Elementary abelian \({p}\)-groups are the only finite groups with the Borsuk-Ulam property (Q1713958)

The classical Borsuk-Ulam theorem has been extended to the equivariant setting for actions of compact Lie groups by many authors. Actions on unit spheres of finite dimensional orthogonal representations of such groups have been of particular interest. In this direction, the following result is well-known: Theorem: Let \(G\) be a torus \((\mathbb{S}^1)^k\) or a \(p\)-torus \( (\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})^l\). Suppose that \(V\) and \(W\) are finite dimensional orthogonal representations of \(G\) with \(V^G =W^G = 0\). Then the following holds: Dimension version: If there exists a \(G\)-map \(f : S(V ) \to S(W)\), then \(\dim V \leq \dim W\). Degree version: If there exists a \(G\)-map \(h : S(V ) \to S(W)\) with \(\dim V =\dim W\), then \(\deg h \neq 0\). A natural problem is to classify all compact Lie groups that satisfy the above two versions of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem. The problem has been investigated by \textit{T. Bartsch} [Topology 31, No. 3, 533--543 (1992; Zbl 0770.55003)] and \textit{W. Marzantowicz} [Pac. J. Math. 144, No. 2, 299--311 (1990; Zbl 0685.57021)]. It has been conjectured in [\textit{Z. Błaszczyk} et al., Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. - Simon Stevin 24, No. 4, 621--630 (2017; Zbl 1422.55033)] that the only compact Lie groups satisfying the two versions of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem are \((\mathbb{S}^1)^k \times (\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})^l\). In the paper under review, the author proves this conjecture for finite groups. It is known [op. cit.] that a finite group that is not a \(p\)-group or has an element of order \(p^2\) satisfies neither the dimension nor the degree version of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem. Thus, the author focuses only on non-abelian \(p\)-groups of exponent \(p\), and proves the following: Theorem. A non-abelian \(p\)-group of exponent \(p\) satisfies neither the dimension nor the degree version of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem. The key idea is to use induction and restriction of representations to reduce the problem to the group \(P_p\) of order \(p^3\) and exponent \(p\) (\(p\) an odd prime) given by \[ P_p =\langle a, b, c \mid a^p = b^p = c^p = 1, ba = abc, ac = ca, bc = cb\rangle. \] The author uses equivariant obstruction theory to prove that \(P_p\) does not satisfy the dimension version, and computations of Euler classes of representations to deduce that \(P_p\) does not satisfy the degree version of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem.