Cohomology algebra of orbit spaces of free involutions on the product of projective space and 4-sphere (Q6062706)

The general problem of classifying orbit spaces generated from free actions of compact Lie groups is a well-established topic in topology. In this article, the authors deal with this problem in a specific way, by considering free involutions on a finitistic space \(X\) with mod 2 cohomology compatible with that of a product of a projective space \(\mathbb{F}P^{n}\) and a \(4\)-sphere. In this context, from the existence of such a free action, the main theorems provide all possible structures for the cohomology ring of the orbit space \(X/\mathbb{Z}_{2}\). Furthermore, some applications of these results are made regarding the existence of \(\mathbb{Z}_{2}\)-equivariant maps, in the sense of the classical Borsuk-Ulam theorem. The text also provides a summary of the main current results already available in the literature, which have some relationship with the specific problem the authors deal with and, following the same strategy, the main tool used in deducing the results presented is the Leray-Serre spectral sequence associated with the Borel fibration generated from the problem data. Thus, a significant part of the text is dedicated to verifying some hypotheses so that such techniques can be applied, such as the induced action of \(\mathbb{Z}_{2}\) on the cohomology of \(X\) being trivial.