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Z. Alfata
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Iwasawa decomposition of a non-compact semisimple Lie Group?

A (non-compact) symmetric space is of the form $G/K$, where $G$ is a (non-compact) semisimple Lie Group defined over $\mathbb{R}$, and $K$ is a maximal compact subgroup of $G$.

Let $M = G/K$ be a rank-one symmetric space of the noncompact type. There are only three families of rank $1$ symmetric spaces:

  1. hyperbolic $n$-space, corresponding to the Lie group $SO(n,1)$.

  2. complex hyperbolic $n$-space, corresponding to the Lie group $SU(n,1)$.

  3. quaternionic hyperbolic $n$-space, corresponding to the Lie group $Sp(n,1)$.

There is also one exceptional example:

  1. the Cayley upper half plane, corresponding to the Lie group $F_4^{-20}$.

Now, let $G = NAK$ be the Iwasawa decomposition of $G$. Does anyone know how the Iwasawa decomposition (N=? and K=?) of the four cases 1), 2) 3) and 4)? thank you in advance

Z. Alfata
  • 650
  • 4
  • 16