Innitesimal orbit type theorem for normalizable actions

D. Szeghy

Etvs University, Hungary, Budapest, 1117 Pzmny Pter stny. 1/C

April 23, 2012
Abstract
Let : GM !M be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable manifold
M. Assume that all the orbits are normalizable and have normal bundles which are local
models. Then the following is proved: there is a maximal innitesimal orbit type, called
principal, such that the union of the orbits belonging to this innitesimal type is an open and
dense set in M: The same theorem is proved for a local dierentiable action of a local Lie group.
1 Introduction
The rst result concerning the classication of orbits of a group action was achieved by D. Mont-
gomery, H. Samelson and C. T. Yang, who proved the principal orbit type theorem in [M-S-Y]. The
result was proved in case of a compact Lie group action. An extension of this result was possible
to isometric actions of non-compact Lie groups on Riemannian manifolds, when R. S. Palais intro-
duced the concept of proper action in [P]. But the concept of proper action in case of an isometric
action on a semi-Riemannian manifold is too restrictive. Even in case of an isometric action on
a Lorentz manifold the straightforward generalization of the principal orbit type theorem is not
possible. In this paper we will use the concept of innitesimal orbit types and try to give a kind
of extension of the principal orbit type theorem under some assumptions, which naturally hold in
case of an isometric action on a Riemannian manifold.
In section 2, rst we recall the classical denitions and the principal orbit type theorem. Then
we give the denitions of normalizable orbits and local models and prove Theorem 16 which states,
that if the action is normalizable and all the orbits have local models, then there is a unique maximal
innitesimal orbit type, such that the union of the orbits of this type is an open and dense set in
'. At the end of section 2 we state the local version of Theorem 16.
In section 3, we recall some earlier results describing the non-normalizable orbits in case of an
isometric action on a Lorentz manifold.
2 Denitions and theorems for normalizable actions
First, we recall some denitions. Throughout this paper, a dierentiable action or a dierentiable
manifold will mean only that the action or the manifold is at least of class C
1
. Moreover, every

The research was partially supported by the Hungarian Scientic Research Fund Grant No. OTKA K72537
1
neighbourhood will be open if it is not stated dierently.
Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable manifold
', i.e. the map c is dierentiable and c(q, c(/, r)) = c(q /, r) holds for every r ', q, / G.
If it is not confusing, then instead of c(q, r) we will write a shorter form qr. The isotropy
subgroup of a point r, also called the stabilizer of r, is G
r
Jt}
= q G [ qr = r. Let G
0
r
denote
the unit component of G
r
, i.e. the connected component which contains the unit element c G.
It is known that if j = qr, then G

= qG
r
q
1
and G
0

= qG
0
r
q
1
. Let G(r) = qr [ q G denote
the orbit of r. The classical denition of orbit type is the following.
Denition 1 The orbit type of the orbit G(r) is the conjugacy class

qG
r
q
1
[ q G

.
By our remark preceding the above denition, the orbit type depends only on the orbit, and it
is independent of the choice of the point of the orbit. We can also dene a relation between the
orbits.
Denition 2 The orbit type of the orbit G(r) is greater than or equal to that of G(j) if
G
r
0 _ G

0 for some r
0
G(r) and j
0
G(j) .
The problem is that this relation does not give a partial ordering among the orbit types in
general, unless we make some assumptions. For example, if the Lie group G is compact, then it
will be a partial ordering and we can prove the principal orbit type theorem, see D. Montgomery,
H. Samelson and C. T. Yang [M-S-Y]:
Theorem 3 (Principal Orbit Type Theorem) Let c : G ' ' be a dierentiable action
of a compact Lie group G on a dierentiable manifold '. Then among the orbit types there is a
maximal one, called principal, such that the union of the orbits of this type is an open and dense
set in '.
Our aim is to prove a similar statement in case of an arbitrary Lie group. Since the theorem
fails to be true if we drop compactness, we will make a slight change in the denition of orbit type:
Denition 4 Let c : G ' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable
manifold '. The innitesimal orbit type of an orbit G(r) is the whole conjugacy class of the
identity component G
0
r
of the isotropy subgroup G
r
of r, i.e. the innitesimal orbit type of
G(r) is

qG
0
r
q
1
[ q G

. This type will be denoted by inftypG(r).

