examples of parabolic geometries on a manifold include CR, conformal or projective structures. If \((\mathcal{G} , \omega)\) is a (regular and normal) parabolic geometry on a manifold \(M\), and \(\mathbb{V}\) is a \(G\)-module, the vector bundle \(V \to M\) associated to \(\mathcal{G}\) and the representation \(\mathbb V\) is called the tractor bundle. The normal Cartan connection \(\omega\) on \(\mathcal{G}\) induces a covariant derivative \(\nabla^\omega\) on \(V\). As it is carefully explained in the detailed introduction of the paper, there exists a curved version of the Berstein-Gelfand-Gelfand (BGG) resolution of an irreducible \(G\)-module \(\mathbb V\). This resolution is made up of invariant differential operators \(D_i\). The first of these operators, \(D_0\), is overdetermined and, in the flat case \(M = G/P\), the tractor covariant derivative \(\nabla^\omega\) is already known to yield the prolongation of \(D_0\). The main result of this paper consists of the curved analogue for such a prolongation. To prove this result, the authors develop a new normalization of \(\nabla^\omega\), which is invariantly defined and generalizes some other constructions existing in the literature. In Section 4, the authors extend this construction to the other operators \(D_i\) in the BGG sequence. These normalizations require more complicated modifications (with differential terms) of the exterior covariant derivative \(d^{\nabla^\omega}\). As the authors mention, their approach ``is based on standard BGG techniques. Finally, the paper includes some examples, taken from projective, conformal and Grassmannian geometry, that illustrate the results commented above. This paper is very clearly written, in an elegant and coordinate independent manner.

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