This book provides an up-to-date presentation of homogeneous pseudo-Riemannian structures, an essential tool in the study of pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous spaces. Benefiting from large symmetry groups, these spaces are of high interest in Geometry and Theoretical Physics. Since the seminal book by Tricerri and Vanhecke, the theory of homogeneous structures has been considerably developed and many applications have been found. The present work covers a gap in the literature of more than 35 years, presenting the latest contributions to the field in a modern geometric approach, with special focus on manifolds equipped with pseudo-Riemannian metrics. This unique reference on the topic will be of interest to researchers working in areas of mathematics where homogeneous spaces play an important role, such as Differential Geometry, Global Analysis, General Relativity, and Particle Physics.

This book, which focuses on the study of curvature, is an introduction to various aspects of pseudo-Riemannian geometry. We shall use Walker manifolds (pseudo-Riemannian manifolds which admit a non-trivial parallel null plane field) to exemplify some of the main differences between the geometry of Riemannian manifolds and the geometry of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds and thereby illustrate phenomena in pseudo-Riemannian geometry that are quite different from those which occur in Riemannian geometry, i.e. for indefinite as opposed to positive definite metrics. Indefinite metrics are important in many diverse physical contexts: classical cosmological models (general relativity) and string theory to name but two. Walker manifolds appear naturally in numerous physical settings and provide examples of extremal mathematical situations as will be discussed presently. To describe the geometry of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, one must first understand the curvature of the manifold. We shall analyze a wide variety of curvature properties and we shall derive both geometrical and topological results. Special attention will be paid to manifolds of dimension 3 as these are quite tractable. We then pass to the 4 dimensional setting as a gateway to higher dimensions. Since the book is aimed at a very general audience (and in particular to an advanced undergraduate or to a beginning graduate student), no more than a basic course in differential geometry is required in the way of background. To keep our treatment as self-contained as possible, we shall begin with two elementary chapters that provide an introduction to basic aspects of pseudo-Riemannian geometry before beginning on our study of Walker geometry. An extensive bibliography is provided for further reading. Math subject classifications : Primary: 53B20 -- (PACS: 02.40.Hw) Secondary: 32Q15, 51F25, 51P05, 53B30, 53C50, 53C80, 58A30, 83F05, 85A04 Table of Contents: Basic Algebraic Notions / Basic Geometrical Notions / Walker Structures / Three-Dimensional Lorentzian Walker Manifolds / Four-Dimensional Walker Manifolds / The Spectral Geometry of the Curvature Tensor / Hermitian Geometry / Special Walker Manifolds

The purpose of this handbook is to give an overview of some recent developments in differential geometry related to supersymmetric field theories. The main themes covered are: Special geometry and supersymmetry Generalized geometry Geometries with torsion Para-geometries Holonomy theory Symmetric spaces and spaces of constant curvature Conformal geometry Wave equations on Lorentzian manifolds D-branes and K-theory The intended audience consists of advanced students and researchers working in differential geometry, string theory, and related areas. The emphasis is on geometrical structures occurring on target spaces of supersymmetric field theories. Some of these structures can be fully described in the classical framework of pseudo-Riemannian geometry. Others lead to new concepts relating various fields of research, such as special Kahler geometry or generalized geometry.

Pseudo-Riemannian geometry is an active research field not only in differential geometry but also in mathematical physics where the higher signature geometries play a role in brane theory. An essential reference tool for research mathematicians and physicists, this book also serves as a useful introduction to students entering this active and rapidly growing field. The author presents a comprehensive treatment of several aspects of pseudo-Riemannian geometry, including the spectral geometry of the curvature tensor, curvature homogeneity, and StanilovOCoTsankovOCoVidev theory."

This volume collects contributions written by different experts in honor of Prof. Jaime Muñoz Masqué. It covers a wide variety of research topics, from differential geometry to algebra, but particularly focuses on the geometric formulation of variational calculus; geometric mechanics and field theories; symmetries and conservation laws of differential equations, and pseudo-Riemannian geometry of homogeneous spaces. It also discusses algebraic applications to cryptography and number theory. It offers state-of-the-art contributions in the context of current research trends. The final result is a challenging panoramic view of connecting problems that initially appear distant.

Let $V = {\mathbb R}^{p,q}$ be the pseudo-Euclidean vector space of signature $(p,q)$, $p\ge 3$ and $W$ a module over the even Clifford algebra $C\! \ell^0 (V)$. A homogeneous quaternionic manifold $(M,Q)$ is constructed for any $\mathfrak{spin}(V)$-equivariant linear map $\Pi : \wedge^2 W \rightarrow V$. If the skew symmetric vector valued bilinear form $\Pi$ is nondegenerate then $(M,Q)$ is endowed with a canonical pseudo-Riemannian metric $g$ such that $(M,Q,g)$ is a homogeneous quaternionic pseudo-Kahler manifold. If the metric $g$ is positive definite, i.e. a Riemannian metric, then the quaternionic Kahler manifold $(M,Q,g)$ is shown to admit a simply transitive solvable group of automorphisms. In this special case ($p=3$) we recover all the known homogeneous quaternionic Kahler manifolds of negative scalar curvature (Alekseevsky spaces) in a unified and direct way. If $p>3$ then $M$ does not admit any transitive action of a solvable Lie group and we obtain new families of quaternionic pseudo-Kahler manifolds. Then it is shown that for $q = 0$ the noncompact quaternionic manifold $(M,Q)$ can be endowed with a Riemannian metric $h$ such that $(M,Q,h)$ is a homogeneous quaternionic Hermitian manifold, which does not admit any transitive solvable group of isometries if $p>3$. The twistor bundle $Z \rightarrow M$ and the canonical ${\mathrm SO}(3)$-principal bundle $S \rightarrow M$ associated to the quaternionic manifold $(M,Q)$ are shown to be homogeneous under the automorphism group of the base. More specifically, the twistor space is a homogeneous complex manifold carrying an invariant holomorphic distribution $\mathcal D$ of complex codimension one, which is a complex contact structure if and only if $\Pi$ is nondegenerate. Moreover, an equivariant open holomorphic immersion $Z \rightarrow \bar{Z}$ into a homogeneous complex manifold $\bar{Z}$ of complex algebraic group is constructed. Finally, the construction is shown to have a natural mirror in the category of supermanifolds. In fact, for any $\mathfrak{spin}(V)$-equivariant linear map $\Pi : \vee^2 W \rightarrow V$ a homogeneous quaternionic supermanifold $(M,Q)$ is constructed and, moreover, a homogeneous quaternionic pseudo-Kahler supermanifold $(M,Q,g)$ if the symmetric vector valued bilinear form $\Pi$ is nondegenerate.