Similarly to the orbit type, the innitesimal orbit type is also well-dened, since at a point
qr ', for the identity component of the isotropy subgroup G
0
r
= qG
0
r
q
1
holds. Thus, the
innitesimal orbit type depends only on the orbit, and it is independent of the choice of the point
of the orbit. It is also clear, that in the above denition we could take the conjugacy class of the
Lie algebra g
r
of the stabilizer G
r
instead of the identity component of G
r
. This explains the name
innitesimal orbit type. This denition gives rise to a partial ordering in the set of the orbits.
Denition 5 The innitesimal orbit type of the orbit G(r) is greater than or equal to that of G(j)
if
G
0
r
0 _ G
0

0 for some r
0
G(r) and j
0
G(j) ,
or equivalently
g
r
0 _ g

0 for some r
0
G(r) and j
0
G(j) .
In notation inftypG(r) _ inftypG(j) .
2
Also for the innitesimal orbit type, the principal orbit type theorem fails if we do not assume
compactness, as the following example shows.
Example 6 Consider the Minkowski space M
3
and the action of the pseudo-orthogonal group
oO(2, 1) on it. All the orbits inside the light cone have the same innitesimal orbit type and
all the orbits outside the light cone have the same innitesimal orbit type, but these two types are
dierent.
In the above example, the light cone, which is an orbit and separates the two dierent innites-
imal types, is non-normalizable, see Denition 7, but all the other orbits are normalizable. As we
see, normalizability is a useful but strong condition.
We will need the following denition.
Denition 7 Let c : G ' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable
manifold '. The orbit G(r) is normalizable if there is a subspace
f

r
G(r) T
r
' for which the
following holds:

r
G(r) T
r
G(r) = T
r
' is a decomposition;

r
G(r) is invariant under the action of G
r
.
Moreover, the action c is called normalizable if every orbit of c is normalizable.
Note, that we could use a weaker condition in the denition, which is the following:
f

r
G(r)
is invariant under the action of G
0
r
. Because we use in the proofs only the local properties of the
action, i.e. the local action of the Lie group. Even it is enough to consider a local Lie group action
and its local orbits. We ask the reader to keep this important remark in mind, because in the last
section we want to state a slightly stronger theorem, which proof will be the same. We will use the
above denition 7 to make the proofs and denitions easier to follow.
Note, that the dierentiable action c : G' ' induces a continuous action Tc : GT'
T' on the tangent space T'. Moreover, c

: ' ', r c(q, r) induces a continuous action

Tc

: T' T', where the restricted action Tc

[
Tx1
: T
r
' T
r
' is a bijective linear map.
Denition 8 A normal bundle
e
G(r) of a normalizable orbit G(r) is a bundle over G(r) obtained
from a normal space
f

r
G(r) by the action Tc : GT' T', i.e. the normal bundle is given
by
e
G(r) = '
2c
Tc

r
G(r)

.
It is clear, that thus a bundle is obtained which is invariant under Tc. Note, that over a
normalizable orbit G(r) there can be more than one normal bundle.
Lemma 9 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action on a dierentiable manifold and G(r) a
normalizable orbit. Consider the induced action on the normal bundle Tc : G
e
G(r)
e
G(r)
and the restricted action of the stabilizer G
r
on the normal space
e

r
G(r), which will be denoted
by Tc[
cx,
e
xc(r)
: G
r

r
G(r)
e

r
G(r) . Then, for every
e

r
G(r) the innitesimal type of
by the actions Tc and Tc[
cx,
e
xc(r)
is the same.
3
Proof. Since
e

r
G(r) T
r
' and Tc

r
G(r)

