Born Lie algebras

Alejandro Gil-Garcı́a and Paula Naomi Pilatus

Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA)

No. 544, Hefangkou Village, Huaibei Town, Huairou District, Beijing 101408, China
arXiv:2411.04856v1 [math.DG] 7 Nov 2024

[email protected]

Fachbereich Mathematik
Universität Hamburg
Bundesstraße 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
[email protected]

November 8, 2024

Abstract

We show that every Born Lie algebra can be obtained by the bicross product construction starting from
two pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebras. We then obtain a classification of all Lie algebras up to dimension
four and all six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. Finally,
we study the curvature properties of the pseudo-Riemannian metrics of the integrable Born structures
obtained in our classification results.

Keywords: Born, pseudo-Kähler, bi-Lagrangian, complex product, bicross product

MSC classification: Primary 53C15; Secondary 53C50, 53C55, 22E25

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Contents
1 Introduction 2

2 Preliminaries on Born structures 4

3 Born Lie algebras as bicross products 6

4 Born Lie algebras in low dimensions 12

4.1 Two-dimensional classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 Four-dimensional classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 Six-dimensional nilpotent classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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4.3.1 Case R ’ heis3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3.2 Case R3 ’ R3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.4 Curvature properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A Some numerical invariants 20

References 21

1 Introduction
Born structures were introduced first in [15] in the context of T-duality in string theory and have been studied
further e.g. in [16–19,29,30], along with their application in high-energy physics. There are several equivalent
definitions of a Born structure that can be found in the literature. The definition of a Born structure that
is stated e.g. in [19] is in terms of para-Hermitian and para-quaternionic structures. A definition of Born
structures given purely in the language of generalized geometry can be found in [25]. In this paper, we will
work with the definition of a Born structure proposed in [22], as a diagram
g
A B

´J
ω h ,

where g and h are pseudo-Riemannian metrics and ω is a non-degenerate two-form, such that the endomor-
phisms A, B, J satisfy A2 “ B 2 “ ´J 2 “ Id. It is proved in [22] that this definition gives indeed rise to the
same structure as originally introduced in [15].

We will furthermore adopt the notion of integrability of a Born structure as defined in [22], i.e. we will
say that the Born structure is integrable if the two-form ω is closed and the endomorphisms A, B and J
are integrable. While the question of integrability is usually not addressed in the literature about Born
structures from high-energy physics, it is geometrically interesting. An integrable Born structure gives rise
to a (pseudo-)Kähler structure, a bi-Lagrangian structure as well as a complex product structure on the
underlying manifold satisfying certain compatibility conditions.

Being a relatively new geometric structure, so far not many examples of manifolds admitting (integrable) Born
structures have been discussed in the literature. A particularly feasible class of examples are left-invariant
Born structures on Lie groups, since in this setting it suffices to work at the level of the Lie algebra. First
examples of Born structures on Lie algebras were studied in [29] and [30]. Furthermore, in [22] examples of

2
integrable Born structures on nilpotent Lie algebras were provided. In this paper we will discuss constructions
in order to obtain Born Lie algebras in a more systematic manner, leading to a classification of all Lie algebras
up to dimension four and all six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting integrable Born structures.

Main results and outline

In this paper we focus on the construction and classification of low-dimensional Lie algebras admitting an
integrable Born structure. In Section 2 we recall the notion and basic properties of Born Lie algebras. In
Section 3 we make use of the bicross product construction (see Definition 3.1) to show that given two pseudo-
Riemannian Lie algebras pg˘ , h˘ q, a linear isometry Q : g` ÝÑ g´ and two representations φ and ρ satisfying
suitable conditions we obtain a Born Lie algebra, see Theorem 3.7. Furthermore, every Born Lie algebra can
be obtained in this way, see Proposition 3.8. Setting one of the representations to zero, the bicross product
reduces to the semidirect product and we are able to construct many examples of Born Lie algebras starting
just from flat pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebras, see Corollary 3.10. By a similar strategy we obtain examples
of pseudo-hyperkähler and hypersymplectic Lie algebras, see Propositions 3.12 and 3.14, respectively.

In Section 4 we classify low-dimensional Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. The classi-
fication in dimension two is trivial and the classification in dimension four is obtained in Theorem 4.1 by
comparing the classifications of four-dimensional pseudo-Kähler and bi-Lagrangian Lie algebras and provid-
ing an explicit integrable Born structure for each Lie algebra in the theorem. In Theorem 4.3 we classify all
six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. To obtain such classification
we make use of several results that restrict the possible candidates. First we show in Lemma 4.6 that it
is enough to consider the bicross products R3 ’ heis3 , where heis3 is the three-dimensional Heisenberg Lie
algebra, and R3 ’ R3 . In the R3 ’ heis3 case we only need to consider flat metrics by Lemma 4.8 and we
obtain all such Lie algebras in Proposition 4.9. In the R3 ’ R3 case we first find necessary conditions to admit
an integrable Born structure in Lemma 4.10 and then we find such Lie algebras in Proposition 4.11. The
combination of these last two propositions gives us the complete classification of six-dimensional nilpotent
Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. Finally, we study curvature properties of the Born Lie
algebras obtained in the classifications.

Related results

As explained, Born geometry lies in the intersection of pseudo-Kähler, bi-Lagrangian and complex product
geometry. These three geometries are well studied in the context of left-invariant structures on Lie groups or,
equivalently, on Lie algebras. In particular, several classification results are known for each of these structures
on low-dimensional Lie algebras.

Pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras have been completely classified in dimension four [31]. In this dimension it is
known that if a Lie algebra admits a symplectic structure then it must be solvable [9]. Moreover, some
of these pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras are actually Kähler, i.e. positive-definite. This can only happen for
non-nilpotent or abelian Lie algebras due to [23]. Six-dimensional nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras have
been classified in [12], and in [27] a partial classification is obtained in dimension eight. Further examples
of pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras have been constructed using semidirect products [8, 10, 11]. Bi-Lagrangian
structures, also known as para-Kähler [13] or Künneth structures [21], have been classified in dimension four
[7] and in dimension six in the nilpotent case [20].

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Complex product structures on Lie algebras were introduced in [4], where many four-dimensional examples
were obtained. In contrast to the pseudo-Kähler and bi-Lagrangian case, there exist four-dimensional non-
solvable complex product Lie algebras. The classification in the solvable case was obtained in [3] and the
complete classification in [6], where complex product structures appear under the name para-hypercomplex.
Six-dimensional nilpotent complex product Lie algebras were classified in [2].

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to D. Conti and D. Kotschick for their valuable comments. The work of AGG is sup-
ported by the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA) and partially funded
by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence
Strategy – EXC 2121 “Quantum Universe” – 390833306 and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – SFB-
Geschäftszeichen 1624 – Projektnummer 506632645. The work of PNP is funded by the Deutsche Forschungs-
gemeinschaft under Germany’s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2121 “Quantum Universe” – 390833306.

