When is the underlying space of an orbifold a manifold?

We classify orthogonal actions of finite groups on Euclidean vector spaces for which the corresponding quotient space is a topological, homological or Lipschitz manifold, possibly with boundary. In particular, our results answer the question of when the underlying space of an orbifold is a manifold.Comment: 29 pages, combined with former arXiv:1509.06796, title updated, to appear in Trans. Amer. Math. So

Equivariant smoothing of piecewise linear manifolds

We prove that every piecewise linear manifold of dimension up to four on which a finite group acts by piecewise linear homeomorphisms admits a compatible smooth structure with respect to which the group acts smoothly. This solves a challenge posed by Thurston in dimension three and confirms a conjecture by Kwasik and Lee in dimension four in a stronger form.Comment: revised version, accepted by Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. So

Characterization of finite groups generated by reflections and rotations

We characterize finite groups G generated by orthogonal transformations in a finite-dimensional Euclidean space V whose fixed point subspace has codimension one or two in terms of the corresponding quotient space V/G with its quotient piecewise linear structure.Comment: revised version, accepted by Journal of Topolog

Classification of finite groups generated by reflections and rotations

We survey the existing parts of a classification of finite groups generated by orthogonal transformations in a finite-dimensional Euclidean space whose fixed point subspace has codimension one or two and extend it to a complete classification. These groups naturally arise in the study of the quotient of a Euclidean space by a finite orthogonal group and hence in the theory of orbifolds.Comment: 38 pages, accepted by Transformation Group