Hurwitz-type bound, knot surgery, and smooth $\s^1$-four-manifolds

Abstract: In this paper we prove several related results concerning smooth $\Z_p$ or $\s^1$ actions on 4-manifolds. We show that there exists an infinite sequence of smooth 4-manifolds $X_n$, $n\geq 2$, which have the same integral homology and intersection form and the same Seiberg-Witten invariant, such that each $X_n$ supports no smooth $\s^1$-actions but admits a smooth $\Z_n$-action. In order to construct such manifolds, we devise a method for annihilating smooth $\s^1$-actions on 4-manifolds using Fintushel-Stern knot surgery, and apply it to the Kodaira-Thurston manifold in an equivariant setting. Finally, the method for annihilating smooth $\s^1$-actions relies on a new obstruction we derived in this paper for existence of smooth $\s^1$-actions on a 4-manifold: the fundamental group of a smooth $\s^1$-four-manifold with nonzero Seiberg-Witten invariant must have infinite center. We also include a discussion on various analogous or related results in the literature, including locally linear actions or smooth actions in dimensions other than four.