The free rank of symmetry of (S n) k (Q1102586)

The main result of this paper is that if \(G=(Z/pZ)\) r, p an odd prime, acts freely on (S n) k, then \(r\leq k\). For \(p=2\), the result holds except possibly for \(n=1\), 3, or 7. For \(k=1\), this was proved by P. A. Smith, and the extension has long been sought. Recently, this was shown by G. Carlsson to be true for actions which were homologically trivial. This paper extends to more general actions by considering the representations that are possible.