Maximal diameter sphere theorem for manifolds with nonconstant radial curvature

Abstract

We generalize the maximal diameter sphere theorem due to Toponogov by means of the radial curvature. As a corollary to our main theorem, we prove that for a complete connected Riemannian $n$-manifold $M$ having radial sectional curvature at a point bounded from below by the radial curvature function of an ellipsoid of prolate type, the diameter of $M$ does not exceed the diameter of the ellipsoid, and if the diameter of $M$ equals that of the ellipsoid, then $M$ is isometric to the $n$-dimensional ellipsoid of revolution.