Euler characteristics and actions of automorphism groups of free groups (Q1743522)

There is the conjecture that any action of \(SL_n(\mathbb Z)\) (\(n \geq 3\)) by homeomorphisms on a compact connected \(r\)-manifold factors through a finite group action if \(r < n-1\). There are a lot of partial results which confirm this conjecture. In the article some new results are obtained. Let \(M^r\) be a connected orientable manifold with Euler characteristic \(\chi(M) \not \equiv 0 \text{ mod } 6\). Denote by SAut\((F_n)\) the (unique) subgroup of index two in the automorphism group of a free group. There is the natural homomorphism SAut\((F_n) \to SL_n(\mathbb Z)\). It is proved here that a group action of SAut\((F_n)\) (and thus of the special linear group \(SL_n(\mathbb Z)\)) on \(M^r\) by homeomorphisms is trivial, if \(n \geq r + 2\). This confirms -- for orientable manifolds with nonvanishing Euler characteristic modulo 6 -- the aforementioned conjecture, which is related to Zimmer's program concerning group actions of lattices in Lie groups on manifolds. The author gives a remark: it can proved that any action of SAut\((F_{2k+1})\) (\(k \geq 1\)) on an orientable manifold \(M^r\) with \(\chi(M) \not \equiv 0 \text{ mod } 12\) (resp. \(\chi(M) \not \equiv 0 \text{ mod } 2\)) by homeomorphisms is trivial, when \(2k > r\) (resp. \(2k \geq r\)).