Abstract

For a proper action by a locally compact group $G$ on a manifold $M$ with a $G$-equivariant $Spin$-structure, we obtain obstructions to the existence of complete $G$-invariant Riemannian metrics with uniformly positive scalar curvature. We focus on the case where $M∕G$ is noncompact. The obstructions follow from a Callias-type index theorem, and relate to positive scalar curvature near hypersurfaces in $M$. We also deduce some other applications of this index theorem. If $G$ is a connected Lie group, then the obstructions to positive scalar curvature vanish under a mild assumption on the action. In that case, we generalise a construction by Lawson and Yau to obtain complete $G$-invariant Riemannian metrics with uniformly positive scalar curvature, under an equivariant bounded geometry assumption.

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Mathematical Subject Classification 2010

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