Quasi-contact metric structures from Sasaki-Einstein metrics

Abstract

We construct the first examples of quasi-contact metric structures that are not contact metric in every odd dimension greater than or equal to $5$. In dimension $5$, we construct a one-parameter family of such examples with a Killing characteristic vector field by deforming Sasaki-Einstein $\mathrm{SU}(2)$-structures. This yields compact, homogeneous examples on $S^5$. In arbitrary dimensions, we investigate quasi-contact metric structures with a Killing characteristic vector field and derive a Ricci curvature criterion for the structure to be K-contact.