# Algebraic topology involved in the 1/4-pinched sphere theorem?

Can anyone familiar with this theorem and its proof let me know how much algebraic topology is involved, and where specifically? I am familiar with a lot of differential geometry, but not many of the algebraic aspects like cohomology, Lie groups, etc. From the ground up could you make it through sphere theorem without any of these tools?

Assuming algebra is required somewhere along the way, would it be more in the way of basic machinery, or in more sophisticated, deep results?

Thanks a lot!

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I do not think the sphere theorem requires much of algebraic topology. You may check De Carmo's book and Tao's blogpost(terrytao.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/…) for relevant details. –  Kerry Jul 23 '12 at 22:21
It's been a while since I studied the proof. One of the key ideas is that the bound on curvature gives you a bound on the injectivity radius. If I recall correctly, this injectivity radius bound is fairly easy in even dimensions, but requires a Morse theoretic argument in odd dimensions. –  Jason DeVito Jul 23 '12 at 23:06