Differentiable sphere theorems whose comparison spaces are standard spheres or exotic ones (Q783760)

The authors prove that for an arbitrarily given closed Riemannian manifold \(M\) admitting a point \(p\in M\) with a single cut point, every closed Riemannian manifold \(N\) admitting a point \(q\in N\) with a single cut point, is diffeomorphic to \(M\) if the radial curvatures of \(N\) at \(q\) are sufficiently close in the sense of \(L^1\)-norm to those of \(M\) at \(p\). The result is motivated by \(1/4\)-pinching sphere theorem by Rauch-Berger-Klingenberg, and question posed by \textit{S. Brendle} and \textit{R. Schoen} in [J. Am. Math. Soc. 22, No. 1, 287--307 (2009; Zbl 1251.53021)].