An implication of the Farrell-Jones conjecture

A ‘well-known’ implication of the Farrell-Jones conjecture (for a given group G) is that the map \[\widetilde{K_0(\mathbb{Z}G)} \to \widetilde{K_0(\mathbb{Q}G)}\] in reduced algebraic K-theory is rationally trivial. What at first might seem as a technical statement about algebraic K-theory turns out to have an interesting geometric consequence. It implies the Bass conjecture, which is equivalent to … Continue reading "An implication of the Farrell-Jones conjecture"

Topological CAT(0)-manifolds

It is an interesting and important fact that a contractible manifold (without boundary) is not necessarily homeomorphic to Euclidean space. This makes the classical Cartan-Hadamard theorem, stating that a contractible manifold equipped with a Riemannian metric of non-positive sectional curvature is diffeomorphic to Euclidean space, even more powerful. One can ask now whether one can … Continue reading "Topological CAT(0)-manifolds"

PSC obstructions via infinite width and index theory

In a recent preprint (arXiv:2108.08506), Yosuke Kubota proved an intriguing new result on the relation of largeness properties of spin manifolds and index-theoretic obstructions to positive scalar curvature (psc): Let \(M\) be a closed spin \(n\)-manifold. If \(M\) has infinite \(\mathcal{KO}\)-width, then its Rosenberg index \(\alpha(M) \in \mathrm{KO}_n(\mathrm{C}^\ast_{\max} \pi_1 M)\) does not vanish. Let us … Continue reading "PSC obstructions via infinite width and index theory"

(Non-)Vanishing results for Lp-cohomology of semisimple Lie groups

For a locally compact, second countable group \(G\) one can define the continuous \(L^p\)-cohomology \(H^*_{ct}(G,L^p(G))\) of \(G\) and the reduced version \(\overline{H}^*_{ct}(G,L^p(G))\) for all \(p > 1\). In his influential paper “Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups” Gromov asked if \[H^j(G,L^p(G)) = 0 \] when \(G\) is a connected semisimple Lie group and \(j < \mathrm{rk}_{\mathbb{R}}(G)\). … Continue reading "(Non-)Vanishing results for Lp-cohomology of semisimple Lie groups"