Related papers: On finite simple and nonsolvable groups acting on …

A finite nonabelian simple group does not admit a free action on a homology sphere, and the only finite simple group which acts on a homology sphere with at most 0-dimensional fixed point sets ("pseudofree action") is the alternating group…

We show that the only finite nonabelian simple groups which admit a locally linear, homologically trivial action on a closed simply connected 4-manifold $M$ (or on a 4-manifold with trivial first homology) are the alternating groups $A_5$,…

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…

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…

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 the only finite quasi-simple non-abelian groups that can faithfully act on rationally connected threefolds are the following groups: $\mathfrak{A}_5$, $\operatorname{PSL}_2(\mathbf{F}_7)$, $\mathfrak{A}_6$,…

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 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 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…

There are four groups $G$ fitting into a short exact sequence $ 1\rightarrow SL(2,5)\rightarrow G\rightarrow C_2\rightarrow 1, $ where $SL(2,5)$ is the special linear group of $(2\times 2)$-matrices with entries in the field of five…

The standard actions of finite groups on spheres S^d are linear actions, i.e. by finite subgroups of the orthogonal group O(d+1). We prove that, in each dimension d>5, there is a finite group G which admits a faithful, topological action on…

We consider the following problem: for which classes of finite groups, and in particular finite simple groups, does the minimal dimension of a faithful, smooth action on a homology sphere coincide with the minimal dimension of a faithful,…

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 prove that if a finite group $G$ acts smoothly on a manifold $M$ so that all the isotropy subgroups are abelian groups with rank $\leq k$, then $G$ acts freely and smoothly on $M \times \bbS^{n_1} \times...\times \bbS^{n_k}$ for some…

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…

R. S. Kulkarni showed that a finite group acting pseudofreely, but not freely, preserving orientation, on an even-dimensional sphere (or suitable sphere-like space) is either a periodic group acting semifreely with two fixed points, a…

A free action of a finite group on an odd-dimensional sphere is said to be almost linear if the action restricted to each cyclic or 2-hyperelementary subgroup is conjugate to a free linear action. We begin this survey paper by reviewing the…

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…

It is proved that an arbitrary finite group acting locally linearly, homologically trivially, and pseudofreely on a closed, simply connected 4-manifold must in fact be cyclic and act semifreely, provided the second betti number of the…

There are known infinite families of Brieskorn homology 3-spheres which can be realized as boundaries of smooth contractible 4-manifolds. In this paper we show that free periodic actions on these Brieskorn spheres do not extend smoothly…