Conformal geometry of surfaces in the Lagrangian--Grassmannian and second order PDE

Of all real Lagrangian--Grassmannians $LG(n,2n)$, only $LG(2,4)$ admits a distinguished (Lorentzian) conformal structure and hence is identified with the indefinite M\"obius space $S^{1,2}$. Using Cartan's method of moving frames, we study hyperbolic (timelike) surfaces in $LG(2,4)$ modulo the conformal symplectic group $CSp(4,R)$. This $CSp(4,R)$-invariant classification is also a contact-invariant classification of (in general, highly non-linear) second order scalar hyperbolic PDE in the plane. Via $LG(2,4)$, we give a simple geometric argument for the invariance of the general hyperbolic Monge--Amp\`ere equation and the relative invariants which characterize it. For hyperbolic PDE of non-Monge--Amp\`ere type, we demonstrate the existence of a geometrically associated ``conjugate'' PDE. Finally, we give the first known example of a Dupin cyclide in a Lorentzian space

Contact Geometry of Hyperbolic Equations of Generic Type

We study the contact geometry of scalar second order hyperbolic equations in the plane of generic type. Following a derivation of parametrized contact-invariants to distinguish Monge-Ampere (class 6-6), Goursat (class 6-7) and generic (class 7-7) hyperbolic equations, we use Cartan's equivalence method to study the generic case. An intriguing feature of this class of equations is that every generic hyperbolic equation admits at most a nine-dimensional contact symmetry algebra. The nine-dimensional bound is sharp: normal forms for the contact-equivalence classes of these maximally symmetric generic hyperbolic equations are derived and explicit symmetry algebras are presented. Moreover, these maximally symmetric equations are Darboux integrable. An enumeration of several submaximally symmetric (eight and seven-dimensional) generic hyperbolic structures is also given.Comment: This is a contribution to the Special Issue "Elie Cartan and Differential Geometry", published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGM

Invariant Yang-Mills connections over Non-Reductive Pseudo-Riemannian Homogeneous Spaces

We study invariant gauge fields over the 4-dimensional non-reductive pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous spaces G/K recently classified by Fels & Renner (2006). Given H compact semi-simple, classification results are obtained for principal H-bundles over G/K admitting: (1) a G-action (by bundle automorphisms) projecting to left multiplication on the base, and (2) at least one G-invariant connection. There are two cases which admit nontrivial examples of such bundles and all G-invariant connections on these bundles are Yang-Mills. The validity of the principle of symmetric criticality (PSC) is investigated in the context of the bundle of connections and is shown to fail for all but one of the Fels-Renner cases. This failure arises from degeneracy of the scalar product on pseudo-tensorial forms restricted to the space of symmetric variations of an invariant connection. In the exceptional case where PSC is valid, there is a unique G-invariant connection which is moreover universal, i.e. it is the solution of the Euler-Lagrange equations associated to any G-invariant Lagrangian on the bundle of connections. This solution is a canonical connection associated with a weaker notion of reductivity which we introduce.Comment: 34 pages; minor typos corrected; to appear in Transactions of the AM

Exceptionally simple PDE

We give local descriptions of parabolic contact structures and show how their flat models yield explicit PDE having symmetry algebras isomorphic to all complex simple Lie algebras except $\mathfrak{sl}_2$. This yields a remarkably uniform generalization of the Cartan-Engel models from 1893 in the $G_2$ case. We give a formula for the harmonic curvature of a $G_2$-contact structure and describe submaximally symmetric models for general $G$-contact structures.Comment: Abstract and introduction revised; exposition improved and text reorganized; Section 4.1 on G2-contact structures is ne

Submaximally symmetric c-projective structures

C-projective structures are analogues of projective structures in the complex setting. The maximal dimension of the Lie algebra of c-projective symmetries of a complex connection on an almost complex manifold of C-dimension $n>1$ is classically known to be $2n^2+4n$. We prove that the submaximal dimension is equal to $2n^2-2n+4+2\delta_{3,n}$. If the complex connection is minimal (encoded as a normal parabolic geometry), the harmonic curvature of the c-projective structure has three components and we specify the submaximal symmetry dimensions and the corresponding geometric models for each of these three pure curvature types. If the connection is non-minimal, we introduce a modified normalization condition on the parabolic geometry and use this to resolve the symmetry gap problem. We prove that the submaximal symmetry dimension in the class of Levi-Civita connections for pseudo-K\"ahler metrics is $2n^2-2n+4$, and specializing to the K\"ahler case, we obtain $2n^2-2n+3$. This resolves the symmetry gap problem for metrizable c-projective structures.Comment: The manuscript was updated and revised. This version corrects some errors in Section 4 that do not influence the main results. The exposition is also slightly polishe