T
r
', we have that
e

r
G(r)Tc

r
G(r)

,=
O yields q G
r
. Moreover, by denition 7 q G
r
implies Tc

r
G(r)

=
e

r
G(r). Thus
e

r
G(r) Tc

r
G(r)

,= O if and only if q G
r
. So Tc

() = gives that q G
r
, therefore,
the elements of the isotropy subgroup of by Tc are also the elements of the isotropy subgroup of
by Tc[
cx,
e
xc(r)
. Since the converse is also true, the two subgroups must be the same.
Denition 10 Let c : G ' ', , : G be dierentiable actions of a Lie group
G on the dierentiable manifolds ' and . A map , : ' is G-equivariant, if for every
r ', / G the equality ,(c(/, r)) = , (/, ,(r)) holds.
Denition 11 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable
manifold '. Let G(r) be a normalizable orbit and assume that there is a G-invariant neighbourhood
l
e
G(r) of the zero section and a G-equivariant locally dieomorphic map , : l ' for which
,(0
r
) = r. Then
e
G(r) is called a local model.
Remark 12 Let G(r) be a normalizable orbit for which
e
G(r) is a local model, l
e
G(.) an
open neighbourhood of the zero section such as in denition 11 and , : l ' the G-equivariant
locally dieomorphic map corresponding to l. Then for every l
inftyp G() = inftyp G(,())
hold.
Lemma 13 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action on a dierentiable manifold and G(r)
a normalizable orbit for which
e
G(r) is a local model. Then there is a G-invariant neighbourhood
\ of G(r) such that
inftyp G(r) _ inftyp G(j)
holds for every j \ .
Proof. As before,
e

r
G(r) Tc

r
G(r)

,= O if and only if q G
r
. Thus, if
e

r
G(r),
then G
u
_ G
r
, so inftyp G(r) _ inftyp G() . As the action Tc acts transitively on the normal
spaces of the normal bundle, every orbit in
e
G(r) of Tc intersects
e

r
G(r). Thus, for every
n
e
G(r) the inequality
inftyp G(r) _ inftyp G(n) (1)
holds. Let l
e
G(r) be a neighbourhood such as in denition 11, , the corresponding G-
equivariant local dieomorphism and \
Jt}
= ,(l). By remark 12 we have inftyp G(n) = inftyp G(,(n))
for every n l. Thus, the above inequality (1) yields that inftyp G(r) _ inf tjjG(j) for every
j \ .
The following useful denition was introduced by J. Szenthe in [Sze].
Denition 14 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action on a dierentiable manifold '. The
orbit G(r) is locally stable if it has a G-invariant neighbourhood l such that for every j l the
equality inftyp G(r) = inftyp G(j) holds, otherwise G(r) is called locally unstable.
4
Corollary 15 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable
manifold ' which is normalizable. Assume that for every orbit G(r) the normal bundle
e
G(r) is
a local model. Then the union of the locally stable orbits is an open and dense set in '.
Proof. Assume that the orbit G(r) is not locally stable. Lemma 13 yields that there is a
G-invariant neighbourhood \ of G(r) such that inftyp G(r) _ inftyp G(j) holds for every j \.
Since G(r) is not locally stable, there is an orbit G(r
1
) \ arbitrary close to G(r) for which
inftyp G(r) < inftyp G(r
1
) holds. If G(r
1
) is not locally stable then the above argument yields
that there is an orbit G(r
2
) arbitrary close to G(r
1
) for which inftyp G(r
1
) < inftyp G(r
2
) . Thus,
we get a sequence of innitesimal types inftyp G(r) < inftyp G(r
1
) < inftyp G(r
2
) < . . . , which
gives a sequence of Lie algebras g
r
% g
1
% g
2
% . . . , for suitable points of the orbits j
I
G(r
I
).
However, such a sequence must be nite, thus, there is an orbit G(r
n
) which must be locally stable
and which can be chosen arbitrary close to G(r). So the union of the locally stable orbits is a dense
set, which is open by denition 14.
The above lemmas 9, 13 and corollary 15 show that if G(r) is a normalizable orbit for which
e
G(r) is a local model, then instead of examining the innitesimal orbit types of the action
c : G ' ' in a suitably small neighbourhood of the orbit G(r), we can examine the
innitesimal orbit types of the action Tc[
cx,
e
xc(r)
: G
r

