Topology of positively curved 8-dimensional manifolds with symmetry (Q618684)

This paper studies 8-dimensional simply-connected Riemannian manifolds with positive sectional curvature and symmetry rank at least 2, the symmetry rank being defined as the rank of the isometry group. The main results of this paper are as follows: Theorem 1.1. Let \(M\) be a simply-connected \(8\)-manifold that admits a metric of positive sectional curvature and of symmetry rank at least 2. Then the Euler characteristic of \(M\) is equal to 2, 3, or 5. Theorem 1.2. Let \(M\) be as in Theorem 1.1. If \(M\) is rationally elliptic, then \(M\) has the rational cohomology ring and rational homotopy type of a rank-one symmetric space, that is, of \(S^8\), \({\mathbb H}\text{P}^2\) or \({\mathbb C}\text{P}^4\). Moreover, if \(H^{\ast}(M;{\mathbb Z})\) is torsion-free, then \(M\) is homeomorphic to \(S^8\), diffeomorphic to \({\mathbb H}\text{P}^2\), or tangentially equivalent to \({\mathbb C}\text{P}^4\). Theorem 1.3. Let \(M\) be a simply-connected, positively-curved manifold of dimension \(\leq 8\). Assume \(S^1\) acts smoothly on \(M\). If some \(\sigma \in S^1\) acts nontrivially and isometrically on \(M\), then \(\chi(M) \geq 2\).