A new family of finite Oliver groups satisfying the Laitinen Conjecture

DOI10.1016/J.TOPOL.2020.107336MaRDI QIDQ2215671zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Publication date 14 December 2020

Published in Topology and its Applications (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.09680

fixed point induced character Smith problem smooth action

Finite groups of transformations in algebraic topology (including Smith theory) (55M35) Groups acting on specific manifolds (57S25)

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the Laitinen Conjecture. The conjecture predicts an answer to the Smith question which reads as follows. Is it true that for a finite group acting smoothly on a sphere with exactly two fixed points, the tangent spaces at the fixed points have always isomorphic group module structures defined by differentiation of the action? Using the technique of induction of group representations, we indicate a new infinite family of finite Oliver groups for which the Laitinen Conjecture holds.

Review text

The paper under review centers around a well-known question of \textit{P. A. Smith} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 66, 401--415 (1960; Zbl 0096.37501)] concering smooth finite group actions on spheres. Given a smooth action of a finite group \(G\) on a sphere with exactly two fixed points, the question asks whether the tangent spaces at the fixed points have isomorphic \(\mathbb{R}G\)-module structures. The answer depends on the group, and there are positive as well as negative answers. A finite group \(G\) is called an Oliver group if there does not exist a sequence of subgroups \(P \trianglelefteq H \trianglelefteq G\) such that \(P\) and \(G/H\) are of prime power orders and \(H/P\) is cyclic. Further, the Laitinen number \(\lambda(G)\) of a finite group \(G\) is defined as the number of real conjugacy classes of \(G\) containing elements whose order is divisible by at least two distinct primes. Two \(\mathbb{R}G\)-modules \(U\) and \(V\) are called Smith equivalent if \(U \cong T_x(\Sigma)\) and \(V \cong T_y(\Sigma)\) as \(\mathbb{R}G\)-modules for a smooth action of \(G\) on a homotopy sphere \(\Sigma\) such that \(\Sigma^G= \{x,y\}\). Further, a smooth action of \(G\) on a homotopy sphere \(\Sigma\) with \(\Sigma^G=\{x,y\}\) is said to satisfy the Laitinen Condition if \(\Sigma^g\) is connected for any \(g\in G\) of order \(2^k\) for \(k \ge 3\). Laitinen proposed the following conjecture predicting negative answers to Smith's question. Laitinen Conjecture: If \(G\) is an Oliver group with \(\lambda(G) \ge 2\), then there exist non-isomorphic \(\mathbb{R}G\)-modules \(U\) and \(V\) which are Smith equivalent and the action of \(G\) on the homotopy sphere in question satisfies the Laitinen Condition. The conjecture is known to be true in many cases, for instance, for groups of odd order and groups having a cyclic quotient of odd composite order. Using techniques from the representation theory of finite groups, the author give a new infinite family of Oliver groups for which the Laitinen Conjecture holds. The arguments are purely group theoretic in nature.

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