r
G(r)
e

r
G(r) in a suitably small
neighbourhood of the orbit G
r
(0
r
) = 0
r
. But the later restricted action is linear on the vector
space
e

r
G(r), so it is more easier to study.
In the following 0l will mean the boundary of l, i:t (l) the interior and c| (l) the closure of
l.
Theorem 16 Let c : G ' ' be a dierentiable action of a Lie group G on a dierentiable
manifold ' which is normalizable. Assume that for every orbit G(r) the normal bundle
e
G(r) is
a local model. Then there is a unique maximal innitesimal orbit type i, such that the union of the
orbits of type i is an open and dense set in '. Moreover, every orbit of type i is locally stable.
Proof. Let G(r) be a locally stable orbit and i
Jt}
= inftyp G(r). Put
\
r
Jt}
= . '[ inftyp G(.) = i, G(.) is locally stable .
Since \
r
is an open set in ' and dense in c| (\
r
), it is enough to prove that the boundary of c| (\
r
)
is empty. Because \
r
,= O and 0 (c| (\
r
)) = O follows that c| (\
r
) = '.
Now assume on the contrary that the boundary is not empty. Let . 0 (c| (\
r
)) be an arbitrary
point of the boundary. Since G(.) is normalizable and
e
G(.) is a local model let l
:

e
G(.)
be an open neighbourhood of the zero section such as in denition 11 and ,
:
: l
:
' the G-
equivariant locally dieomorphic map corresponding to l
:
. Moreover, let
e
l
:
l
:
be a suitably
small open neighbourhood of 0
:
for which ,
:
[
e
Iz
is a dieomorphism. Note, that by remark 12 for
every
e
l
:
, inftyp G() = inftyp G(,
:
()). If G(j) is an orbit in ,
:
(l
:
) , then ,
1
:
(G(j)) is a
union of orbits in l
:
of the action Tc. Furthermore, ,
1
:
(G(j)) will intersect the normal space
e

:
G(.), because every orbit in the normal bundle
e
G(.) intersects every normal space of the
normal bundle.
Since \
r
is open, it is easy to see, that
e

:
G(.)
e
l
:
,
1
:
(\
r
) is an open set in
e

:
G(.).
By the linearity of the action Tc[
cx,
e
zc(:)
, by remark 12 and by lemma 9, we get that the set
e

:
G(.)
e
l
:
,
1
:
(\
r
) is cone-like. I.e., if is in this set, then every point t , t R0 which
5
is in
e

:
G(.)
e
l
:
belongs to the set ,
1
:
(\
r
), thus inftyp G(t ) = i for every t R0. As
. 0 (c| (\
r
)), corollary 15, lemma 9 and remark 12 yield that we can nd an other innitesimal
type j such that
e

:
G(.)
e
l
:
,
1
:
(\
q
) ,= O. As above
e

:
G(.)
e
l
:
,
:
(\
r
) is an open cone-like
set. Thus, we have the following:
For every point . 0 (c| (\
r
)) on the boundary, there are two disjoint open cone-like sets in
e

