Related papers: Fusion systems and group actions with abelian isot…

We show that every rank two $p$-group acts freely and smoothly on a product of two spheres. This follows from a more general construction: given a smooth action of a finite group $G$ on a manifold $M$, we construct a smooth free action on…

We use the notion of fixity for representations of finite groups to construct free and smooth actions on products of spheres. In particular we show that a finite p-group (for p>3) will act freely and smoothly on a product of two spheres if…

The main theorem is that if K is a finite CW complex with finite fundamental group G and universal cover homotopy equivalent to a product of spheres X, then G acts smoothly and freely on X x S^n for any n greater than or equal to the…

Let $X$ be a compact smooth manifold, possibly with boundary. Denote by $X_1,\dots,X_r$ the connected components of $X$. Assume that the integral cohomology of $X$ is torsion free and supported in even degrees. We prove that there exists a…

We show that if G is an infinitely generated locally (polycyclic-by-finite) group with cohomology almost everywhere finitary, then every finite subgroup of G acts freely and orthogonally on some sphere.

We prove that if a finite group $G$ has a representation with fixity $f$, then it acts freely and homologically trivially on a finite CW-complex homotopy equivalent to a product of $f+1$ spheres. This shows, in particular, that every finite…

We study finite group actions on smooth manifolds of the form $M\#\Sigma$, where $\Sigma$ is an exotic $n$-sphere and $M$ is a closed aspherical space form. We give a classification result for free actions of finite groups on $M\#\Sigma$…

In this paper we survey some recent results on actions of finite groups on topological manifolds. Given an action of a finite group $G$ on a manifold $X$, these results provide information on the restriction of the action to a subgroup of…

We prove that if $X$ is a compact, oriented, connected $4$-dimensional smooth manifold, possibly with boundary, satisfying $\chi(X)\neq 0$, then there exists an integer $C\geq 1$ such that any finite group $G$ acting smoothly and…

It is a consequence of the classical Jordan bound for finite subgroups of linear groups that in each dimension n there are only finitely many finite simple groups which admit a faithful, linear action on the n-sphere. In the present paper…

On a smooth closed oriented $4$-manifold $M$ with a smooth action by a compact Lie group $G$, we define a $G$-monopole class as an element of $H^2(M;\Bbb Z)$ which is the first Chern class of a $G$-equivariant Spin$^c$ structure which has a…

We consider finite groups which admit a faithful, smooth action on an acyclic manifold of dimension three, four or five (e.g. euclidean space). Our first main result states that a finite group acting on an acyclic 3- or 4-manifold is…

In this paper, we prove that if a finite group acts smoothly and effectively on an integral homology six-sphere and the fixed point set has an odd Euler characteristic, then the acting group is isomorphic to either the alternating group on…

We use methods from the cohomology of groups to describe the finite groups which can act freely and homologically trivially on closed 3-manifolds which are rational homology spheres.

In this paper we show that most rank two groups act freely on a finite homotopy product of two spheres. This makes new progress on a conjecture by Benson and Carlson which states that a finite group G acts freely on a finite complex with…

Let G be a subgroup of finite index in SL(n,Z) for N > 4. Suppose G acts continuously on a manifold M, with fundamental group Z^n, preserving a measure that is positive on open sets. Further assume that the induced G action on H^1(M) is…

We show that any action of a finite group on a finitely presentable group arises as the action of the group of self-homotopy equivalences of a space on its fundamental group. In doing so, we prove that any finite connected (abstract)…

We consider orientation-preserving actions of a finite group G on the 3-sphere S^3 (and also on Euclidean space R^3). By the geometrization of finite group actions on 3-manifolds, if such an action is smooth then it is conjugate to an…

We show that a finite group which admits a faithful, smooth, orientation-preserving action on a homology 4-sphere, and in particular on the 4-sphere, is isomorphic to a subgroup of the orthogonal group SO(5), by explicitly determining the…

We show that every continuous action of a finite group on a smooth three-manifold is a uniform limit of smooth actions.