Rigidity of lattices of non-positive curvature

Abstract

AbstractLet M, M* denote compact, connected manifolds of non-positive sectional curvature whose fundamental groups are isomorphic and whose Euclidean de Rham factors are trivial. We prove that: if M is a compact irreducible quotient of a reducible symmetric space H, then M and M* are isometric up to a constant multiple of the metric; and that the number and dimensions of the local de Rham factors are the same for M and M*. Gromov has independently proved the first result in the more general case that M is locally symmetric and globally irreducible with rank at least two.