Torsion in equivariant cohomology and Cohen-Macaulay \(G\)-actions (Q413939)

It is well-known that the equivariant cohomology \(H^*_T(M)\) of a torus action is a torsion-free module if and only if the map induced by the inclusion of the fixed point set \(M^T\hookrightarrow M\) is injective. The aim of the paper under review is to show that the result generalizes to actions of compact connected Lie groups \(G\) provided the fixed point set \(M^G\) is replaced by the set of points \(M_{\max}\) with isotropy rank equal to the rank of the acting group. In case \(M_{\max}=\emptyset\), the author shows that the induced action on \(M_{\max}\) is Cohen-Macaulay.