The d-Smith sets of direct products of dihedral groups

Let G be a finite group and let V and W be real G-modules. We call V and W dim-equivalent if for each subgroup H of G, the H-fixed point sets of V and W have the same dimension. We call V and W are Smith equivalent if there is a smooth G-action on a homotopy sphere Σ with exactly two G-fixed points, say a and b, such that the tangential G-representations at a and b of Σ are respectively isomorphic to V and W . Moreover, We call V and W are d-Smith equivalent if they are dim-equivalent and Smith equivalent. The differences of d-Smith equivalent real G-modules make up a subset, called the d-Smith set, of the real representation ring RO(G). We call V and W P(G)-matched if they are isomorphic whenever the actions are restricted to subgroups with prime power order of G. Let N be a normal subgroup. For a subset F of G, we say that a real G-module is F-free if the H-fixed point set of the G-module is trivial for all elements H of F. We study the d-Smith set by means of the submodule of RO(G) consisting of the differences of dim-equivalent, P(G)-matched, {N}-free real G-modules. In particular, we give a rank formula for the submodule in order to see how the d-Smith set is large.

Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 57S25, Secondary 20C15.