Some nondiffeomorphic homeomorphic homogeneous 7-manifolds with positive sectional curvature (Q809375)

The authors study the 7-dimensional Wallach spaces \(N_{k,\ell}=SU(3)/i_{k,\ell}(S^ 1)\), where k,\(\ell\) are relatively prime positive integers such that \(k\ell (k+\ell)\neq 0\). Here \(i_{k,\ell}: S^ 1\to S^ 1\times S^ 1\) is the homomorphism defined by \(z\to (z^ k,z^{\ell})\) and \(S^ 1\times S^ 1\) is identified with a fixed maximal torus of SU(3). The spaces \(N_{k,\ell}\) are closely related to another family \(M_{k,\ell}\) of 7-dimensional homogeneous spaces G/H, where \(G=SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)\) and H is a subgroup of G with the same Lie algebra as SU(2)\(\times U(1)\times U(1)\). The authors studied the spaces \(M_{k,\ell}\) in an earlier paper and found classifications of homeomorphism and diffeomorphism types in terms of k and \(\ell\). They extend their methods in this paper to obtain classifications of homeomorphism and diffeomorphism types of the Wallach manifolds \(N_{k,\ell}\). Both \(N_{k,\ell}\) and \(M_{k,\ell}\) have the same \({\mathbb{Z}}\)-cohomology given by \(H^ 2={\mathbb{Z}}\), \(H^ 3=0\), \(H^ 4\) is the cyclic group of order \(N(k,\ell)=k^ 2+k\ell +\ell^ 2\) with generator \(u^ 2\), where u is a generator of \(H^ 2.\) Theorem. Let \((k,\ell)=(k^*,\ell^*)=1\). Then 1) \(N_{k,\ell}\) is homeomorphic to \(N_{k^*,\ell^*}\) if and only if \(N(k,\ell)=N(k^*,\ell^*)=N\) and \(k\ell (k+\ell)\equiv k^*\ell^*(k^*+\ell^*)\) mod 2\({}^ 3\cdot 3\cdot N\). 2) \(N_{k,\ell}\) is diffeomorphic to \(N_{k^*,\ell^*}\) if and only if \(N(k,\ell)=N(k^*,\ell^*)=N\) and \(k\ell (k+\ell)\equiv k^*\ell^*(k^*+\ell^*)\) mod 2\({}^ 5\cdot 7^{\lambda (N)}\cdot 3\cdot N\), where \(\lambda (N)=0\) if \(N\equiv 0 mod 7\) and \(\lambda (N)=1\) otherwise. The problem of finding pairs of relatively prime integers that satisfy 1) but not 2) is reformulated as a question about the algebraic integers in the cyclotomic field \({\mathbb{Q}}[\omega]\), where \(\omega =(1+\sqrt{-3})/2\) is a primitive sixth root of unity. The authors obtain an explicit number theoretic criterion for a given positive integer N that is necessary and sufficient for the existence of Wallach manifolds \(N_{k,\ell}\) and \(N_{k^*,\ell^*}\) that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic and have cyclic fourth cohomology group of order N. Using this criterion they obtain the following Theorem. 1) If \(N_ 0=2955367597\), then there exist Wallach manifolds with fourth cohomology group of order \(N(k,\ell)=N(k^*,\ell^*)=N_ 0\) that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic. 2) If \(N<N_ 0\) then any two homeomorphic Wallach manifolds with fourth cohomology group of order N are also diffeomorphic. Earlier computer calculations by P. Gilkey proved 2) for \(N<10^ 6\). The article also includes a list of examples as in 1) that were found by computer calculations of D. Zagier and A. Odlyzko. These are the first examples of manifolds that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic that both admit Riemannian metrics of positive sectional curvature. They are also the first examples of manifolds that are homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic that are homogeneous spaces of the form G/H, where G is compact, simple and simply connected and H is a nontrivial subgroup of G. The authors also answer a question of Wu-Yi Hsiang by giving an example of a homogeneous space G/H, with G compact, simple and H a nontrivial subgroup of G, such that G/H admits at least two nonconjugate, nontrivial G-actions. In their example \(G=SU(3)\) and H is a suitably imbedded copy of \(S^ 1\).