Twisting and nonnegative curvature metrics on vector bundles over the round sphere. (Q1567706)

The soul theorem states that any open ( i.e. noncompact, complete) Riemannian manifold \(M\) with nonnegative sectional curvature is diffeomorphic to the normal bundle \(\nu(S)\) in \(M\) over a compact totally geodesic submanifold \(S\), called the soul of \(M\). Moreover, the metric projection \(\pi: M\to S\) is a \(C^2\)-Riemannian submersion. This paper deals with the problem to determine to what extent a converse to the soul theorem holds, considering the case of soul isometric to the sphere \(S^n\) with constant curvature 1. In particular, the authors consider a Riemannian vector bundle \(E\) over \(S^n\) with structure group \(\text{SO}(k)\) and use a Riemannian connection on \(E\) to give a geometrical description of the clutching map of \(E\). This allows to state the following finitess theorem. Theorem A. Let \(k\), \(n\) be positive integers with \(n\geq 2\) and \(c\) a positive number. Assume that \(M^{n+k}\) is an open manifold with sectional curvatures ranging in \([0, c]\) and soul \(S\) isometric to the sphere \(S^n\). Then there is only a finite number of possible isomorphism types for the normal bundle \(\nu(S)\) in \(M\). The authors also examine the interaction between the normal holonomy group of the soul and the structure of the bundle. In particular, they obtain: Theorem B. Let \(M^{n+k}\) be an open manifold with nonnegative sectional curvature and soul \(S\) diffeomorphic to the sphere \(S^n\), \(n\geq 2\). Assume that \(M^{n+k}\) does not split topologically off an \(\mathbb{R}\)-factor. Then the exponential map: \(\nu(S)\to M^{n+k}\) is a diffeomorphism, the projection \(\pi: M^{n+k}\to S\) is a \(C^\infty\)-Riemannian submersion and the ideal boundary of \(M^{n+k}\) consists of a single point. Finally, considering an open manifold \(M\) with nonnegative curvature and soul \(S\) (of any type), the authors formulate a condition involving the curvature tensor of \(\nu(S)\) at a point of \(S\) which implies that the normal bundle of \(S\) is diffeomorphic to \(M\) via the exponential map and there is exactly one ray originating from any point outside \(S\).