Global properties of indefinite metrics with parallel Weyl tensor

Abstract

This is an exposition of some recent results on ECS manifolds, by which we mean pseudo-Riemannian manifolds of dimensions greater than 3 that are neither conformally flat nor locally symmetric, and have parallel Weyl tensor. All ECS metrics are indefinite. We state two classification theorems, describing the local structure of ECS manifolds, and outline an argument showing that compact ECS manifolds exist in infinitely many dimensions greater than 4. We also discuss some properties of compact manifolds that admit ECS metrics, and provide a list of open questions about compact ECS manifolds.