Fundamental Groups of Manifolds with Positive Sectional Curvature and Torus Symmetry

Abstract

Abstract. In 1965, S.-S. Chern posed a question concerning the extent to which fundamental groups of manifolds admitting positive sectional curvature look like spherical space form groups. The original question was answered in the negative by Shankar in 1998, but there are a number of positive results in the presence of symmetry. These classifications fall into categories according to the strength of their conclusions. We give an overview of these results in the case of torus symmetry and prove new results in each of these categories.