Symmetry groups of four-manifolds

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Abstract: If a (possibly finite) compact Lie group acts effectively, locally linearly, and homologically trivially on a closed, simply-connected four-manifold with second Betti number at least three, then it must be isomorphic to a subgroup of S^1 x S^1, and the action must have nonempty fixed-point set. Our results strengthen and complement recent work by Edmonds, Hambleton and Lee, and Wilczynski, among others. Our tools include representation theory, finite group theory, and Borel equivariant cohomology.


The main result of this paper is the following: Theorem: Let \(G\) be a compact Lie group and \(M\) be a closed \(4\)-manifold with \(H_1(M;\mathbb{Z})=0\) and \(b_2(M)\geq 2\). Suppose that \(M\) admits an effective \(G\)-action that is locally linear and homologically trivial. Then \(G\) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \(S^1\times S^1\) if either \(b_2(M) = 2\) and the action has a fixed point, or \(b_2(M)\geq 3\). In the latter case, the action has a fixed point. From the main theorem, the author concludes the following two corollaries. Corollary \(1\): If a finite group \(G\) acts locally linearly, pesudofreely, and homologically trivially on a closed simply connected \(4\)-manifold \(X\) with \(b_2(X) \geq 3\), then \(G\) is cyclic, the action is semifree and the fixed-point set consists of \(b_2(X)+2\) points. Corollary \(2\): If \(G\) is a compact Lie group with a locally linear, homologically trivial action on a \(4\)-manifold whose integral cohomology is isomorphic to that of the connected sum of two complex projective planes, then \(G\) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \(S^1\times S^1\). Along the way of the proof, the author gives a classification of finite minimal nonabelian groups, the groups all of whose proper subgroups are abelian. It turns out that such a group is isomorphic to either a minimal nonabelian \(p\)-group or a semidirect product of an elementary abelian \(p\)-group and a cyclic group of order \(q^n\) for some distinct primes \(p\) and \(q\).











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