Parallel differential forms of codegree two, and three-forms in dimension six

Abstract

For a differential form on a manifold, having constant components in suitable local coordinates trivially implies being parallel relative to a torsion-free connection, and the converse implication is known to be true for $p$-forms in dimension $n$ when $p=0,1,2,n-1,n$. We prove the converse for $(n-2)$-forms, and for 3-forms when $n=6$, while pointing out that it fails to hold for Cartan 3-forms on all simple Lie groups of dimensions $n\ge8$ as well as for $(n,p)=(7,3)$ and $(n,p)=(8,4)$, where the 3-forms and 4-forms arise in compact simply connected Riemannian manifolds with exceptional holonomy groups. We also provide geometric characterizations of 3-forms in dimension six and $(n-2)$-forms in dimension $n$ having the constant-components property mentioned above, and describe examples illustrating the fact that various parts of these geometric characterizations are logically independent.