A counterexample to the (unstable) Gromov-Lawson-Rosenberg conjecture

The Gromov-Lawson-Rosenberg-conjecture for a group G states that a closed spin manifold M^n (n>4) with fundamental group G admits a metric with positive scalar curvature if and only if its C^*-index A(M) in KO_n(C^*_r(G)) vanishes. We prove this for groups G with low-dimensional classifying space, provided the assembly map for G is injective. On the other hand, we construct a spin manifold with no metric with scal>0 but so that already its KO-orientation in KO_*(B pi_1(M)) ...

Gromov and Lawson conjectured that a closed spin manifold M of dimension n with fundamental group pi admits a metric with positive scalar curvature if and only if an associated element in KO_n(B pi) vanishes. In this note we present counter examples to the `if' part of this conjecture for groups pi which are torsion free and whose classifying space is a manifold with negative curvature (in the Alexandrov sense).

We discuss a conjecture of Gromov and Lawson, later modified by Rosenberg, concerning the existence of metrics of positive scalar curvature. It says that a closed spin manifold $M$ of dimension $n\ge 5$ has such a metric if and only if the index of a suitable ``Dirac" operator in $KO_n(C^* (\pi_1(M)))$, the real $K$-theory of the group $C^*$-algebra of the fundamental group of $M$, vanishes. It is known that the vanishing of the index is necessary for existence of a positive ...

Conjecture 1 of Stanley Chang: "Positive scalar curvature of totally nonspin manifolds" asserts that a closed smooth manifold M with non-spin universal covering admits a metric of positive scalar curvature if and only if a certain homological condition is satisfied. We present a counterexample to this conjecture, based on the counterexample to the unstable Gromov-Lawson-Rosenberg conjecture given in Schick: "A counterexample to the (unstable) Gromov-Lawson-Rosenberg conjectur...

The Gromov-Lawson-Rosenberg conjecture for a group G states that a compact spin manifold with fundamental group G admits a metric of positive scalar curvature if and only if a certain topological obstruction vanishes. It is known to be true for G=1, if G has periodic cohomology, and if G is a free group, free abelian group, or the fundamental group of an orientable surface. It is also known to be false for a large class of infinite groups. However, there are no known countere...

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...

Gromov and Lawson developed a codimension 2 index obstruction to positive scalar curvature for a closed spin manifold M, later refined by Hanke, Pape and Schick. Kubota has shown that also this obstruction can be obtained from the Rosenberg index of the ambient manifold M which takes values in the K-theory of the maximal C*-algebra of the fundamental group of M, using relative index constructions. In this note, we give a slightly simplified account of Kubota's work and rema...

Let $M$ be an orientable connected $n$-dimensional manifold with $n\in\{6,7\}$ and let $Y\subset M$ be a two-sided closed connected incompressible hypersurface which does not admit a metric of positive scalar curvature (abbreviated by psc). Moreover, suppose that the universal covers of $M$ and $Y$ are either both spin or both non-spin. Using Gromov's $\mu$-bubbles, we show that $M$ does not admit a complete metric of psc. We provide an example showing that the spin/non-spin ...

We utilize a condition for algebraic curvature operators called surgery stability as suggested by the work of S. Hoelzel to investigate the space of riemannian metrics over closed manifolds satisfying these conditions. Our main result is a parametrized Gromov-Lawson construction with not necessarily trivial normal bundles and shows that the homotopy type of this space of metrics is invariant under surgeries of a suitable codimension. This is a generalization of a well-known t...

This is a survey of the current state of the question "Which closed connected manifolds of dimension $n\ge 5$ admit Riemannian metrics whose scalar curvature function is everywhere positive?" The introduction gives a brief overview of these results, while the body of the paper discusses the methods used in the proofs of these results. We mention the two flavors of topological obstructions to the existence of \pscm s: one is a consequence of the Weizenb\"ock formula for the Di...