Let M be a compact complex manifold. Then is it true that if the first Chern class of M is even, then M admits a spin structure?
1 Answer
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Yes. An oriented real vector bundle is spin if and only if its second Stiefel-Whitney class vanishes. If $E_\mathbb{C}$ is a complex vector bundle and $E_\mathbb{R}$ is the underlying real bundle then the second Stiefel-Whitney class is given by $w_2(E_\mathbb{R}) = c_1(E_\mathbb{C})$ mod 2. The details appear somewhere in chapter 2 of Spin Geometry by Lawson and Michelsohn.
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3$\begingroup$ More generally, the total Stiefel-Whitney class of $E_{\mathbb R}$ is the reduction mod $2$ of the total Chern class of $E_{\mathbb C}$. This is Problem 14-B on page 171 of Characteristic Classes, by John Milnor and James Stasheff $\endgroup$ Jan 21, 2012 at 18:44