A method for determining Cartan geometries from the local behavior of automorphisms

Abstract: We introduce a construction for a Cartan geometry that captures the local behavior of a given geometric automorphism near a distinguished element. The result of this construction, which we call the sprawl generated by the automorphism, is uniquely characterized by a kind of universal property that allows us to compare different Cartan geometries that admit automorphisms with equivalent local behavior near a distinguished element. As example applications, we describe how to construct non-flat real projective structures admitting nontrivial automorphisms with higher-order fixed points and extend some known local automorphisms with higher-order fixed points on non-flat parabolic geometries to global automorphisms.