We prove that a manifold with virtually nilpotent fundamental group admits a complete metric of pinched negative curvature if and only if it is diffeomorphic to a product of a line and the total space of a flat vector bundle over a closed infranil manifold. The talk will be accessible to general audience; no prior knowledge of the subjects involved is required.
Geometry-Topology Seminar
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 4:30pm
Vitali Kapovitch
University of California Santa Barbara