Free action of a group 2026-10-14
A group action is free when only the identity fixes any given point, or equivalently every stabilizer subgroup is trivial. The trivial group acts freely on every space. A nontrivial group acting freely must act by a fixed-point-free map for each nonidentity element; the fixed-point property of even-dimensional complex projective space obstructs such actions. For a finite group acting freely on a Hausdorff manifold, the quotient map is a covering map.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 16 4 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Under the intended convention that the finite group is nontrivial, take . It is simply connected by its CW complex structure. The Lefschetz fixed-point theorem says that a continuous self-map of a compact triangulable space with nonzero rational Lefschetz number has a fixed point.
For any continuous , write for the integral degree-two generator, with . Preservation of the cup product gives . Only degrees zero, two and four contribute to the rational Lefschetz number, soConsequently every such map has a fixed point. In a free group action, each nonidentity group element must act by a fixed-point-free homeomorphism. This is impossible here, so no nontrivial finite group can act freely. This is the fixed-point property of even-dimensional complex projective space for complex dimension two. If the trivial group is included, the literal request has no example, since the trivial group acts freely on every space.