most recent 30 from http://mathoverflow.net 2013-05-23T04:10:56Z http://mathoverflow.net/feeds/question/107427 http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/rdf http://mathoverflow.net/questions/107427/heegard-floer-homology kaave 2012-09-18T01:22:48Z 2012-09-20T01:35:06Z

<p>I am new to Heegard Floer. So far I understand that different HF groups are invariants of a three manifold. But I do not understand what these groups actually measure. I mean it seems to<br> me that they are not much natural. Can someone shed some light? I need to know what these groups actually measure and also why they are powerful for the study of three manifolds.</p>

http://mathoverflow.net/questions/107427/heegard-floer-homology/107635#107635 mark 2012-09-20T01:35:06Z 2012-09-20T01:35:06Z

<p>I know that it can be applied to solve some problems in knot theory and three manifolds. but it does not seem natural to me. It seems like it is equivalent to S-W Floer theory but then many people I know who do Heegard Floer do not have any background in that, what I'm saying is that you lose insight to the problems this way. unless you have the big picture in mind. I think some people who do Heegard Floer are just following what is fashionable. </p>