Hitchin-Thorpe Inequality for Noncompact Einstein 4-Manifolds

Abstract

We prove a Hitchin-Thorpe inequality for noncompact Einstein 4-manifolds with asymptotic geometry at infinity. The asymptotic geometry at infinity is either a cusp bundle over a compact space (the fibered cusps) or a fiber bundle over a cone with a compact fiber (the fibered boundary). Many noncompact Einstein manifolds come with such a geometry at infinity.