Einstein manifolds of non-negative sectional curvature and entropy (Q1588366)

Using essentially the topological entropy of the geodesic flow the authors provide estimates that lead to obstructions for the existence of Einstein manifolds of nonnegative sectional curvature. As a corollary of their main result they show that, if \(M\) is a formal, smooth, closed Einstein manifold of nonnegative sectional curvature then the sum of its Betti numbers \(B\) is \[ B\leq (1+ \exp(\pi\sqrt{n-1}(n- 2)/2))^n. \] Here ``formal'' means that there exists a morphism from the minimal model of \(M\) to \((H^*(M,\mathbb{Q}),0)\) that induces an isomorphism in cohomology. For example all compact Kähler manifolds and all manifolds of dimension \(\leq 6\) are formal. To prove their main result the authors strengthen in Theorem B an inequality by \textit{A. Manning} [Lect. Notes Math. 898, 243-249 (1981; Zbl 0489.58025)] relating the topological entropy of the geodesic flow and the maximum of the absolute value of the sectional curvature. Then they use Morse type inequalities for the space of paths on \(M\) and a result of \textit{I. K. Babenko} [Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk., Ser. Mat. 61, No. 3, 57-74 (1997; Zbl 0904.58047); translation in Izv. Math. 61, No. 3, 517-535 (1997)] to obtain the result.