English

$\mathbf{RP}^n \# \mathbf{RP}^n$ and some others admit no real projective structure

Geometric Topology 2025-11-11 v6

Abstract

A manifold MM possesses a real projective structure if it has an atlas consisting of charts mapping to Sn\mathbf{S}^n, where the transition maps lie in SL±(n+1,R)\mathrm{SL}_\pm(n+1, \mathbf{R}). In this context, we present a concise proof demonstrating that RPn#RPn\mathbf{RP}^n\#\mathbf{RP}^n and a few other manifolds do not possess a real projective structure when n3n\geq3. Notably, our proof is shorter than those provided by Cooper-Goldman for n=3n=3 and \c{C}oban for n4n\geq 4. To do this, we reprove the classification of closed real projective manifolds with infinite-cyclic holonomy groups by Benoist due to a small error. We will leverage the concept of the octantizability of real projective manifolds with nilpotent holonomy groups, as introduced by Benoist and Smillie, which serves as a powerful tool.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2209.02924,
  title  = {$\mathbf{RP}^n \# \mathbf{RP}^n$ and some others admit no real projective structure},
  author = {Suhyoung Choi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.02924},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

25 pages. We revised some technical errors