Smooth structures on $\mathbb{C}P^{m}$ for $5\leq m\leq 8$

Abstract: We classify up to diffeomorphism all smooth manifolds homeomorphic to the complex projective m-space $\mathbb{C}P^{m}$ for $m = 5, 6, 7$ and $8$. As an application, for $m = 7$ and $8$, we compute the smooth tangential structure set of $\mathbb{C}P^{m}$ and obtain a bound on the number of smooth homotopy complex projective m-spaces with given Pontryagin classes up to orientation-preserving diffeomorphism. We also show that there exists a smooth manifold which is tangentially homotopy equivalent but not homeomorphic to $\mathbb{C}P^{8}$.