Smooth group actions on definite 4-manifolds and moduli spaces

Abstract

In this paper we give an application of equivariant moduli spaces to the study of smooth group actions on certain 4-manifolds. A rich source of examples for such actions is the collection of algebraic surfaces (compact and nonsingular) together with their groups of algebraic automorphisms. From this collection, further examples of smooth but generally nonalgebraic actions can be constructed by an equivariant connected sum along an orbit of isolated points. Given a smooth oriented 4-manifold X which is diffeomorphic to a connected sum of algebraic surfaces, we can ask: (i) which (finite) groups can act smoothly on X preserving the orientation, and (ii) how closely does a smooth action on X resemble some equivariant connected sum of algebraic actions on the algebraic surface factors of X? For the purposes of this paper we will restrict our attention to the simplest case, namely X p2(C) #...# p2(C), a connected sum of n copies of the complex projective plane (arranged so thatX is simply connected). Furthermore, ASSUMPTION. All actions will be assumed to induce the identity on H,(X, Z).