Locally-homogeneous Riemann-Cartan geometries with the largest symmetry group

Abstract

The symmetry frame formalism is an effective tool for computing the symmetries of a Riemann-Cartan geometry and, in particular, in metric teleparallel geometries. In the case of non-vanishing torsion in a four dimensional Riemann-Cartan geometry, the Minkowski geometry is the only geometry admitting ten affine frame symmetries. Excluding this geometry, the maximal number of affine frame symmetries is seven. A natural question is to ask what four dimensional geometries admit a seven-dimensional group of affine frame symmetries. Such geometries are locally homogeneous and admit the largest isotropy group permitted, and hence are called maximally isotropic. Using the symmetry frame formalism to compute affine frame symmetries along with the additional structure of the torsion tensor, we employ the Cartan-Karlhede algorithm to determine all possible seven-dimensional symmetry groups for Riemann-Cartan geometries.