Nonimmersions of \(\mathbb RP^n\) implied by tmf, revisited (Q1004508)

This work is a revisited and improved version of a previous paper by the authors and \textit{R. R. Bruner} [Recent progress in homotopy theory. Proceedings of a conference, Baltimore, MD, USA, March 17--27, 2000. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). Contemp. Math. 293, 45--68 (2002; Zbl 1010.57009)]. It presents the following result: {\parindent6mm \begin{itemize}\item[(a)] If \(\alpha (M) = 3,\) then \(P^{8M+10}\) cannot be immersed in \(\mathbb R^{16M +2}.\) \item[(b)] If \(\alpha (M) = 2,\) then \(P^{8M+8}\) cannot be immersed in \(\mathbb R^{16M + 4}.\) \end{itemize}} For \(M\) even, these results are new and better than the ones known in the literature. The paper under review is also concerned with a complete calculation of \( \text{tmf}^*(P^\infty \times P^\infty)\) in positive gradings divisible by \(8\) which is used to prove that \(f^* (X) = \mathbf {u}(X_1 + X_2)\), where \(\mathbf u\) is a unit in \( \text{tmf}^*(P^\infty \times P^\infty)\). Finally, in the last section, the authors provide a computation of \( \text{tmf}^*(\mathbb CP^\infty \times \mathbb CP^\infty),\) in positive gradings.