An SO(3)-version of 2-torsion instanton invariants

Abstract

We construct an invariant for non-spin 4-manifolds by using 2-torsion cohomology classes of moduli spaces of instantons on SO(3)-bundles. The invariant is an SO(3)-version of Fintushel-Stern's 2-torsion instanton invariant. We show that this SO(3)-torsion invariant is non-trivial for $2CP^2 # -CP^2$, while it is known that any known invariant of $2CP^2 # -CP^2$ coming from the Seiberg-Witten theory is trivial since $2CP^2 # -CP^2$ has a positive scalar curvature metric.