On the automorphisms of hyperplane sections of generalized Grassmannians

Abstract

Given a smooth hyperplane section $H$ of a rational homogeneous space $G/P$ with Picard number one, we address the question whether it is always possible to lift an automorphism of $H$ to the Lie group $G$, or more precisely to Aut$(G/P)$. Using linear spaces and quadrics in $H$, we show that the answer is positive up to a few well understood exceptions related to Jordan algebras. When $G/P$ is an adjoint variety, we show how to describe Aut$(H)$ completely, extending results obtained by Prokhorov and Zaidenberg when $G$ is the exceptional group $G_2$.