:
G(.) such that their points belong to two dierent innitesimal types.
Assume that the boundary 0 (c| (\
r
)) is non-empty and let . 0 (c| (\
r
)). We will construct a
ball
b
1 such that i:t

b
1

i:t (c| (\
r
)) but 0
b
10 (c| (\
r
)) ,= O. Let c : R
dim1
1 ', 0 .
be a coordinate chart, which maps the Euclidean open unit ball 1 to a coordinate neighbourhood of
the point .. Note, that the map c is a dieomorphism. Let us take a suitably small closed ball 1 in
the open set c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))) and continuously move it toward the point 0 = c
1
(.) by a simple
translation. At the beginning, 1 is in the open set c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))) but 0 is on the boundary
of this set, so there will be a moment when a translated closed ball 1
|
touches the boundary of
c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))) but i:t1
|
c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))). Let 1

such a translated ball which touches

the boundary of c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))) at j and i:t1

c
1
(i:t (c| (\
r
))). Let b .
Jt}
= c (j). Since
b . 0 (c| (\
r
)) , according to the description at the beginning of this proof, there are two disjoint
open cone-like sets in
e

b :
G(b .) which belong to two dierent innitesimal types. Thus, there is an
open cone-like set in
e

b :
G(b .) which points belong to an innitesimal type j ,= i. Let l
b :

e
G(b .),
,
b :
: l
b :
' be such as in denition 11, moreover,
e
l
b :
l
b :
a suitably small neighbourhood of
0
b :
for which ,
b :
[
e
I
b z
is a dieomorphism. We can assume that c (1

) ,
b :

e
l
b :

, because we can
shrink 1

from j.
Consider the set ,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e
G(b .), which is dieomorphic to a closed ball. Since c| (\
r
)
is G-invariant its boundary is also G-invariant, thus, G(b .) lies completely in the boundary. As the
set c (1

) is touching the boundary of c| (\

r
) , and it is dieomorphic to a ball which dimension is
dim', it is easy to see that G(b .) is tangent to 0c (1

). Since b . 0 (1

), we have that T
b :
G(b .)
T
b :
c (1

), which implies that the normal space

e

b :
G(b .) is transversal to T
0
b z
,
1
b :
(c (1)) . Thus, the
intersection ,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e

b :
G(b .) is an open set which dimension is dim
e

b :
G(b .) , its boundary is
dierentiable and 0
b :
is on its boundary. The set

,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e

b :
G(b .)

,
1
b :
(\
r
) is open and
dense in ,
1
b :
(c (1))
e

b :
G(b .), because c (1

) c| (\
r
) , therefore \
r
is dense in c (1

). Thus,
the open cone-like set corresponding to the innitesimal type j ,= i cannot intersect ,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e

b :
G(b .), but dim

,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e

b :
G(b .)

= dim
e

b :
G(b .) and 0
b :
is on its dierentiable boundary,
so any cone-like open set at 0
b :
in
e

