Sub-semi-Riemannian geometry of general $H$-type groups

Bulletin des Sciences Math\'ematiques, 137 (2013) 805-833 We introduce a special class of nilpotent Lie groups of step 2, that generalizes the so called $H$(eisenberg)-type groups, defined by A. Kaplan in 1980. We change the presence of inner product to an arbitrary scalar product and relate the construction to the composition of quadratic forms. We present the geodesic equation for sub-semi-Riemannian metric on nilpotent Lie groups of step 2 and solve them for the case of general $H$-type groups. We also present some results on sectional curvature and the Ricci tensor of general $H$-type groups.