On finite simple groups acting on homology spheres (Q1942332)

The paper under review contributes to the basic problem of determining the finite groups which admit a smooth (or locally linear) and faithful action on a sphere or an integral homology sphere of a given dimension. The paper also contributes to the related problem of determining the minimal dimension of a sphere or homology sphere on which the given group admits such an action. For elementary abelian \(p\)-groups, the answer is known from classical Smith theory, and arbitrary finite \(p\)-groups were considered by \textit{R. M. Dotzel} and \textit{G. C. Hamrick} [Invent. Math. 62, 437--442 (1981; Zbl 0453.57030)]. In this paper, the authors consider the case of finite simple groups. Using the full classification of finite simple groups, they prove the following main theorem. { Theorem 1.} For each \(n \geq 1\), there are only finitely many finite simple groups which admit a smooth (or locally linear) and faithful action on some integral homology sphere of dimension \(n\) and in particular on the \(n\)-sphere. For linear actions on spheres, the above theorem is a consequence of the existence of the classical Jordan number. Regarding the second problem, the authors prove the following theorem. { Theorem 3.} For each prime \(p \geq 5\), the minimal dimension of an action of a linear fractional group PSL\(_2(p)\) on a mod \(p\) homology sphere is \((p-1)/2\) if \(p \equiv 1 \mod 4\) and \(p-2\) if \(p \equiv 3 \mod 4\).