b :
G(b .) must intersect ,
1
b :
(c (1

))
e

b :
G(b .), which is a
contradiction. Thus, our assumption that the boundary 0 (c| (\
r
)) is non-empty does not hold, so
\
r
must be an open and dense set.
It remains to prove that any orbit of innitesimal orbit type i is locally stable, because then
the union of all the orbits of type i is the open and dense set \
r
. Assume that G(j) is an orbit of
innitesimal type i but it is not locally stable. Then lemma 13 and corollary 15 yield, that there
is a locally stable orbit of type c i. Thus, \
o
, the set of locally stable orbits of innitesimal type
c, is an open non-empty set, but this contradicts that \
r
, which is disjoint to \
o
, is a dense set in
'. Therefore every orbit of type i must be locally stable.
The following denition is due to Szenthe [Sze].
Denition 17 An innitesimal orbit type i is called stable, if every orbit G(r) with innitesimal
6
orbit type i is locally stable. An innitesimal orbit type j is called unstable, if every orbit G(r)
with innitesimal orbit type j is locally unstable.
Note, that in general, there can be orbits G(r) , G(j) of the same innitesimal type i such that
G(r) is locally stable, but G(j) is locally unstable. Thus, the innitesimal orbit type i is neither
stable, nor unstable.
In the context of Szenthe we proved, that by the assumptions of theorem 16 there is a unique
stable innitesimal orbit type and the union of the orbits of this innitesimal type is an open and
dense set in '.
Note, that without the local model property the theorem fails to work as the following example
shows.
Example 18 Let c : (, ) [0, 1] be a smooth function such that c[
(1,0]
= 0 and c (t) 0,
for every t 0. Consider R
2
, the standard coordinate system (r, j) on it and the continuous vector
eld \ (r, j)
Jt}
= 0r on R
2
. Consider the smooth vector eld
b
\ (r, j)
Jt}
= c (j) \ (r, j) and the
1-parameter group action c : R R
2
R
2
dened by
b
\ . Then, the points of the closed half-plane
H
Jt}
= (r, j) [ j _ 0 will be xed points, every orbit in R
2
will be normalizable, but the single
points (r, 0) , r R, which are normalizable orbits, wont have local models. Moreover, the orbits
in H and R
2
H belong to two dierent innitesimal types. Furthermore, the innitesimal orbit
type of the orbits in H is neither stable nor unstable, but the innitesimal type of the orbits in
R
2
H is stable.
Let (', \) be a manifold with a connection and c : G ' ' an action of the Lie group
G which preserves the connection \. Then it is well known, that the exponential map restricted
to the normal bundle of an orbit exp[
e
c(r)
:
e
G(r) ' is G-equivariant and it is locally a
dieomorphism in a suitably small neighbourhood of every point of the zero section. So, according
to denition 11, the normal bundle of a normalizable orbit will be automatically a local model.
Thus, theorem 16 yields:
Corollary 19 Let (', \) be a manifold with a connection and c : G ' ' an action of a
Lie group G which preserves the connection \ and which is normalizable. Then, there is a unique
maximal innitesimal orbit type i, such that the union of the orbits of this type is an open and
dense set in '. Moreover, the innitesimal orbit type i is stable.
Remark 20 If c : G ' ' is an isomorphic action on a semi-Riemannian manifold (', q)
which is normalizable, then there is a unique maximal innitesimal orbit type i, such that the union
of the orbits of this type is an open and dense set in '. Moreover, the innitesimal orbit type i is
stable.
Theorem 12 in [Sz1] gives a proof for the Lorentz case with a dierent technique.
Note, that if (', q) is Riemannian, then every orbit is normalizable automatically. Thus, we
do not need any assumptions to have an innitesimal orbit type, such that the union of the orbits
belonging to this type is an open and dense set. But in this case connectedness is also true:
Theorem 21 If c : G' ' is an isometric action of a Lie group on a connected Riemannian
manifold (', q), then there is a unique maximal innitesimal orbit type, called innitesimal prin-
cipal, and the union of the innitesimal principal orbits is an open, dense and connected set in
'.
7
Proof. See theorem 9 in [Sz1]
Note, that as example 6 shows, in the semi-Riemannian case it is not always true that all the
orbits are normalizable.
Since in the proofs we used only the local actions, i.e. how the group elements in an arbitrary
small neighbourhood of the unit element act on the manifold, we can repeat the above lemmas,
corollaries and theorem for local actions, where the modied denitions and theorem are given
below.
Denition 22 Let G be a Lie group, or a local Lie group, and ' a dierentiable manifold. Assume,
that for every r ' there is an open neighbourhood H
r
G of the unit element c G and an
open neighbourhood l
r
' of r, for which a dierentiable local action c
r
: H
r
l
r
' is
dened, such that c
r
(/, c
r
(q, j)) = c
r
(/ q, j) for every j l
r
and q, / H
r
which are suitably
close to the unit element of G and c(c, j) = j for every j l
r
. Moreover, assume that the local
actions are compatible, i.e. if c
r
: H
r
l
r
' and c

