Free ${\Bbb Z}^p$-actions on the three dimensional torus

Abstract

We show that for each natural $p\geq 2$, the Lefschetz fixed point theorem is optimal when applied to ${\Bbb Z}^{p}$-actions by homeomorphisms on the three dimensional torus ${\Bbb T}^3$. More precisely, we show that for a spectrally unitary ${\Bbb Z}^p$-action ${\bf A}$ on the first homology group $H_1({\Bbb T}^3,{\Bbb Z})$ with trivial fixed point set, there exists a free ${\Bbb Z}^p$-action by real analytic diffeomorphisms of ${\Bbb T}^3$ whose induced ${\Bbb Z}^p$-action on $H_1({\Bbb T}^3,{\Bbb Z})$ is the action ${\bf A}$. In particular, we establish the normal form for this type of actions.