Covariant Derivatives on Homogeneous Spaces: Horizontal Lifts and Parallel Transport

Abstract We consider invariant covariant derivatives on reductive homogeneous spaces corresponding to the well-known invariant affine connections. These invariant covariant derivatives are expressed in terms of horizontally lifted vector fields on the Lie group. This point of view allows for a characterization of parallel vector fields along curves. Moreover, metric invariant covariant derivatives on a reductive homogeneous space equipped with an invariant pseudo-Riemannian metric are characterized. As a by-product, a new proof for the existence of invariant covariant derivatives on reductive homogeneous spaces and their the one-to-one correspondence to certain bilinear maps is obtained.