2 Preliminaries on Born structures

Let a and b be non-degenerate bilinear forms on the tangent bundle of a smooth manifold M . Then the
recursion operator from a to b is the unique field of invertible endomorphisms A, such that apA¨, ¨q “ bp¨, ¨q.
A
We will denote this as a ÝÑ b. For a detailed discussion of recursion operators see [5].

Definition 2.1 ([22]). Let M be a smooth manifold. A Born structure on M is a triple pg, h, ωq, where g
and h are pseudo-Riemannian metrics and ω is a non-degenerate two-form such that the recursion operators
g
A B

´J
ω h

satisfy ´J 2 “ A2 “ B 2 “ Id.

Proposition 2.2 ([22]). The recursion operators A, B and J pairwise anti-commute and ABJ “ Id. In
particular J interchanges the ˘1-eigenbundles of A and B. Moreover, the bilinear forms g, h and ω are, up
to sign, invariant under A, B and J. The precise relations are shown in Table 1.

gpAX, AY q “ ´gpX, Y q hpAX, AY q “ hpX, Y q ωpAX, AY q “ ´ωpX, Y q

gpAX, Y q “ ´gpX, AY q hpAX, Y q “ hpX, AY q ωpAX, Y q “ ´ωpX, AY q

gpBX, BY q “ gpX, Y q hpBX, BY q “ hpX, Y q ωpBX, BY q “ ´ωpX, Y q

gpBX, Y q “ gpX, BY q hpBX, Y q “ hpX, BY q ωpBX, Y q “ ´ωpX, BY q

gpJX, JY q “ ´gpX, Y q hpJX, JY q “ hpX, Y q ωpJX, JY q “ ωpX, Y q

gpJX, Y q “ gpX, JY q hpJX, Y q “ ´hpX, JY q ωpJX, Y q “ ´ωpX, JY q

Table 1: Transformation properties of g, h and ω under A, B and J (see [22]).

We denote by L˘ the ˘1-eigenbundles of A. From Proposition 2.2 we obtain:

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Corollary 2.3 ([22]). The distributions L˘ are Lagrangian for ω, null for g and orthogonal for h. In
particular, g has neutral signature. The signature of h is of the form p2p, 2qq.

Definition 2.4 ([22]). A Born structure pg, h, ωq is integrable if the two-form ω is symplectic and two out
of the three recursion operators are integrable. A manifold with an integrable Born structure is called Born.

Here, it is enough to require the integrability of only two out of the three recursion operators, due to the
following proposition:

Proposition 2.5 ([22, 26]). If two out of the three recursion operators in a Born structure are integrable, so
is the third one.

Note that if a Born structure is integrable, then ph, Jq is a pseudo-Kähler structure. The structure pω, L` , L´ q
is what we will call a bi-Lagrangian structure:

Definition 2.6. An almost bi-Lagrangian structure is an almost symplectic form ω together with a pair
of complementary Lagrangian distributions L˘ . The almost bi-Lagrangian structure pω, L` , L´ q is called
integrable or bi-Lagrangian structure if ω is closed and the distributions L˘ are integrable to Lagrangian
foliations L˘ .

Remark 2.7. Bi-Lagrangian structures appear in the literature also under the name Künneth structures [21].
Furthermore, a bi-Lagrangian structure is equivalent to a para-Kähler structure, i.e. a pair pg, Aq of a neutral
metric g and an almost product structure A such that gpA¨, A¨q “ ´gp¨, ¨q and such that A is parallel with
respect to the Levi-Civita connection of g.

In particular, integrability of the Born structure implies that ∇g ω “ 0, ∇h ω “ 0 and ∇h J “ 0, where ∇g

and ∇h denote the Levi-Civita connections of g and h, respectively. Furthermore, given an integrable Born
structure the recursion operators pJ, Aq form a complex product structure, i.e. a pair of a complex and a
product structure that anti-commute.
In this project we will study constructions in order to obtain examples of left-invariant Born structures on
Lie groups. For those, it suffices to work at the level of the Lie algebra. Born structures on Lie algebras
were already introduced in [22]. The definition of a Born structure on a Lie algebra is transcribed from
Definition 2.1 in the obvious way:

Definition 2.8 ([22]). Let g be a Lie algebra. A Born structure on g is a triple pg, h, ωq, where g and h are
pseudo-Riemannian metrics and ω is a non-degenerate two-form such that the recursion operators
g
A B

´J
ω h
satisfy ´J 2 “ A2 “ B 2 “ Id. The Born structure is called integrable if its two-form is closed under the
Chevalley-Eilenberg differential, the endomorphism J has vanishing Nijenhuis tensor and the eigenspaces of
A are subalgebras of g. A Lie algebra with an integrable Born structure is called Born.

Clearly, Proposition 2.2 carries over to the Lie algebra setting. We will denote the eigenspaces of A by g˘ .
For these, an analogous statement to Corollary 2.3 holds. Given a Lie group G, an integrable Born structure
on its Lie algebra in the sense of Definition 2.8 gives rise to a left-invariant integrable Born structure on G
in the sense of Definition 2.4.
We furthermore introduce the following notion of equivalence of Born structures on Lie algebras:

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Definition 2.9. Two Born structures pg, h, ωq and pg 1 , h1 , ω 1 q on Lie algebras g and g1 are equivalent, if there
is an isomorphism of Lie algebras Φ : g ÝÑ g1 such that

Φ˚ h1 “ h, Φ˚ g 1 “ g, Φ˚ ω 1 “ ω.

Sometimes, it will be more useful to work with the following equivalent integrability condition for a Born
structure on a Lie algebra:

Proposition 2.10. A Born structure on a Lie algebra g is integrable if and only if the eigenspaces of A are
subalgebras of g and J is parallel with respect to the Levi-Civita connection of h.

In particular, this yields the following equivalent description of an integrable Born structure on a Lie algebra:

Corollary 2.11. An integrable Born structure on a Lie algebra g is equivalent to a pseudo-Kähler structure
ph, Jq on g together with a pair of complementary subalgebras g˘ that are orthogonal with respect to h and
interchanged by J.

In view of Corollary 2.11 we will sometimes denote a Born structure by the tuple ph, J, g˘ q rather than the
three bilinear forms pg, h, ωq.

A first example of a Born Lie algebra is the following:

Example 2.12. Every even-dimensional abelian Lie algebra is Born. An integrable Born structure can be
constructed from the standard Kähler structure with a canonical choice of subalgebras g˘ (see [22]).

3 Born Lie algebras as bicross products

In this section we show that every Born Lie algebra can be obtained from two pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebras
of the same dimension and signature using bicross products.

