Hurwitz-Radon numbers and proper actions of semisimple Lie groups

Abstract

We study proper isometric actions of non-compact semisimple Lie groups on pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces. Motivated by Okuda's classification of semisimple symmetric spaces admitting proper $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-actions [J. Differential Geom., 2013], we focus on symmetric spaces lying on the boundary of the existence of proper $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-actions. As a rigidity result, we show that any connected non-compact semisimple Lie group acting properly on these symmetric spaces must be globally isomorphic to $Spin(n,1)$ up to compact factors. Moreover, the Hurwitz-Radon number arises as the largest value of $n$ for the existence of $Spin(n,1)$-proper actions. Our symmetric spaces include the pseudo-Riemannian hyperbolic space $\mathbf{H}_{+}^{N,N-1}$ of signature $(N,N-1)$.