Projective and conformal closed manifolds with a higher-rank lattice action

Abstract

We prove global results about actions of cocompact lattices in higher-rank simple Lie groups on closed manifolds endowed with either a projective class of connections or a conformal class of pseudo-Riemannian metrics of signature $(p,q)$, with $\min(p,q) \geq 2$. In the continuity of a recent article, provided that such a structure is locally equivalent to its model $\mathbf{X}$, the main question treated here is the completeness of the associated $(G,\mathbf{X})$-structure. Because of the similarities between the model spaces of projective geometry and non-Lorentzian conformal geometry, a number of arguments apply in both contexts. We therefore present the proofs in parallel. The conclusion is that in both cases, when the real-rank is maximal, the manifold is globally equivalent to either the model space $\mathbf{X}$ or its double cover.