Definition 3.1 ([1, 28]). Let g` , g´ be real finite-dimensional Lie algebras and let φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q and
ρ : g` ÝÑ Endpg´ q be representations satisfying

φpX´ qrX` , Y` s` ´ rφpX´ qX` , Y` s` ´ rX` , φpX´ qY` s` ` φpρpX` qX´ qY` ´ φpρpY` qX´ qX` “ 0,
(1)
ρpX` qrX´ , Y´ s´ ´ rρpX` qX´ , Y´ s´ ´ rX´ , ρpX` qY´ s´ ` ρpφpX´ qX` qY´ ´ ρpφpY´ qX` qX´ “ 0

for all X` , Y` P g` and X´ , Y´ P g´ , where r¨, ¨s` and r¨, ¨s´ denote the Lie brackets of g` and g´ ,
respectively. The bicross product gρφ :“ g` ’ρφ g´ is the Lie algebra with underlying vector space g` ‘ g´
and Lie bracket given by

rX` ` X´ , Y` ` Y´ s :“ rX` , Y` s` ` φpX´ qY` ´ φpY´ qX` ` rX´ , Y´ s´ ` ρpX` qY´ ´ ρpY` qX´

for X` , Y` P g` and X´ , Y´ P g´ .

Remark 3.2. The Lie algebras g` and g´ are Lie subalgebras of the bicross product gρφ “ g` ’ρφ g´ .

Proposition 3.3. Let g` and g´ be real Lie algebras of the same dimension endowed with pseudo-Riemannian
metrics h` and h´ of the same signature. Let furthermore Q : g` ÝÑ g´ be a linear isometry from pg` , h` q

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to pg´ , h´ q. Then there is a (possibly non-integrable) Born structure on g :“ g` ‘ g´ , with h :“ h` ‘ h´
and J given by
˜ ¸
0 ´Q´1
J :“
Q 0

in the splitting g “ g` ‘ g´ . In particular, given a pair of representations φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q and ρ : g` ÝÑ

Endpg´ q satisfying the conditions in Definition 3.1, this Born structure gives rise to a (possibly non-integrable)
Born structure on the bicross product gρφ :“ g` ’ρφ g´ .

Proof. Let g, h and J be as defined in Proposition 3.3. Then clearly J interchanges g˘ and J 2 “ ´Id.
Moreover, by the definition of h, the subspaces g˘ are orthogonal with respect to h and since Q is an
isometry, h is invariant under J. Hence, ph, J, g˘ q define a Born structure on g and therefore also on
gρφ :“ g` ’ρφ g´ .

Definition 3.4. We call the Born structure on gρφ “ g` ’ρφ g´ obtained as in Proposition 3.3 the Born
structure associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq.

Remark 3.5. Note that given the metric h´ on g´ and the isometry Q : g` ÝÑ g´ , the metric h` on g` is
completely determined by h` “ Q˚ h´ .

Next, we study under which conditions on the representations φ and ρ the Born structure associated with
the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq is integrable. For this, we first need to compute the Levi-Civita connection ∇h of
the metric h :“ h` ‘ h´ on gρφ .

Given a pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebra pg, hq and an endomorphism f : g ÝÑ g, we denote by f ˚ the adjoint
operator of f , i.e. hpf ¨, ¨q “ hp¨, f ˚ ¨q. Moreover, we write f “ f s ` f a , where f s “ 21 pf ` f ˚ q denotes the
h-symmetric part of f and f a “ 21 pf ´ f ˚ q denotes the h-antisymmetric part of f .

Lemma 3.6. Let X, Y, Z P gρφ . Then the Levi-Civita connection ∇h of h is given by:

1. hp∇hX` Y` , Zq “ h` p∇` s
X` Y` , Z` q ` h` pφpZ´ q X` , Y` q.

2. ∇hX` Y´ “ ´φpY´ qs X` ` ρpX` qa Y´ .

3. ∇hX´ Y` “ φpX´ qa Y` ´ ρpY` qs X´ .
4. hp∇hX´ Y´ , Zq “ h´ p∇´ s
X´ Y´ , Z´ q ` h´ pρpZ` q X´ , Y´ q.

Here, the subscripts ˘ denote the projections to g˘ , respectively, and ∇˘ denote the Levi-Civita connections
of h˘ on g˘ .

Proof. Recall the Koszul formula for the Levi-Civita connection ∇h :

2hp∇hu v, wq “ hpru, vs, wq ´ hpv, ru, wsq ´ hpu, rv, wsq

for u, v, w P gρφ . Let u “ X` , v “ Y` and w “ Z “ Z` ` Z´ . Then we have:

2hp∇hX` Y` , Zq “ hprX` , Y` s, Zq ´ hpY` , rX` , Zsq ´ hpX` , rY` , Zsq

“ hprX` , Y` s` , Zq
´ hpY` , rX` , Z` s` ´ φpZ´ qX` ` ρpX` qZ´ q

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 ´ hpX` , rY` , Z` s` ´ φpZ´ qY` ` ρpY` qZ´ q
“ h` prX` , Y` s` , Z` q ´ h` pY` , rX` , Z` s` q ´ h` pX` , rY` , Z` sq
` h` pY` , φpZ´ qX` q ` h` pX` , φpZ´ qY` q
s
“ 2h` p∇`
X` Y` , Z` q ` 2h` pφpZ´ q X` , Y` q,

hence hp∇hX` Y` , Zq “ h` p∇` s

X` Y` , Z` q ` h` pφpZ´ q X` , Y` q. Similarly we compute

2hp∇hX` Y´ , Zq “ hprX` , Y´ s, Zq ´ hpY´ , rX` , Zsq ´ hpX` , rY´ , Zsq

“ hp´φpY´ qX` ` ρpX` qY´ , Zq
´ hpY´ , rX` , Z` s` ´ φpZ´ qX` ` ρpX` qZ´ q
´ hpX` , φpY´ qZ` ` rY´ , Z´ s´ ´ ρpZ` qY´ q
“ ´h` pφpY´ qX` , Z` q ` h´ pρpX` qY´ , Z´ q
´ h´ pY´ , ρpX` qZ´ q ´ h` pX` , φpY´ qZ` q
“ ´2hpφpY´ qs X` , Z` q ` 2h´ pρpX` qa Y´ , Z´ q
“ 2hp´φpY´ qs X` ` ρpX` qa Y´ , Zq.

To obtain the formula for ∇hX´ Y` we use the fact that ∇h is torsion-free. Finally, the formula for ∇hX´ Y´ is
obtained by an analogous computation to that of the formula for ∇hX` Y` .

By Proposition 2.10, to show that the Born structure associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq is integrable
it suffices to show under which conditions on φ and ρ the complex structure J is ∇h -parallel. This is the
content of the following result.

Theorem 3.7. The Born structure associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq is integrable if and only if

1. φpX´ qa “ Q´1 ∇´
X´ Q for all X´ P g` .

2. φpQX` qs Y` “ φpQY` qs X` for all X` , Y` P g` .

3. ρpX` qa “ Q∇`
X` Q
´1
for all X` P g` .
4. ρpX` qs QY` “ ρpY` qs QX` for all X` , Y` P g` .

