On a problem of H. Hopf. (Q1432292)

The author considers the following Hopf problem: Does there exist a Riemannian metric of positive curvature on a differentiable variety homeomorphic to the topological product \(S_1 \times S_2\) of two two-dimensional spheres? He answers this question in the case where the sphere \(S_1\) is two-dimensional and the dimension of the sphere \(S_2\) is greater than two (Theorem 1). The author also generalizes his result by taking an arbitrary oriented surface instead of the sphere \(S_1\) (Theorem 2) and by taking an arbitrary compact orientable surface of dimension higher than 2 instead of the sphere \(S_1\) (Theorem 3).