On continuous maps between Grassmann manifolds

Abstract

Let G _n,k denote the Grassmann manifold of k-planes in Rⁿ. We show that for any continuous map f: G _n,k→G_n,l the induced map inZ/2-cohomology is either zero in positive dimensions or has image in the subring generated by w₁(γ_{n, k}), provided 1≤l≤k≤[n/2] andn≥k+2l-1. Our main application is to obtain negative results on the existence of equivariant maps between oriented Grassmann manifolds. We also obtain positive results in many cases on the existence of equivariant maps between oriented Grassmann manifolds.