Topology of complete intersections

Let X _n (d) and X _n (d') be two n-dimensional complete intersections with the same total degree d. In this paper we prove that, if n is even and d has no prime factors less than , then X _n (d) and X _n (d') are homotopy equivalent if and only if they have the same Euler characteristics and signatures. This confirms a conjecture of Libgober and Wood [16]. Furthermore, we prove that, if d has no prime factors less than , then X _n (d) and X _n (d') are homeomorphic if and only if their Pontryagin classes and Euler characteristics agree. Received: September 6, 1996