Related papers: Gromoll--Meyer's actions and the geometry of (exot…
Here we generalize the Gromoll-Meyer construction of an exotic 7-sphere by producing geometric models of exotic 8, 10 and Kervaire spheres as quotients of sphere bundles over spheres by free isometric actions. We give a geometric…
This thesis discusses exotic 7-spheres, i.e. manifolds that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordinary 7-sphere, using a set of analytical and computational tools from theoretical physics. The theory of fibre bundles and…
A metric with positive sectional curvature on the Gromoll-Meyer exotic 7-sphere is constructed explicitly. The proof relies on a 2-parameter family of left invariant metrics on Sp(2) and a one-parameter family of conformal deformations via…
Among a family of 2-parameter left invariant metrics on Sp(2), we determine which have nonnegative sectional curvatures and which are Einstein. On the quotiente $\widetilde{N}^{11}=(Sp(2)\times S^4)/S^3$, we construct a homogeneous…
Recent discoveries in differential topology are reviewed in light of their possible implications for spacetime models and related subjects in theoretical physics. Although not often noted, a particular smoothness (differentiability)…
We investigate how exotic differential structures may reveal themselves in particle physics. The analysis is based on the A. Connes' construction of the standard model. It is shown that, if one of the copies of the spacetime manifold is…
We review recent developments in differential topology with special concern for their possible significance to physical theories, especially general relativity. In particular we are concerned here with the discovery of the existence of…
We construct series of examples of exotic smooth structures on compact locally symmetric spaces of noncompact type. In particular, we obtain higher rank examples, which do not support Riemannian metric of nonpositive curvature. The examples…
The first part of the paper is to improve the fundamental theory of isoparametric functions on general Riemannian manifolds. Next we focus our attention on exotic spheres, especially on "exotic" 4-spheres (if exist) and the Gromoll-Meyer…
We provide a topological procedure to obtain geometric realizations of both classical and `exotic' $G$-manifolds, such as spheres, bundles over spheres and Kervaire manifolds. As an application, we apply the process known as Cheeger…
The essential role played by differentiable structures in physics is reviewed in light of recent mathematical discoveries that topologically trivial space-time models, especially the simplest one, ${\bf R^4}$, possess a rich multiplicity of…
Following the lines of the celebrated Riemannian result of Gromoll and Meyer, we use infinite dimensional equivariant Morse theory to establish the existence of infinitely many geometrically distinct closed geodesics in a class of globally…
We construct a new infinite family of models of exotic 7-spheres. These models are direct generalizations of the Gromoll-Meyer sphere. From their symmetries, geodesics and submanifolds half of them are closer to the standard 7-sphere than…
Exotic smooth manifolds, ${\bf R^2\times_\Theta S^2}$, are constructed and discussed as possible space-time models supporting the usual Kruskal presentation of the vacuum Schwarzschild metric locally, but {\em not globally}. While having…
The problem of possible astrophysical consequences of the existence of exotic differential structures on manifolds is discussed. It is argued that corrections to the curvature of the form of a source like terms should be expected in the…
We propose a formulation of a Lorentzian quantum geometry based on the framework of causal fermion systems. After giving the general definition of causal fermion systems, we deduce space-time as a topological space with an underlying causal…
We prove that for many degrees in a stable range the homotopy groups of the moduli space of metrics of positive scalar curvature on S^n and on other manifolds are non-trivial. This is achieved by further developing and then applying a…
This paper explores the existence and properties of \emph{basic} eigenvalues and eigenfunctions associated with the Riemannian Laplacian on closed, connected Riemannian manifolds featuring an effective isometric action by a compact Lie…
It is well known that in four or more dimensions, there exist exotic manifolds; manifolds that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to each other. More precisely, exotic manifolds are the same topological manifold but have inequivalent…
We show that there is a metric on the Gromoll-Meyer sphere with positive sectional curvature.