: H

' are local actions for

which l
r
l

,= O, then the local actions coincide, where both of them are dened. I.e., there is
a neighbourhood
b
l l
r
l

and a neighbourhood
b
H H
r
H

of the unit element c such that

c
r
[
b
I
b
1
= c

[
b
I
b
1
. Then, the collection of the above compatible dierentiable local actions will be
denoted by c : G ' ' and it will be called a dierentiable local action of the (local) Lie
group G on '.
We will use the denitions of a singular foliation and the leaves of a singular foliation, which
can be found in the book of P. Molino [M].
Since the local actions c
r
in c are compatible it is easy to see that the local orbits glue together
and give the leaves of a singular foliation on ', moreover that the innitesimal orbit type at every
point of a leaf is the same. Of course, now we use the alternative denition of the innitesimal
orbit type which uses the Lie algebras and which was mentioned after denition 4. So, in case of
a dierentiable local action c, we can speak about the innitesimal orbit type of the leaves of the
induced foliation.
Denition 23 In case of a dierentiable local action c : G ' ' a leave 1 is normalizable,
if for every r 1 the following is true. Consider the local action c
r
: H
r
l
r
' and the local
isotropy group G
r
Jt}
= q H
r
[ c
r
(q, r) = r and its unit component G
0
r
. Then there is a normal
space
e

r
G(r) T
r
', for which
e

r
G(r) T
r
G(r) = T
r
' holds, where G(r) is the local orbit of
r, moreover, this decomposition is invariant by the action of G
0
r
.
A dierentiable local action c is normalizable, if every leave is normalizable.
In the proofs we used the normal bundle induced by the normal space. Since we never used the
whole normal bundle only a local part of it, we can use a local normal bundle induced by G
0
r
. More
precisely, let 1 be a leaf which is normalizable, c
r
the local action at r 1 and
e

r
G(r) a normal
space, then there is an open neighbourhood H
r
H
r
of the unit element c for which H
r
G
0
r
=
H
r
G
r
holds. Now, if we consider the restricted action c
r
[
1xIx
and the local orbit G(r) of this
action, then there is a well dened local normal bundle
e
G(r)
Jt}
= '
21x
Tc
r

r
G(r)

