Cones and Cartan geometry

Abstract

We show that the extended principal bundle of a Cartan geometry of type $(A(m,\mathbb{R}),GL(m,\mathbb{R}))$, endowed with its extended connection $\hat\omega$, is isomorphic to the principal $A(m,\mathbb{R})$-bundle of affine frames endowed with the affine connection as defined in classical Kobayashi-Nomizu volume I. Then we classify the local holonomy groups of the Cartan geometry canonically associated to a Riemannian manifold. It follows that if the holonomy group of the Cartan geometry canonically associated to a Riemannian manifold is compact then the Riemannian manifold is locally a product of cones.