On generalized Dold manifolds (Q2631632)

The authors define the \textit{generalized Dold manifold} $P(m,X,\sigma)$, where $m$ is a positive integer, $X$ a smooth manifold, and $\sigma:X\rightarrow X$ a smooth involution with non-empty fixed point set, as the orbit space $(S^m\times X)/\mathbb Z_2$, where the $\mathbb Z_2$-action is given by $(v,x)\mapsto(-v,\sigma(x))$ (when $X=\mathbb C\mathrm P^n$ and $\sigma$ is the complex conjugation, $P(m,X,\sigma)$ specializes to the classical Dold manifold $P(m,n)$). \par Let $J:TX\rightarrow TX$ be an almost complex structure on $X$. In the case when the involution $\sigma$ is a conjugation ($T\sigma\circ J=-J\circ T\sigma$) and $H^1(X;\mathbb Z_2)=0$, the authors compute Stiefel-Whitney classes of $P(m,X,\sigma)$. In particular, knowing the first two Stiefel-Whitney classes, they derive sufficient and necessary conditions for orientability of $P(m,X,\sigma)$ and the existence of a spin structure on $P(m,X,\sigma)$. Under the same conditions, the question of (stable) parallelizability of these manifolds, as well as the vanishing of their cobordism class in the unoriented cobordism ring, are also considered. The obtained results are then applied to complex flag manifolds $\mathbb CG(n_1,\ldots,n_r)=U(n_1+\cdots+n_r)/U(n_1)\times\cdots\times U(n_r)$, which are equipped with the involution $\sigma:\mathbb CG(n_1,\ldots,n_r)\rightarrow\mathbb CG(n_1,\ldots,n_r)$ coming from the conjugation in $\mathbb C^{n_1+\cdots+n_r}$.