Small covers, infra-solvmanifolds and curvature (Q494985)

A small cover, introduced in [\textit{M. Davis} and \textit{T. Januszkiewicz}, Duke Math. J. 62, No. 2, 417--451 (1991; Zbl 0733.52006)], is a closed \(n\)-dimensional manifold \(M^n\) with a locally standard action of \((\mathbb Z_2)^n\) such that the orbit space of the action is a simple convex polytope \(P^n\). Many topological properties of \(M^n\) are determined by the combinatorics of \(P^n\). In the paper under review, the authors use fundamental groups to study geometric structures on small covers and real moment-angle manifolds. They show that a small cover (resp. real moment-angle manifold) over a simple convex polytope is an infra-solvmanifold if and only if it is diffeomorphic to a real Bott manifold (resp. flat torus). They also obtain several equivalent conditions for a small cover to be homeomorphic to a real Bott manifold. Moreover, the authors study Riemannian metrics on small covers and real moment-angle manifolds. In particular, they obtain the following results for a real moment-angle manifold \(\mathbb R\mathcal Z_{P^n}\) of an \(n\)-dimensional simple convex polytope \(P^n\): {\parindent=0.6cm\begin{itemize}\item[{\(\bullet\)}] \(\mathbb R\mathcal Z_{P^n}\) admits a Riemannian metric with positive constant sectional curvature if and ony if \(P^n\) is an \(n\)-simplex. \item[{\(\bullet\)}] \(\mathbb R\mathcal Z_{P^n}\) admits a flat Riemannian metric if and only if \(P^n\) is an \(n\)-cube. \item[{\(\bullet\)}] If \(\mathbb R\mathcal Z_{P^n}\) admits a Riemannian metric with negative sectional curvature, then no \(2\)-face of \(P^n\) can be a \(3\)-gon or a \(4\)-gon. \end{itemize}}