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Silvio Reggiani

Publications and source records attributed to Silvio Reggiani.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

On the structure of $2$-step nilpotent Lorentzian naturally reductive Lie groups

We study $2$-step nilpotent Lie groups with naturally reductive left-invariant Lorentzian metrics with respect to the presentation group $N \rtimes H^{\operatorname{aut}}$. Replacing the standard non-degenerate center assumption with the weaker condition that the commutator ideal be non-degenerate, we develop a framework that extends the construction to the Lorentzian context and covers both the non-degenerate and degenerate center cases. In the degenerate case, we show that the associated Lie algebra is a central extension of a semidirect product whose Riemannian factor is naturally reductive. Furthermore, we obtain invariant decompositions of the defining representation, including a distinguished Lorentzian factor, and provide an explicit description of the isotropy algebra and the identity component of the isometric automorphism group. These results complete the structural description of naturally reductive $2$-step Lorentzian nilpotent Lie groups under the assumption of non-degeneracy in the commutator ideal.

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arXiv2025

The distribution of symmetry of Lorentzian naturally reductive nilmanifolds

We study $2$-step nilpotent Lorentzian Lie groups $N$, which are naturally reductive with respect to a certain class of transitive subgroups of isometries. We describe the isotropy representation and prove that its fixed points give raise to the distribution of symmetry of $N$. This generalizes some known results for the Riemannian case.

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arXiv2025

The moduli space of left-invariant metrics on six-dimensional characteristically solvable nilmanifolds

A real Lie algebra is said to be characteristically solvable if its derivation algebra is solvable. We explicitly determine the moduli space of left-invariant metrics, up to isometric automorphism, for $6$-dimensional nilmanifolds whose associated Lie algebra is characteristically solvable of triangular type. We also compute the corresponding full isometry groups. For each left-invariant metric on these nilmanifolds we compute the index and distribution of symmetry. In particular, we find the first known examples of Lie groups which do not admit a left-invariant metric with positive index of symmetry. As an application we study the index of symmetry of nilsoliton metrics. We prove that nilsoliton metrics detect the existence of left-invariant metrics with positive index of symmetry.

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arXiv2024

The geometry of sedenion zero divisors

The sedenion algebra $\mathbb S$ is a non-commutative, non-associative, $16$-dimensional real algebra with zero divisors. It is obtained from the octonions through the Cayley-Dickson construction. The zero divisors of $\mathbb S$ can be viewed as the submanifold $\mathcal Z(\mathbb S) \subset \mathbb S \times \mathbb S$ of normalized pairs whose product equals zero, or as the submanifold $\operatorname{\mathit {ZD}}(\mathbb S) \subset \mathbb S$ of normalized elements with non-trivial annihilators. We prove that $\mathcal Z(\mathbb S)$ is isometric to the excepcional Lie group $G_2$, equipped with a naturally reductive left-invariant metric. Moreover, $\mathcal Z(\mathbb S)$ is the total space of a Riemannian submersion over the excepcional symmetric space of quaternion subalgebras of the octonion algebra, with fibers that are locally isometric to a product of two round $3$-spheres with different radii. Additionally, we prove that $\operatorname{\mathit {ZD}}(\mathbb S)$ is isometric to the Stiefel manifold $V_2(\mathbb R^7)$, the space of orthonormal $2$-frames in $\mathbb R^7$, endowed with a specific $G_2$-invariant metric. By shrinking this metric along a circle fibration, we construct new examples of an Einstein metric and a family of homogenous metrics on $V_2(\mathbb R^7)$ with non-negative sectional curvature.

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arXiv2021

Isometry groups of three-dimensional Lie groups

We compute the full isometry group of any left invariant metric on a simply connected, non-unimodular Lie group of dimension three. As an application, we determine the index of symmetry of such metrics and prove that the singularities of the moduli space of left-invariant metrics, up to isometric automorphism, is contained in the subspace of classes of metrics with maximal index of symmetry.

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arXiv2019

Manifolds admitting a metric with co-index of symmetry 4

By a recent result, it is known that compact homogeneous spaces with co-index of symmetry 4 are quotients of a semisimple Lie group of dimension at most 10. In this paper we determine exactly which ones of these spaces actually admit such a metric. For all the admissible spaces we construct explicit examples of these metrics.

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arXiv2017

The distribution of symmetry of a naturally reductive nilpotent Lie group

We show that the distribution of symmetry of a naturally reductive nilpotent Lie group coincides with the invariant distribution induced by the set of fixed vectors of the isotropy. This extends a known result on compact naturally reductive spaces. We also address the study of the quotient by the foliation of symmetry.

