On positive isotropic curvature and surgeries. (Q1397833)

Let \((M,g)\) be an \(n\)-dimensional Riemannian manifold. \textit{M. J. Micallef} and \textit{M. Y. Wang} [Duke Math. J. 72, 649--672 (1993; Zbl 0804.53058)] proved the stability of positive isotropic curvature under surgeries in codimension \(n\). In the paper under review, the author gives an alternate proof of this result, by constructing a new metric with positive isotropic curvature on the connected sum of two Riemannian manifolds with positive isotropic curvatures. Also it is shown that the above property does not hold in codimensions \(\leq n-1\). In addition, the author proves that any finitely presented group can be the fundamental group of a compact \(n\)-manifold with positive \(p\)-curvature (\(p\leq n-4\)).