Proof. As explained above, to show that the Born structure is integrable it suffices to show that ∇h J “ 0.
We will make use of Lemma 3.6 throughout the proof. We have to consider four different cases:

• Case X` , Y` P g` : We compute

hpp∇hX` JqY` , Zq “ hp∇hX` JY` , Zq ´ hpJ∇hX` Y` , Zq,

where

hp∇hX` JY` , Zq “ hp∇hX` QY` , Zq “ hp´φpQY` qs X` ` ρpX` qa QY` , Zq

“ ´h` pφpQY` qs X` , Z` q ` h´ pρpX` qa QY` , Z´ q
hpJ∇hX` Y` , Zq “ ´hp∇hX` Y` , JpZqq “ ´hp∇hX` Y` , ´Q´1 Z´ ` QZ` q
“ h` p∇`
X` Y` , Q
´1
Z´ q ´ h` pφpQZ` qs X` , Y` q.

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Hence

hpp∇hX` JqY` , Zq “ ´h` p∇`

X` Y` , Q
´1
Z´ q ` h´ pρpX` qa QY` , Z´ q
´ h` pX` , φpQY` qs Z` ´ φpQZ` qs Y` q.

This is zero if and only if φpQY` qs Z` “ φpQZ` qs Y` for all Y` , Z` P g` and ρpX` qa “ Q∇`
X` Q
´1
for all
X` P g` since h` p∇`
X` Y` , Q
´1
Z´ q “ h´ pQ∇`
X` Y` , Z´ q.

• Case X` P g` , Y´ P g´ : We compute

hpp∇hX` JqY´ , Zq “ hp∇hX` JY´ , Zq ´ hpJ∇hX` Y´ , Zq,

where

hp∇hX` JY´ , Zq “ ´hp∇hX` Q´1 Y´ , Zq

“ ´h` p∇`
X` Q
´1
Y´ , Z` q ´ h` pφpZ´ qs X` , Q´1 Y´ q
“ ´h` pQ´1 ρpX` qa Y´ , Z` q ´ h` pX` , φpZ´ qs Q´1 Y´ q,
hpJ∇hX` Y´ , Zq “ hpJp´φpY´ qs X` ` ρpX` qa Y´ q, Zq
“ ´h´ pQφpY´ qs X` , Z´ q ´ h` pQ´1 ρpX` qa Y´ , Z` q
“ ´h` pX` , φpY´ qs Q´1 Z´ q ´ h` pQ´1 ρpX` qa Y´ , Z` q.

Hence
hpp∇hX` JqY´ , Zq “ ´h` pX` , φpZ´ qs Q´1 Y´ ´ φpY´ qs Q´1 Z´ q.

This is zero if and only if φpZ´ qs Q´1 Y´ “ φpY´ qs Q´1 Z´ for all Y´ , Z´ P g´ . Setting Ỹ` “ Q´1 Y´ and
Z̃` “ Q´1 Z´ we obtain φpQZ̃` qs Ỹ` “ φpQỸ` qs Z̃` , which is the condition obtained before.

• Case X´ P g´ , Y` P g` : We compute

hpp∇hX´ JqY` , Zq “ hp∇hX´ JY` , Zq ´ hpJ∇hX´ Y` , Zq,

where

hp∇hX´ JY` , Zq “ hp∇hX´ QY` , Zq

s
“ h´ p∇´
X´ QY` , Z´ q ` h´ pρpZ` q X´ , QY` q,

hpJ∇hX´ Y` , Zq “ hpJpφpX´ qa Y` ´ ρpY` qs X´ q, Zq

“ h´ pQφpX´ qa Y` , Z´ q ` h` pQ´1 ρpY` qs X´ , Z` q.

This is zero if and only if φpX´ qa “ Q´1 ∇´ s s

X´ Q for all X´ P g´ and ρpZ` q QY` “ ρpY` q QZ` for all
Y` , Z` P g` .

• Case X´ , Y´ P g´ : A similar computation as in the previous cases gives us again the conditions φpX´ qa “
Q´1 ∇´ s s
X´ Q for all X´ P g´ and ρpZ` q QY` “ ρpY` q QZ` for all Y` , Z` P g` .

Conversely, every Born Lie algebra can be obtained by some data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq:

9
Proposition 3.8. Let g be a Born Lie algebra. Then for every integrable Born structure ph, J, g˘ q on g
there exist a pair of representations φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q and ρ : g` ÝÑ Endpg´ q and a linear isometry
Q : pg` , h` :“ h|g` q ÝÑ pg´ , h´ :“ h|g´ q such that g – g` ’ρφ g´ and ph, J, g˘ q is equivalent to the Born
structure associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φ, ρq.

Proof. Let ph, J, g˘ q be an integrable Born structure on g. Then g` and g´ are orthogonal with respect to h
and h` :“ h|g` and h´ :“ h|g´ define pseudo-Riemannian metrics on g` and g´ , respectively. Furthermore,
we know that J interchanges g` and g´ . We set Q :“ J|g` : g` ÝÑ g´ . Then it follows from hpJ¨, J¨q “ hp¨, ¨q
that Q is a linear isometry with respect to h` and h´ , and it follows from J 2 “ ´Id that
˜ ¸
0 ´Q´1
J“ . (2)
Q 0

Since ph, J, g˘ q is integrable, the subspaces g˘ are Lie subalgebras of g. Moreover, we have g` ‘ g´ “ g. We
define

φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q, ρ : g` ÝÑ Endpg´ q

by setting

φpXqY :“ rX, Y s` , ρpY qX :“ rY, Xs´

for X P g´ , Y P g` , where r¨, ¨s denotes the Lie bracket of g. We claim that φ and ρ are Lie algebra
representations. Indeed, for X, Y P g´ , Z P g` , we have

φ prX, Y sq Z “ rrX, Y s, Zs`

“ prX, rY, Zss ` rY, rZ, Xssq`
“ rX, rY, Zs` s` ` rY, rZ, Xs` s`
“ rφpXq, φpY qs Z,

where we used the Jacobi identity for the second equality and that g´ is a subalgebra for the third equality.
This shows that φ is a Lie algebra representation. The proof for ρ works analogously. Clearly, we have
g “ g` ’ρφ g´ as Lie algebras. By construction the Born structures are equivalent.

Taking one of the representations to be the trivial representation, say ρ ” 0, the bicross product reduces to
the well-known semidirect product. Therefore, by Proposition 3.3, given two Lie algebras g` and g´ with
pseudo-Riemannian metrics h` and h´ , a linear isometry Q : pg` , h` q ÝÑ pg´ , h´ q and a representation
φ : g´ ÝÑ Derpg` q, we can construct a Born structure on g` ¸φ g´ , the Born structure associated with the
data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φq. In this case Theorem 3.7 reduces to the following statement:

Theorem 3.9. The Born structure associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φq is integrable if and only if

1. g` is abelian.
2. φpX´ qa “ Q´1 ∇´
X´ Q for all X´ P g´ .

3. φpQX` qs Y` “ φpQY` qs X` for all X` , Y` P g` .

Here ∇˘ denotes the Levi-Civita connection of h˘ .

10
As an application of Theorem 3.9 we show that we can construct an integrable Born structure from any flat
pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebra.