which
is H
r
invariant, where c
r

: l
r
', j c
r
(q, j) and Tc
r

is the linear action of c

r

. There is
one more denition to generalize.
8
Denition 24 Let c : G' ' be a dierentiable local action of a (local) Lie group on a dif-
ferentiable manifold '. Let 1 be a normalizable leaf and assume that for every local normal bundle
e
G(r) there is a neighbourhood l
e
G(r) of 0
r
and a H
r
-equivariant locally dieomorphic map
, : l ' for which ,(0
r
) = r. Then the local normal bundles
e
G(r) of the leaf 1 give a local
model.
Now the above preparations are enough to compose the local version of theorem 16.
Theorem 25 Let c : G ' ' be a dierentiable local action of a local Lie group G on the
dierentiable manifold ' which is normalizable. Assume that for every leaf 1 the local normal
bundles
e
G(r) of the leaf 1 yield a local model. Then there is a unique maximal innitesimal orbit
type i, such that the union of the leaves of this type is an open and dense set in '. Moreover, the
type i is stable.
Proof. As we mentioned above, the proof is the same as the proof of theorem 16, but here we
use the local forms of the denitions, lemmas and corollaries.
As above, example 18 shows, that if we do not assume in the above theorem that for every leaf
1 the local normal bundles of the leaf 1 yield a local model, then the theorem doesnt hold.
Of course, the local version of corollary 19 is also true:
Corollary 26 Let (', \) be a manifold with a connection and c : G ' ' a dierentiable
local action of a local Lie group G which preserves the connection \ and which is normalizable.
Then there is a unique maximal innitesimal orbit type i, such that the union of the leaves of this
type is an open and dense set in '. Moreover, the type i is stable.
Remark 27 Let c : G ' ' be an isometric dierentiable local action of a local Lie group
G on a semi-Riemannian manifold (', q) which is normalizable. Then there is a unique maximal
innitesimal orbit type, such that the union of the leaves of this type is an open and dense set in
'. Moreover, the type i is stable.
Since normalizability plays a key role in our investigations, we will examine the non-normalizable
actions. However, we will restrict ourselves to Lorentz manifolds and return to the classical case,
i.e. we take an isometric action c : G' ' of a Lie group on a Lorentz manifold (', q).
3 Non-normalizable orbits
The above theorem implies that if there is no innitesimal type such that the union of the orbits
belonging to this type is an open and dense set, then there must be a non-normalizable orbit. For
a non-normalizable orbit in the Lorentz case we can prove some statements, but to formulate these
we need a denition.
Denition 28 Let (', q) be a Lorentz manifold, A : ' T' a Killing vector eld and . '
such that A (.) ,= 0
:
. If
\
(:)
A = jA (.) ,
holds for some j R0 then the integral curve of A through ., which is a pregeodesic, is called
a genuine homogeneous pregeodesic. If j = 0 then the integral curve of A through ., which is
a geodesic, is called a homogeneous geodesic.
9
Theorem 29 If (', q) is a Lorentz manifold, c : G ' ' an isometric action of a Lie
group G and the orbit G(r) is non-normalizable, then G(r) is a light-like orbit, such that all the
light-like curves of the orbit are light-like homogeneous geodesics or genuine light-like homogeneous
pregeodesics.
Proof. See theorem 1 in [Sz2].
Note, that if G(r) is a non-normalizable orbit and a light-like geodesic in G(r), then from the
above theorem we know, that is a homogeneous geodesic or a genuine homogeneous pregeodesic.
However, it can happen that is both a homogeneous geodesic and a genuine homogeneous pregeo-
desic with respect to dierent Killing elds. In a special case we can prove something interesting.
Theorem 30 If the Lorentz manifold (', q) is geodesically complete and there isnt any non-
normalizable orbit which light-like geodesics are only homogeneous geodesics but not genuine ho-
mogeneous pregeodesics, then the union of the normalizable orbits is a dense set in '.
Proof. See theorem 2 in [Sz2].
Thus, in the above case we can use theorem 16 on an open dense set of '.
There are a lot of open questions:
If c is an isometric action on a Lorentz manifold, then is it true that either all the orbits are
non-normalizable or the normalizable orbits build a dense set in '?
If c is an isometric action on a Lorentz manifold, is it true that there are nite types i
1
, i
2
. . .
such that:
a, every type i
I
is stable or unstable;
b, the union of the orbits belonging to the types i
1
, i
2
. . . is an open and dense set in '.
If G(r) is a non-normalizable orbit in the Lorentz case, then the light-like orbits give a
foliation on G(r). Does the original metric q induces a Riemannian foliation? If not, is there
a Riemannian foliation on G(r) where the leaves are the light-like geodesics?
From an other point of view is the same topic investigated in [Sze].
References
[M] P. Molino, Riemannian foliations, Birkhauser Boston, Inc., Boston, MA, (1988).
[M-S-Y] Montgomery D., Samelson H., Yang C. T., Exceptional orbits of highest dimension, Ann.
of Math., 64. (2) (1956), pp. 131-141.
[P] R. S. Palais, On the existence of slices for actions of non-compact Lie groups, Ann. of Math.
73. (1961), 295-323.
[Sz1] D. Szeghy, On innitesimal orbit types of a normalizable isometric action on a Lorentz
manifold, Univ. Iagellonicae Acta Math., 47. (2009), pp. 171-186.
[Sz2] D. Szeghy, On non-normalizable orbits of isometric actions on lorentz manifolds, Geomet-
ricae Dedicata, 149. (2010), pp. 219-230.
[Sze] J. Szenthe, On innitesimal orbit types of isometric actions on Lorentz manifolds, in prepa-
ration
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