Group actions on spheres with rank one prime power isotropy (Q1707235)

The paper under review gives necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a rank two finite group $G$ admitting a finite $G$-CW complex homotopic to a sphere with rank one prime power isotropy. Specifically, the authors show the following theorem: a rank two finite group $G$ admits a finite $G$-CW complex homotopic to $S^n$ with rank one prime power isotropy if and only if $G$ is $Qd(p)$-free for any odd prime $p$, where $Qd(p)$ is the semidirect product defined as $Qd(p)=(\mathbb{Z}/p\times \mathbb{Z}/p)\rtimes SL_2(p)$. One of the main ingredients is the construction of a finite $G$-CW-complex by gluing together a given $G$-invariant family of representations defined on the Sylow subgroups of $G$.