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arXiv2016

The index of symmetry of three-dimensional Lie groups with a left-invariant metric

We determine the index of symmetry of 3-dimensional unimodular Lie groups with a left-invariant metric. In particular, we prove that every 3-dimensional unimodular Lie group admits a left-invariant metric with positive index of symmetry. We also study the geometry of the quotients by the so-called foliation of symmetry, and we explain in what cases the group fibers over a 2-dimensional space of constant curvature.

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arXiv2015

The geodesic flow on nilmanifolds

In this paper we study the geodesic flow on nilmanifolds equipped with a left-invariant metric. We write the underlying definitions and find general formulas for the Poisson involution. As an example we develop the Heisenberg Lie group equipped with its canonical metric. We prove that a family of first integrals giving the complete integrability can be read off at the Lie algebra of the isometry group. We also explain the complete integrability on compact quotients and for any invariant metric.

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arXiv2013

Compact homogeneous Riemannian manifolds with low co-index of symmetry

We develop a general structure theory for compact homogeneous Riemannian manifolds in relation to the co-index of symmetry. We will then use these results to classify irreducible, simply connected, compact homogeneous Riemannian manifolds whose co-index of symmetry is less or equal than three. We will also construct many examples which arise from the theory of polars and centrioles in Riemannian symmetric spaces of compact type.

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arXiv2013

The index of symmetry of compact naturally reductive spaces

We introduce a geometric invariant that we call the index of symmetry, which measures how far is a Riemannian manifold from being a symmetric space. We compute, in a geometric way, the index of symmetry of compact naturally reductive spaces. In this case, the so-called leaf of symmetry turns out to be of the group type. We also study several examples where the leaf of symmetry is not of the group type. Interesting examples arise from the unit tangent bundle of the sphere of curvature 2, and two metrics in an Aloff-Wallach 7-manifold and the Wallach 24-manifold.

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arXiv2012

A Berger-type theorem for metric connections with skew-symmetric torsion

We prove a Berger-type theorem which asserts that if the orthogonal subgroup generated by the torsion tensor (pulled back to a point by parallel transport) of a metric connection with skew-symmetric torsion is not transitive on the sphere, then the space must be locally isometric to a Lie group with a bi-invariant metric or its symmetric dual (we assume the space to be locally irreducible). We also prove that a (simple) Lie group with a bi-invariant metric admits only two flat metric connections with skew-symmetric torsion: the two flat canonical connections. In particular, we get a refinement of a well-known theorem by Cartan and Schouten. Finally, we show that the holonomy group of a metric connection with skew-symmetric torsion on these spaces generically coincides with the Riemannian holonomy.

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arXiv2012

A note on the uniqueness of the canonical connection of a naturally reductive space

We extend the result in J. Reine Angew. Math. 664, 29-53, to the non-compact case. Namely, we prove that the canonical connection on a simply connected and irreducible naturally reductive space is unique, provided the space is not a sphere, a compact Lie group with a bi-invariant metric or its symmetric dual. In particular, the canonical connection is unique for the hyperbolic space when the dimension is different from three. We also prove that the canonical connection on the sphere is unique for the symmetric presentation. Finally, we compute the full isometry group (connected component) of a compact and locally irreducible naturally reductive space.

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arXiv2010

On the affine group of a normal homogeneous manifold

A very important class of homogeneous Riemannian manifolds are the so-called normal homogeneous spaces, which have associated a canonical connection. In this work we obtain geometrically the (connected component of the) group of affine transformations with respect to the canonical connection for a normal homogeneous space. The naturally reductive case is also treated. This completes the geometric calculation of the isometry group of naturally reductive spaces. In addition, we prove that for normal homogeneous spaces the set of fixed points of the full isotropy is a torus. As an application of our results it follows that the holonomy group of a homogeneous fibration is contained in the group of (canonically) affine transformations of the fibers, in particular this holonomy group is a Lie group (this is a result of Guijarro and Walschap).

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arXiv2008

The skew-torsion holonomy theorem and naturally reductive spaces

We prove a Simons-type holonomy theorem for totally skew 1-forms with values in a Lie algebra of linear isometries. The only transitive case, for this theorem, is the full orthogonal group. We only use geometric methods and we do not use any classification (not even that of transitive isometric actions on the sphere or the list of rank one symmetric spaces). This result was independently proved, by using an algebraic approach, by Paul-Andy Nagy. We apply this theorem to prove that the canonical connection of a compact naturally reductive space is unique, provided the space does not split off, locally, a sphere or a compact Lie group with a bi-invariant metric. From this it follows easily how to obtain the full isometry group of a naturally reductive space. This generalizes known classification results of Onishchick, for normal homogeneous spaces with simple group of isometries, and Shankar, for homogeneous spaces of positive curvature. This also answers a question posed by J. Wolf and Wang-Ziller. Namely, to explain why the presentation group of an isotropy irreducible space, strongly or not, cannot be enlarged (unless for spheres, or for compact simple Lie groups with a bi-invariant metric).

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