Quasi-positive curvature on Bazaikin spaces (Q2673434)

\textit{Ya. V. Bazaikin} constructed in [Sib. Math. J. 37, No. 6, 1068--1085 (1996; Zbl 0874.53034); translation from Sib. Mat. Zh. 37, No. 6, 1219--1237 (1996)] an infinite series of 13-dimensional compact Riemannian manifolds (in the form of biquotients of compact Lie groups), on which there exist Riemannian metrics of positive curvature. Five integers \(q_i\) are involved in his construction. These parameters are usually written as a five-dimensional vector \(\bar q\). This article considers some special Riemannian metrics (the constructions of which are used by Bazaikin; they are called natural), considering also the cases when the curvature is only non-negative. A Riemannian manifold is called quasi-positively curved if it has non-negative sectional curvature and it has a point for which the sectional curvature of all two-planes at that point is positive. A Riemannian manifold is called almost positively curved if the set of points with all two-planes positively curved is open and dense. The main result of the article is the following: suppose \(B_{\bar q}\) is a Bazaikin space with natural metrics. Then \(B_{\bar q}\) is quasi-positively curved if and only if \(q\) is not a permutation of \(\pm(1, 1, 1, -1, -3)\) and \(B_{\bar q}\) is almost positively curved if and only if it is strictly positively curved or \(\bar q\) is a permutation of \(\pm (1, 1, 1, 1, -1)\). Also it is proved that up to diffeomorphism, every Bazaikin space admits a metric of quasi-positive curvature.