Corollary 3.10. Let pg´ , h´ q be a flat pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebra of dimension n. Let g` “ Rn ,
h` “ Q˚ h´ , where Q : g` ÝÑ g´ is an isomorphism of vector spaces, and define φ : g´ ÝÑ Derpg` q
by φpX´ q “ Q´1 ∇´
X´ Q. Then the Born structure on g` ¸φ g´ associated with the data pg˘ , h˘ , Q, φq is
integrable. Moreover, the metric h is flat.

Proof. This is a direct consequence of Theorem 3.9 by noticing that such φpX´ q is h` -antisymmetric for all
X´ P g´ and φ is a representation since ∇´ is flat. The metric h “ h` ‘ h´ is flat by the Azencott-Wilson
theorem (see [10, Proposition 1.12]) since in this case the pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebra pg` ¸φ g´ , hq is
linearly isometric to the direct sum Lie algebra pg` ‘ g´ , hq, which is flat.

Using a similar strategy, we may also construct many pseudo-hyperkähler Lie algebras:

Definition 3.11. A pseudo-hyperkähler structure ph, J, Iq on a Lie algebra g is a pair of anti-commuting

complex structures J and I that are both Kähler for a pseudo-Riemannian metric h.

In order to construct pseudo-hyperkähler Lie algebras, we start with an even-dimensional flat pseudo-Kähler
Lie algebra:

Proposition 3.12. Let pg´ , h´ , I´ q be a flat pseudo-Kähler Lie algebra of dimension 2n. Let g` “ R2n ,
h` “ Q˚ h´ , I` “ ´Q´1 I´ Q, where Q : g` ÝÑ g´ is an isomorphism of vector spaces, and define the
representation φ : g´ ÝÑ Derpg` q by φpX´ q “ Q´1 ∇´
X´ Q. Set

˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
h` 0 0 ´Q´1 I` 0
h“ , J“ , I“ .
0 h´ Q 0 0 I´

Then ph, J, Iq is a pseudo-hyperkähler structure on g` ¸φ g´ .

Proof. Let g˘ , φ, h, I and J as in Proposition 3.12. Then it is easy to check that ph, J, Iq is an almost pseudo-
hyperhermitian structure on g` ¸φ g´ . We know by Theorem 3.9 that with the above choices, ∇h J “ 0.
Moreover, by [10, Theorem 1.3] we know that ∇h I “ 0 for such φ if and only if I` ˝ φpX´ q “ φpX´ q ˝ I` .
However, this condition is satisfied automatically since ∇´ I´ “ 0.

Similarly, we can construct many examples of hypersymplectic Lie algebras:

Definition 3.13. A hypersymplectic structure on a Lie algebra g is a triple ph, J, Eq such that ph, Jq is
pseudo-Kähler, ph, Eq is bi-Lagrangian and J and E anti-commute.

Proposition 3.14. Let pg´ , h´ , E´ q be a flat bi-Lagrangian Lie algebra of dimension 2n. Let g` “ R2n ,
h` “ Q˚ h´ , E` “ ´Q´1 E´ Q, where Q : g` ÝÑ g´ is an isomorphism of vector spaces, and define the
representation φ : g´ ÝÑ Derpg` q by φpX´ q “ Q´1 ∇´
X´ Q. Set

˜ ¸ ˜ ¸ ˜ ¸
h` 0 0 ´Q´1 E` 0
h“ , J“ , E“ .
0 h´ Q 0 0 E´

Then ph, J, Eq is a hypersymplectic structure on g` ¸φ g´ .

11
Remark 3.15. The definition of hypersymplectic structures that we use here is equivalent to the one pre-
sented in [1], which is in turn equivalent to the definition originally introduced by Hitchin in [24]. Another
equivalent definition of hypersymplectic structures in terms of three symplectic forms and their recursion
operators was discussed in [5].

4 Born Lie algebras in low dimensions

In this section, we classify all Lie algebras up to dimension four and all nilpotent Lie algebras in dimension
six admitting an integrable Born structure.

4.1 Two-dimensional classification

The only two-dimensional Lie algebras are

R2 “ xe1 , e2 y and r2 “ affpRq “ xe1 , e2 | re1 , e2 s “ e2 y.

By Example 2.12, the abelian Lie algebra R2 is Born. The Lie algebra r2 admits the following Born structure:

h “ e1 b e1 ` e2 b e2 , Je1 “ e2 , g` “ xe1 y, g´ “ xe2 y.

Note that in two dimensions, any Born structure is automatically integrable. We conclude that every two-
dimensional Lie algebra is Born.

4.2 Four-dimensional classification

In this section, we classify all four-dimensional Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. For this,
we make use of the existing classifications for pseudo-Kähler and bi-Lagrangian Lie algebras in the literature:
The four-dimensional Lie algebras admitting a pseudo-Kähler structure were classified in [31]. A classification
of four-dimensional bi-Lagrangian Lie algebras is given in [7]. Note that integrable Born structures on the
nilpotent Lie algebra rh3 were already studied in [22, Theorem 40] by making use of the hypersymplectic
structure on rh3 .

Theorem 4.1. Let g be a non-abelian four-dimensional Lie algebra. Then g possesses an integrable Born
structure ph, J, g˘ q if and only if g is isomorphic to one of the following Lie algebras:

rh3 , rr3,0 , r2 r2 , r12 , r4,´1,´1 , d4,1 , d4,2 , d4,1{2 .

Proof. Comparing the classifications in [31] and [7], we find that the non-abelian four-dimensional Lie algebras
admitting both pseudo-Kähler and bi-Lagrangian structures are precisely those listed in Theorem 4.1. Each
of them is in fact Born: In Table 2 we provide an example of an integrable Born structure for every Lie
algebra in the list. We use the convention ei d ej :“ ei b ej ` ej b ei .

12
 Bracket Metric h Complex Lagrangian
relations structure J subalgebras
1 3 2 4
rh3 re1 , e2 s “ e3 e de `e de Je1 “ e2 , Je3 “ e4 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
ř4 i i
rr3,0 re1 , e2 s “ e2 i“1 e b e Je1 “ e2 , Je3 “ e4 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
r2 r2 re1 , e2 s “ e2 ,
ř4
re3 , e4 s “ e4 i“1 ei b ei Je1 “ e2 , Je3 “ e4 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
r12 re1 , e3 s “ e3 ,
re1 , e4 s “ e4 ,
re2 , e3 s “ e4 , e1 b e1 ´ e2 b e2
re2 , e4 s “ ´e3 `e3 b e3 ´ e4 b e4 Je1 “ e3 , Je2 “ e4 xe1 , e2 y, xe3 , e4 y
r4,´1,´1 re1 , e4 s “ ´e1 ,
re2 , e4 s “ e2 ,
re3 , e4 s “ e3 ´e1 d e3 ´ e2 d e4 Je1 “ ´e4 , Je2 “ e3 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
d4,1 re1 , e2 s “ e3 ,
re1 , e4 s “ ´e1 ,
re3 , e4 s “ ´e3 ´e1 d e3 ` e2 d e4 Je1 “ e4 , Je2 “ e3 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
d4,2 re1 , e2 s “ e3 ,
re1 , e4 s “ ´2e1 ,
1 1 1 2 2
re2 , e4 s “ e2 , 2e be `e be
re3 , e4 s “ ´e3 3 3 4
`e be `2e be4
Je1 “ 12 e4 , Je2 “ e3 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y
d4,1{2 re1 , e2 s “ e3 ,
re1 , e4 s “ ´ 12 e1 ,
re2 , e4 s “ ´ 12 e2 ,
ř4
re3 , e4 s “ ´e3 i“1 ei b ei Je1 “ e2 , Je3 “ ´e4 xe1 , e3 y, xe2 , e4 y

Table 2: List of four-dimensional Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure.

