Linear perturbations of metrics with holonomy Spin(7)

Abstract: We apply the method of linear perturbations to the case of Spin(7)-structures, showing that the only nontrivial perturbations are those determined by a rank one nilpotent matrix. We consider linear perturbations of the Bryant-Salamon metric on the spin bundle over $S<sup>4$ that retain invariance under the action of Sp(2), showing that the metrics obtained in this way are isometric.