Fake spherical spaceforms of constant positive scalar curvature (Q1911951)

A compact manifold \(M^m\) of dimension \(m\) with a Riemannian metric of constant positive sectional curvature \(+1\) is called a spherical space form; such a manifold has the form \(M^m = S^m/G\) where \(G\) is a finite fixed point free subgroup of the orthogonal group \(O(m)\). A compact manifold \(M^m\) is called a fake spherical space form if the universal covering is homeomorphic to \(S^m\) but \(M^m\) is not diffeomorphic to a spherical space form. The main result of the authors is the following Theorem: Let \(M^m\) be a fake spherical space form of dimension \(m \geq 5\) with fundamental group \(G\). (1) If \(n \not\equiv 1,2 \bmod 8\), then \(M^m\) admits a Riemannian metric with constant positive scalar curvature. (2) If \(n \equiv 1,2 \bmod 8\) and if \(|G|\) is even, the same conclusion holds. (3) If \(n \equiv 1 \bmod 8\) and if \(|G|\) has odd order, then \(M^m\) admits a Riemannian metric with constant sectional curvature if and only if the universal cover \(\widetilde{M}^m\) does.