The curvature of orbit spaces (Q1678555)

Let \(X=S^n/G\) be the quotient of a sphere by a compact Lie group \(G\). The authors look for upper bounds \(\kappa_X\) on Riemannian sectional curvatures of \(X\). Via the Bonnet-Myers theorem, this yields an upper bound for the diameter of \(X\) and thus relates to the open question of which diameters such quotient spaces \(X\) can assume. The main result is that if \(G\) acts isometrically on \(S^n\), \(n\geq 2\), and \(X=S^n/G\) is an Alexandroff space of sectional curvature \(\geq\kappa\), then \(\kappa\leq 4\). Examples show that this estimate is sharp.