No Arabic abstract
We define flag structures on a real three manifold M as the choice of two complex lines on the complexified tangent space at each point of M. We suppose that the plane field defined by the complex lines is a contact plane and construct an adapted connection on an appropriate principal bundle. This includes path geometries and CR structures as special cases. We prove that the null curvature models are given by totally real submanifolds in the flag space SL(3, C)/B, where B is the subgroup of upper triangular matrices. We also define a global invariant which is analogous to the Chern-Simons secondary class invariant for three manifolds with a Riemannian structure and to the Burns-Epstein invariant in the case of CR structures. It turns out to be constant on homotopy classes of totally real immersions in flag space.
We establish a new criterion for a compatible almost complex structure on a symplectic four-manifold to be integrable and hence Kahler. Our main theorem shows that the existence of three linearly independent closed J-anti-invariant two-forms implies the integrability of the almost complex structure. This proves the conjecture of Draghici-Li-Zhang in the almost-Kahler case
Flag manifolds are in general not symmetric spaces. But they are provided with a structure of $mathbb{Z}_2^k$-symmetric space. We describe the Riemannian metrics adapted to this structure and some properties of reducibility. We detail for the flag manifold $SO(5)/SO(2)times SO(2) times SO(1)$ what are the conditions for a metric adapted to the $mathbb{Z}_2^2$-symmetric structure to be naturally reductive.
We consider canonical fibrations and algebraic geometric structures on homogeneous CR manifolds, in connection with the notion of CR algebra. We give applications to the classifications of left invariant CR structures on semisimple Lie groups and of CR-symmetric structures on complete flag varieties.
We compute the Euler-Poincare characteristic of the homogeneous compact manifolds that can be described as minimal orbits for the action of a real form in a complex flag manifold.
We construct $Q$-curvature operators on $d$-closed $(1,1)$-forms and on $overline{partial}_b$-closed $(0,1)$-forms on five-dimensional pseudohermitian manifolds. These closely related operators give rise to a new formula for the scalar $Q$-curvature. As applications, we give a cohomological characterization of CR five-manifolds which admit a $Q$-flat contact form; and we show that every closed, strictly pseudoconvex CR five-manifold with trivial first real Chern class admits a $Q$-flat contact form provided the $Q$-curvature operator on $overline{partial}_b$-closed $(0,1)$-forms is nonnegative.