Remarks on a conjecture of Gromov and Lawson

In this short note we show how the higher index theory can be used to prove results concerning the non-existence of complete riemannian metric with uniformly positive scalar curvature at infinity. By improving some classical results due to M. Gromov and B. Lawson we show the efficiency of these methods in dealing with such non-existence theorems.

This is a continuation of our previous work with Botvinnik on the nontriviality of the secondary index invariant on spaces of metrics of positive scalar curvature, in which we take the fundamental group of the manifolds into account. We show that the secondary index invariant associated to the vanishing of the Rosenberg index can be highly nontrivial, for positive scalar curvature Spin manifolds with torsionfree fundamental groups which satisfy the Baum--Connes conjecture. Fo...

We show an equivariant bordism principle for constructing metrics of positive scalar curvature that are invariant under a given group action. Furthermore, we develop a new codimension-2 surgery technique which removes singular strata from fixed point free $S^1$-manifolds while preserving equivariant positive scalar curvature. These results are applied to derive the following generalization of a result of Gromov and Lawson: Each closed fixed point free $S^1$-manifold of dimens...

We give the first examples of rationally inessential but macroscopically large manifolds. Our manifolds are counterexamples to the Dranishnikov rationality conjecture. For some of them we prove that they do not admit a metric of positive scalar curvature, thus satisfy the Gromov positive scalar curvature conjecture. Fundamental groups of our manifolds are finite index subgroups of right angled Coxeter groups. The construction uses small covers of convex polyhedrons (or altern...

Let $W$ be a closed area enlargeable manifold in the sense of Gromov-Lawson and $M$ be a noncompact spin manifold, we show that the connected sum $M\# W$ admits no complete metric of positive scalar curvature. When $W=T^n$, this provides a positive answer to the generalized Geroch conjecture in the spin setting.

A torus manifold $M$ is a $2n$-dimensional orientable manifold with an effective action of an $n$-dimensional torus such that $M^T\neq \emptyset$. In this paper we discuss the classification of torus manifolds which admit an invariant metric of non-negative curvature. If $M$ is a simply connected torus manifold which admits such a metric, then $M$ is diffeomorphic to a quotient of a free linear torus action on a product of spheres. We also classify rationally elliptic torus m...

We give conceptual proofs of some well known results concerning compact non-positively curved locally symmetric spaces. We discuss vanishing and non-vanishing of Pontrjagin numbers and Euler characteristics for these locally symmetric spaces. We also establish vanishing results for Stiefel-Whitney numbers of (finite covers of) the Gromov-Thurston examples of negatively curved manifolds. We mention some geometric corollaries: the MinVol question, a lower bound for degrees of c...

The Lichnerowicz formula yields an index theoretic obstruction to positive scalar curvature metrics on closed spin manifolds. The most general form of this obstruction is due to Rosenberg and takes values in the $K$-theory of the group $C^*$-algebra of the fundamental group of the underlying manifold. We give an overview of recent results clarifying the relation of the Rosenberg index to notions from large scale geometry like enlargeability and essentialness. One central topi...

In this paper we consider a well-known construction due to Gromov and Lawson, Schoen and Yau, Gajer, and Walsh which allows for the extension of a metric of positive scalar curvature over the trace of a surgery in codimension at least $3$ to a metric of positive scalar curvature which is a product near the boundary. We generalize this construction to work for $(p,n)$-intermediate scalar curvature for $0\leq p\leq n-2$ for surgeries in codimension at least $p+3$. We then use i...

The Isomorphism Conjecture is a conceptional approach towards a calculation of the algebraic K-theory of a group ring RG, where G is an infinite group. In this paper we prove the conjecture in dimensions n<2 for fundamental groups of closed Riemannian manifolds with strictly negative sectional curvature and an arbitrary coefficient ring R. If R is regular this leads to a concrete calculation of low dimensional K-theory groups of RG in terms of the K-theory of R and the homolo...