No label defined (Q4549538)

The real projective Stiefel manifold \(X_{m,r}\), \(1\leq r\leq n-1\), is obtained from the Stiefel manifold \(V_{n,r}\) of orthonormal \(r\)-frames in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) by identifying antipodal \(r\)-frames. Let \(\xi_{n,r}\) denote the associated Hopf line bundle. The author determines the span of \(X_{n,r}\) for most cases where \(n-r\leq 3\). Lower bounds for \(\text{span} (X_{n,r})\) are obtained by using results of the author and \textit{P. Sankaran} [Fundam. Math. 161, No. 1-2, 225-233 (1999; Zbl 0935.55001)] on the order of \(\xi_{n,r}\). Upper bounds are established using cohomology of \(X_{n,r}\) with \(\mathbb{Z}/2\) coefficients and cohomology operations. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0979.00028].