Classification of strict wonderful varieties

In the setting of strict wonderful varieties we answer positively to Luna's conjecture, saying that wonderful varieties are classified by combinatorial objects, the so-called spherical systems. In particular, we prove that strict wonderful varieties are mostly obtained from symmetric spaces, spherical nilpotent orbits or model spaces. To make the paper self-contained as much as possible, we shall gather some known results on these families and more generally on wonderful varieties.Comment: 39 pages; final version to appear in Annales Inst. Fourie

Extremal Multicenter Black Holes: Nilpotent Orbits and Tits Satake Universality Classes

Four dimensional supergravity theories whose scalar manifold is a symmetric coset manifold U[D=4]/Hc are arranged into a finite list of Tits Satake universality classes. Stationary solutions of these theories, spherically symmetric or not, are identified with those of an euclidian three-dimensional sigma-model, whose target manifold is a Lorentzian coset U[D=3]/H* and the extremal ones are associated with H* nilpotent orbits in the K* representation emerging from the orthogonal decomposition of the algebra U[D=3] with respect to H*. It is shown that the classification of such orbits can always be reduced to the Tits-Satake projection and it is a class property of the Tits Satake universality classes. The construction procedure of Bossard et al of extremal multicenter solutions by means of a triangular hierarchy of integrable equations is completed and converted into a closed algorithm by means of a general formula that provides the transition from the symmetric to the solvable gauge. The question of the relation between H* orbits and charge orbits W of the corresponding black holes is addressed and also reduced to the corresponding question within the Tits Satake projection. It is conjectured that on the vanishing locus of the Taub-NUT current the relation between H*-orbit and W-orbit is rigid and one-to-one. All black holes emerging from multicenter solutions associated with a given H* orbit have the same W-type. For the S^3 model we provide a complete survey of its multicenter solutions associated with all of the previously classified nilpotent orbits of sl(2) x sl(2) within g[2,2]. We find a new intrinsic classification of the W-orbits of this model that might provide a paradigm for the analogous classification in all the other Tits Satake universality classes.Comment: 83 pages, LaTeX; v2: few misprints corrected and references adde

Singular Poisson-Kaehler geometry of Scorza varieties and their secant varieties

Each Scorza variety and its secant varieties in the ambient projective space are identified, in the realm of singular Poisson-Kaehler geometry, in terms of projectivizations of holomorphic nilpotent orbits in suitable Lie algebras of hermitian type, the holomorphic nilpotent orbits, in turn, being affine varieties. The ambient projective space acquires an exotic Kaehler structure, the closed stratum being the Scorza variety and the closures of the higher strata its secant varieties. In this fashion, the secant varieties become exotic projective varieties. In the rank 3 case, the four regular Scorza varieties coincide with the four critical Severi varieties. In the standard cases, the Scorza varieties and their secant varieties arise also via Kaehler reduction. An interpretation in terms of constrained mechanical systems is included.Comment: AMSTeX2.1, 16 page

Six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras

We give a full classification of 6-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras over an arbitrary field, including fields that are not algebraically closed and fields of characteristic~2. To achieve the classification we use the action of the automorphism group on the second cohomology space, as isomorphism types of nilpotent Lie algebras correspond to orbits of subspaces under this action. In some cases, these orbits are determined using geometric invariants, such as the Gram determinant or the Arf invariant. As a byproduct, we completely determine, for a 4-dimensional vector space $V$, the orbits of \GL(V) on the set of 2-dimensional subspaces of $V\wedge V$.Comment: Corrected a small error in Theorem 4.

The variety of reductions for a reductive symmetric pair

We define and study the variety of reductions for a reductive symmetric pair (G,theta), which is the natural compactification of the set of the Cartan subspaces of the symmetric pair. These varieties generalize the varieties of reductions for the Severi varieties studied by Iliev and Manivel, which are Fano varieties. We develop a theoretical basis to the study these varieties of reductions, and relate the geometry of these variety to some problems in representation theory. A very useful result is the rigidity of semi-simple elements in deformations of algebraic subalgebras of Lie algebras. We apply this theory to the study of other varieties of reductions in a companion paper, which yields two new Fano varieties.Comment: 23 page