arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Catherine Searle.
The symmetry-rank of a riemannian manifold is by definition the rank of its isometry group. We determine precisely which smooth closed manifolds admit a positively curved metric with maximal symmetry-rank.
We classify closed, simply connected $n$-manifolds of non-negative sectional curvature admitting an isometric torus action of maximal symmetry rank in dimensions $2\leq n\leq 6$. In dimensions $3k$, $k=1,2$ there is only one such manifold and it is diffeomorphic to the product of $k$ copies of the 3-sphere.
The purpose of this note is to exhibit some simple and basic constructions for smooth compact transformation groups, and some of their most immediate applications to geometry.
We prove that the Euler characteristic of an even-dimensional compact manifold with positive (nonnegative) sectional curvature is positive (nonnegative) provided that the manifold admits an isometric action of a compact Lie group $G$ with principal isotropy group $H$ and cohomogeneity $k$ such that $k - (\rank G - \rank H)\le 5$. Moreover, we prove that the Euler characteristic of a compact Riemannian manifold $M^{4l+4}$ or $M^{4l+2}$ with positive sectional curvature is positive if $M$ admits an effective isometric action of a torus $T^l$, i.e., if the symmetry rank of $M$ is $\ge l$.
We classify closed, simply-connected non-negatively curved 5-manifolds admitting an (almost) effective, isometric $T^3$ or $T^2$ action. As a direct consequence, we show that for any manifold, of dimensions up to and including 9 under the same hypotheses, the maximal symmetry rank is equal to $[2n/3]$ and the free rank is less than or equal to one half that value.
We show that a closed, simply-connected, non-negatively curved 5-manifold admitting an effective, isometric $T^2$ action is diffeomorphic to one of $S^5$, $S^3\times S^2$, $S^3\tilde{\times} S^2$ (the non-trivial $S^3$-bundle over $S^2$) or the Wu manifold $SU(3)/SO(3)$.
We obtain a structure theorem for closed, cohomogeneity one Alexandrov spaces and we classify closed, cohomogeneity one Alexandrov spaces in dimensions 3 and 4. As a corollary, we obtain the classification of closed, $n$-dimensional, cohomogeneity one Alexandrov spaces admitting an isometric $T^{n-1}$ action. In contrast to the 1- and 2-dimensional cases, where it is known that an Alexandrov space is a topological manifold, in dimension 3 the classification contains, in addition to the known cohomogeneity one manifolds, the spherical suspension of $RP^2$, which is not a manifold.