On minimal actions of finite simple groups on homology spheres and Euclidean spaces (Q619615)

The author determines classes of finite groups for which the minimal dimension of a faithful, smooth action on a mod \(p\) homology sphere coincides with the minimal dimension of a faithful, linear action on a sphere. In particular, this is demonstrated to be the case for metacyclic groups \(\mathbb{Z}_p \rtimes \mathbb{Z}_q\) with an effective action of \(\mathbb{Z}_q\) on \(\mathbb{Z}_p\), the linear fractional groups \(\text{PSL}(2, p)\), symmetric groups \(\mathbb{S}_p\), and alternating groups \(\mathbb{A}_p\) such that \(p \equiv 3\) mod \(4\), and the minimal dimensions are determined for each. An analogous result is obtained for faithful, smooth actions on Euclidean spaces.