Homotopy classification of 4-manifolds whose fundamental group is dihedral

Abstract

We show that the homotopy type of a finite oriented Poincaré 4-complex is determined by its quadratic 2-type provided its fundamental group is finite and has a dihedral Sylow 2-subgroup. By combining with results of Hambleton-Kreck and Bauer, this applies in the case of smooth oriented 4-manifolds whose fundamental group is a finite subgroup of SO(3). An important class of examples are elliptic surfaces with finite fundamental group.

23 pages. Final version, to appear in Algebraic & Geometric Topology