On the Complex Cayley Grassmannian

Abstract

We define a torus action on the (complex) Cayley Grassmannian $X$. Using this action, we prove that $X$ is a singular variety. We also show that the singular locus is smooth and has the same cohomology ring as that of $\mathbb{CP}^5$. Furthermore, we identify the singular locus with a quotient of $G_2^\mathbb{C}$ by a parabolic subgroup.