Corollary 4.2. A four-dimensional Lie algebra admits an integrable Born structure if and only if it admits
both pseudo-Kähler and bi-Lagrangian structures.

4.3 Six-dimensional nilpotent classification

In this section we apply the bicross product construction introduced in Section 3 in order to obtain a
classification of all six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting an integrable Born structure. Our aim
is to prove the following:

Theorem 4.3. Let g be a non-abelian six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. Then g possesses an integrable
Born structure ph, J, g˘ q if and only if g is isomorphic to one of the following Lie algebras:

h4 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 23q,

h10 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14q,
h7 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 23q,
h11 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14 ` 23q,
h8 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12q,
h13 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 14, 24q.
h9 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 25q,

13
Remark 4.4. The fact that the Lie algebras h4 , h8 and h9 in Theorem 4.3 admit an integrable Born structure
was already proved in [22] by direct computation, that is by providing explicitly such structure for each Lie
algebra.

We start listing the possible candidates for six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebras.

Proposition 4.5 ([2, 12, 20]). Let g be a non-abelian six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. Then g admits a
pseudo-Kähler, a bi-Lagrangian and a complex product structure if and only if g is isomorphic to one of the
following:
h2 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 34q, h9 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 25q,
h4 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 23q, h10 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14q,
h5 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 13 ` 42, 14 ` 23q, h11 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14 ` 23q,
h6 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 13q, h12 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 24q,
h7 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 23q, h13 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 14, 24q,
h8 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12q, h14 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 14, 13 ` 42q.

Proof. The six-dimensional nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras have been classified in [12]. Comparing
this list with the classification of six-dimensional nilpotent bi-Lagrangian Lie algebras stated in [20], we find
that every six-dimensional nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebra admits a bi-Lagrangian structure. Finally,
comparing with the classification of six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting complex product struc-
tures in [2], we observe that, except for h15 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 42, 14 ` 23q, every Lie algebra from the list of
six-dimensional nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras admits a complex product structure.

For six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebras, the subalgebras g˘ of an integrable Born structure must
either be abelian R3 or isomorphic to the three-dimensional Heisenberg Lie algebra heis3 . The following
lemma shows that we can always assume one of the subalgebras to be abelian:

Lemma 4.6. Let g be a six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra with an integrable Born structure ph, J, g˘ q
with g` – g´ – heis3 . Then there is another integrable Born structure ph, J, g̃˘ q on g with the same pseudo-
Riemannian metric h and complex structure J and g̃` – heis3 but g̃´ – R3 . Conversely given an integrable
Born structure ph, J, g˘ q on g with g` – heis3 and g´ – R3 there is another integrable Born structure
ph, J, g̃˘ q on g with g̃` – g̃´ – heis3 .

Proof. It is shown in [2, Proposition 5.1] that given a complex product structure pJ, Aq on a six-dimensional
nilpotent Lie algebra such that the subalgebras coming from the eigenbundles of A are both isomorphic
to heis3 , there is a θ P r0, 2πq such that pJ, Aθ q is another complex product structure with corresponding
subalgebras gθ` – heis3 and gθ´ – R3 , where

Aθ “ cos θ A ` sin θ JA “ cos θ A ` sin θ B.

Suppose now that for a pseudo-Riemannian metric h on g, ph, J, g˘ q is an integrable Born structure on g.
Using the relations presented in Table 1, we observe that for every X, Y P g it holds

hpAθ X, Aθ Y q “ sin2 θ hpAX, AY q ` cos2 θhpBX, BY q ` sin θ cos θ phpAX, BY q ` hpBX, AY qq

“psin2 θ ` cos2 θq hpX, Y q ` sin θ cos θ phpX, ABY q ` hpX, BAY qq
“hpX, Y q ` sin θ cos θ phpX, ABY q ` hpX, ´ABY qq

14
 “hpX, Y q.

Therefore, setting g̃˘ :“ gθ˘ , ph, J, g̃˘ q is an integrable Born structure on g. The proof of the converse
statement works similarly using again [2, Proposition 5.1].

Thanks to Lemma 4.6, in order to classify all six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras admitting an integrable
Born structure, it is enough to consider the cases where only one subalgebra is isomorphic to heis3 or both
subalgebras are abelian. We study each case separately.

Remark 4.7. Positive-definite Kähler nilpotent Lie algebras are necessarily abelian by [23]. Recall that the
metric h of the Born structure is given by h “ h` ‘ h´ , where h˘ are pseudo-Riemannian metrics on the
Lie algebras g˘ . Therefore, in order to construct non-abelian six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebras,
we only consider indefinite metrics h˘ on the three-dimensional Lie algebras R3 and heis3 .

4.3.1 Case R3 ’ heis3

First we show that the only metric that we can consider on heis3 is the flat one.

Lemma 4.8. Let h´ be a Lorentzian metric on g´ – heis3 , Q : g` – R3 ÝÑ g´ an isomorphism of vector

spaces and set h` :“ Q˚ h´ . Then there are representations φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q and ρ : g` ÝÑ Endpg´ q
satisfying the conditions in Theorem 3.7 only if h´ is flat.

Proof. Lorentzian metrics on heis3 “ xe1 , e2 , e3 | re1 , e2 s “ e3 y have been classified in [33], where it is shown
that there are three non-isometric Lorentzian metrics:

h1 “ ´e1 b e1 ` e2 b e2 ` e3 b e3 ,
h2 “ e1 b e1 ` e2 b e2 ´ e3 b e3 ,
h3 “ e1 b e1 ´ e2 b e2 ` e2 d e3 ,

where ei d ej “ ei b ej ` ej b ei . Among these metrics, the only one that is flat is h3 (see [32]). Now let
h´ be a Lorentzian metric on heis3 . We choose a basis tf1 , f2 , f3 u of g` – R3 by setting fi :“ Q´1 ei . With
respect to these choices of bases the complex structure J on gρφ defined by (2) just takes the form

´1 3
˜ ¸
0
J“ , (3)
13 0

where 13 denotes the 3 ˆ 3 identity matrix. Suppose that h´ “ h1 . Then the covariant derivative endomor-
phisms are given by
¨ ˛ ¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
0 0 0 0 0 ´ 12 0 ´ 21 0
∇´ ´ 21 ‚, ∇´ ∇´
˚ 1
“ ˝0 0 e2 “ ˝ 0 0 0 ‚, 0 0‚.
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹ ‹
e1 e3 “ ˝´ 2
1
0 2 0 ´ 12 0 0 0 0 0

A map φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q satisfies the conditions in Theorem 3.7 if and only if is of the form
¨ ˛ ¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
x1 x2 x3 x2 ´x5 ´x6 ´ 1 x3 ´x6 ´ 1 ´x9
φpe1 q “ ˝´x2 x5 x6 ‚, φpe2 q “ ˝x5 y5 y6 ‚, φpe3 q “ ˝x6 y6 z6 ‚.
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹ ˚ ‹

´x3 x6 ` 1 x9 x6 y6 z6 x9 z6 z9

15
However, it is not hard to see that such map φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q is never a representation, that is, it never
satisfies rφpei q, φpej qs “ φprei , ej sq for all i, j, which in this particular case amounts to rφpe1 q, φpe2 qs “ φpe3 q
and rφpe1 q, φpe3 qs “ rφpe2 q, φpe3 qs “ 0. The same argument applies if we consider the metric h2 .

Proposition 4.9. Let g be a six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. Then it admits an integrable Born
structure with g´ – heis3 if and only if it is isomorphic to one of the following:

h4 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 23q,

h7 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 23q,
h10 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14q,
h11 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14 ` 23q,
h13 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 14, 24q.

Proof. Let us consider g´ “ heis3 “ xe1 , e2 , e3 | re1 , e2 s “ e3 y equipped with the flat Lorentzian metric
h´ “ e1 b e1 ´ e2 b e2 ` e2 d e3 and g` – R3 . Let Q : g` ÝÑ g´ be a vector space isomorphism and
set h` :“ Q˚ h´ . On g` we choose a basis tf1 , f2 , f3 u by setting fi :“ Q´1 ei . With respect to these
choices of bases, the complex structure J on gρφ takes the form (3). By direct computation, we get that two
representations φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q and ρ : g` ÝÑ Endpg´ q satisfy (1) and all the conditions in Theorem 3.7
if and only if they are of the form
¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
0 0 0 0 x`1 0
φpe1 q “ ˝0 0 0‚, φpe2 q “ ˝ 0 0 0‚, φpe3 q “ 0
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹

0 x 0 x´1 x0 0

and ¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
0 0 0 0 y 0
ρpf1 q “ ˝0 0 0‚, ρpf2 q “ ˝0 0 0‚, ρpf3 q “ 0,
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹

0 y 0 y y0 0
where x0 , y0 , x, y P R. We check a posteriori that the isomorphism class of gρφ do not depend on the particular
values of x0 and y0 , so we set them to zero now. Comparing some numerical invariants using Table 5 we
obtain the following:
$
’
’
’ h4 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 23q if y “ 0, x “ ´1,
’
’
’
’ h “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14q if y “ 0, x “ 0,
& 10
’
’
gρφ – h7 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 23q if y “ 0, x “ 1,
’
’
’
’
’
’ h11 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14 ` 23q if y “ 0, x R t´1, 0, 1u,
’
’
’
%h “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 14, 24q
13 otherwise.

4.3.2 Case R3 ’ R3

In this case we can find necessary conditions for the existence of an integrable Born structure.

16
Lemma 4.10. Suppose that g is a six-dimensional two-step nilpotent Lie algebra with an integrable Born
structure pg, h, ωq such that both Lagrangian subalgebras g˘ are abelian. Then the center of g is at least
three-dimensional.

Proof. Let pg, h, ωq be an integrable Born structure on a six-dimensional Lie algebra g with recursion operators
A, B and J as in Definition 2.8. Suppose furthermore that the eigenspaces g˘ of A are both abelian
subalgebras of g. By [2, Theorem 4.1 and Lemma 4.2] we know that there is a basis tf1 , f2 , f3 u of g` and
a basis te1 , e2 , e3 u of g´ such that Jei “ fi and xe3 , f3 y Ă z, where z denotes the center of g. We may
furthermore assume that ω “ ωij ei ^ f j and the condition J ˚ ω “ ω implies that ωij “ ωji .
ř

Suppose that dim z “ 2, i.e. z “ xe3 , f3 y. Then, comparing with the list in Proposition 4.5, we also have
rg, gs “ xe3 , f3 y. Since ω is closed and e3 , f3 P z we find

0 “ dωpX, Y, e3 q “ ωprX, Y s, e3 q @X, Y P g.

Similarly, it follows that ωprX, Y s, f3 q “ 0 for every X, Y P g. Since rg, gs “ xe3 , f3 y, this implies that
ω33 “ 0. Furthermore, using that g˘ are both abelian, we have

0 “dωpe1 , e2 , f1 q “ ωprf1 , e1 s, e2 q ` ωpre2 , f1 s, e1 q,

0 “dωpe1 , e2 , f2 q “ ωprf2 , e1 s, e2 q ` ωprf2 , e1 s, f1 q,
0 “dωpe1 , f1 , f2 q “ ωpre1 , f1 s, f2 q ` ωprf2 , e1 s, f1 q,
0 “dωpe2 , f1 , f2 q “ ωpre2 , f1 s, f2 q ` ωprf2 , e2 s, f1 q.

By the integrability of J we know that

0 “ NJ pe1 , e2 q “ ´Jprf1 , e2 s ` re1 , f2 sq

and, hence, re1 , f2 s “ re2 , f1 s. We write

re1 , f1 s “ A11 e3 ` B11 f3 , re1 , f2 s “ re2 , f1 s “ A12 e3 ` B12 f3 , re2 , f2 s “ A22 e3 ` B22 f3

and find

B11 ω23 ´ B12 ω13 “0,

B12 ω23 ´ B22 ω13 “0,
A11 ω23 ´ A12 ω13 “0,
A12 ω23 ´ A22 ω13 “0.

Since ω is non-degenerate and ω33 “ 0, we must have ω13 ‰ 0 or ω23 ‰ 0. If ω13 ‰ 0 and ω23 “ 0, it follows
that

B12 “ 0 “ B22 “ A12 “ A22

and therefore

re1 , f2 s “ 0 “ re2 , f2 s “ rf1 , e2 s,

17
i.e. xe2 , f2 y Ă z, a contradiction. Similarly, if ω13 “ 0 and ω23 ‰ 0, it follows that xe1 , f1 y Ă z. Now suppose
that booth ω13 and ω23 are non-zero. Then we may assume that ω13 “ 1 “ ω23 . This yields

A11 “A12 “ A22 ,

B11 “B12 “ B22 ,

which implies xe1 ´ e2 , f1 ´ f2 y Ă z, which again contradicts z “ xe3 , f3 y.

Proposition 4.11. Let g be a non-abelian six-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. Then g admits an integrable
Born structure with both subalgebras g˘ abelian if and only if either

g – h8 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12q or g – h9 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 25q.

Proof. By [2, Section 5.3], the only candidates to admit an integrable Born structure with both g˘ abelian
are h2 , h4 , h5 , h8 , h9 (the Lie algebra p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12 ` 34q do not admit pseudo-Kähler structures). The Lie
algebras h2 , h4 , h5 are two-step nilpotent and have two-dimensional center, hence they do not admit an
integrable Born structure by Lemma 4.10. Now let h´ “ ´e1 b e1 ` e2 b e2 ` e3 b e3 be the (unique up
to isometry) Lorentzian metric on g´ “ xe1 , e2 , e3 y – R3 . Let Q : g` ÝÑ g´ be a vector space isomorphism
and set h` :“ Q˚ h´ . On g` – R3 we choose a basis tf1 , f2 , f3 u by setting fi :“ Q´1 ei . With respect to
these choices of bases, the complex structure J on gρφ takes the form (3). If we consider ρ ” 0 and the
representation φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q given by
¨ ˛
1 1 0
φpe1 q “ φpe2 q “ ˝´1 0‚ and φpe3 q “ 0,
˚ ‹
´1
0 0 0

all the conditions of Theorem 3.7 are fulfilled and hence we have an integrable Born structure on gρφ . One
can check that in this case gρφ – h8 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12q by comparing numerical invariants using Table 5. If we
consider ρ ” 0 and the representation φ : g´ ÝÑ Endpg` q defined by
¨ ˛ ¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
0 0 1 0 0 ´1 1 ´1 0
φpe1 q “ ˝ 0 0 1‚, φpe2 q “ ˝0 0 ´1‚, φpe3 q “ ˝1 ´1 0‚,
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹ ˚ ‹

´1 1 0 1 ´1 0 0 0 0

then gρφ – h9 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 25q.

To obtain Theorem 4.3 we just combine Proposition 4.9 and Proposition 4.11.

4.4 Curvature properties

We now study the curvature properties of the pseudo-Riemannian metrics h and g for the integrable Born
structures listed in Table 2. We check whether h and g are flat, Einstein or a Ricci soliton. Recall that a
pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebra pg, hq is an (algebraic) Ricci soliton if there exist λ P R and a derivation
D P Derpgq such that ricphq “ λId ` D. The curvature properties of the pseudo-Kähler metric h were also

18
studied in [31, Section 4]. For the Lie algebra rr3,0 with the metric h from Table 2 we have that
ˆ ´1 0 00
˙ ˆ0 0 0 0˙
ricphq “ 0 ´1 0 0 , λ “ ´1, D“ 0000 .
0 0 00 0010
0 0 00 0001

For the Lie algebra d4,2 with the metric h from Table 2 we have that
ˆ ´3 0 00
˙ ˆ0 0 0 0˙
ricphq “ 0 00 0 , λ “ ´3, D“ 0300 .
0 00 0 0030
0 0 0 ´3 0000

A summary of the curvature properties of h and g for the integrable Born structures listed in Table 2 is given
in Table 3.

g h g
rh3 Flat Flat
rr3,0 Ricci soliton Flat
r2 r2 Einstein Flat
r12 Einstein Flat
r4,´1,´1 Flat Flat
d4,1 Non-flat Flat
d4,2 Ricci soliton Flat
d4,1{2 Einstein Flat

Table 3: Curvature properties of the four-dimensional Born Lie algebras listed in Table 2. If the metric is neither
flat, Einstein or Ricci soliton we just write non-flat.

Remark 4.12. If we consider the Lie algebra r4,´1,´1 equipped with the integrable Born structure ph, J, g˘ q
given by

h “ ´e1 b e1 ´ e1 d e3 ´ e2 d e4 ´ e4 b e4 , Je1 “ ´e4 , Je2 “ e3 , g` “ xe1 , e3 y, g´ “ xe2 , e4 y,

then the pseudo-Kähler metric h is Ricci-flat but non-flat. However, the metric g is still flat.

Finally, we study some curvature properties of the metrics h and g of the six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie
algebras. We first note the following consequence of Theorem 4.3.

Corollary 4.13. Let g be a six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebra. Then for every integrable Born
structure ph, J, g˘ q on g the pseudo-Riemannian metric h is flat when restricted to the subalgebras g˘ .

Proof. We have seen that every six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebra g in Theorem 4.3 is obtained from
flat pseudo-Riemannian Lie algebras g˘ .

Every pseudo-Kähler metric on a nilpotent Lie algebra is Ricci-flat by [14, Lemma 6.4]. Hence we will only
consider whether the metrics are flat or not. We summarize this in Table 4 (for the Lie algebras h8 and h9
compare with [12, Corollary 4.2]).

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 g h g
h4 Non-flat Flat
h7 Non-flat Flat
h8 Flat Flat
h9 Non-flat Flat
h10 Flat Flat
h11 Non-flat Flat
(for x ‰ ´3)
h13 Non-flat Non-flat
2 2
(for y ` x ` 3x ‰ 0) (for yp2x ` 3q ‰ 0)

Table 4: Curvature properties of the six-dimensional nilpotent Born Lie algebras of Theorem 4.3.

We note that, in contrast with the four-dimensional case (see Table 3), we have an example of a Born Lie
algebra, namely h13 , for which the neutral metric g is non-flat.

A Some numerical invariants

As we have already explained, a Born Lie algebra is in particular a pseudo-Kähler Lie algebra. Six-dimensional
nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras were classified in [12, Theorem 3.1]. To identify the Lie algebras obtained
in Theorem 4.3 we make use of the following table of numerical invariants. The second column corresponds
to the nilpotency step of the nilpotent Lie algebra g. The third, fourth and fifth columns correspond to the
first, second and third Betti number, respectively. The sixth column corresponds to the dimension of the
automorphism group. The seventh column corresponds to the dimension of the center of the Lie algebra.
Finally, the last column corresponds to the number of linearly independent decomposable exact two-forms.
We notice that with this set of numbers we can completely identify these Lie algebras.

g step b1 pgq b2 pgq b3 pgq dim Autpgq dim zpgq ν 2 pgq

h8 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12q 2 5 11 14 24 4 1
h2 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 34q 2 4 8 10 16 2 2
h4 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 23q 2 4 8 10 17 2 1
h5 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 13 ` 42, 14 ` 23q 2 4 8 10 16 2 0
h6 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 13q 2 4 9 12 19 3 2
h7 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 23q 2 3 8 12 18 3 3
h9 “ p0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 14 ` 25q 3 4 7 8 15 2 1
h10 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14q 3 3 6 8 15 2 3
h11 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 14 ` 23q 3 3 6 8 14 2 2
h12 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13, 24q 3 3 6 8 13 2 3
h13 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 14, 24q 3 3 5 6 12 2 3
h14 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 14, 13 ` 42q 3 3 5 6 13 2 2
h15 “ p0, 0, 0, 12, 13 ` 42, 14 ` 23q 3 3 5 6 12 2 1

Table 5: Some numerical invariants of six-dimensional nilpotent pseudo-Kähler Lie algebras.

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