Questions tagged [3-manifolds]

A three-manifold is a space that locally looks like Euclidean three-dimensional space

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Extend a circle action on $3$-manifolds

Let $M$ be an oriented closed $3$-manifold equipped with an effective smooth circle action. Can we have a classification of all such $M$ such that there exists a $4$-manifold $N$ with $\partial N=M$, ...
Zhiqiang's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Slice knots in 3-manifolds

Is there a nonslice knot $K\subset S^3$ that is slice in some closed oriented $3$-manifold $Y$? Here, when we say $K$ is slice in $Y$, it means that when regarded as a local knot in $Y\times\{1\}$, $K$...
Qiuyu Ren's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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Rigidity/flexibility of Sol-structures on closed 3-manifolds

This is a follow-up to the question Rigidity/flexibility of Nil-, Sol-, $\widetilde{\rm SL}_2$- structures on closed 3-manifolds From the answers/comments there and from an excellent survey by Bonahon ...
Roman's user avatar
  • 173
2 votes
1 answer
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Guts of 3-manifolds for sutured manifolds and pared manifolds

I found the notion "guts of three-manifolds" unclear to me. There exists "sutured guts" and "pared guts" in the literature, the well definedness of both are vague to me. ...
Fredy's user avatar
  • 492
7 votes
1 answer
176 views

Rigidity/flexibility of Nil-, Sol-, $\widetilde{\rm SL}_2$- structures on closed 3-manifolds

It is known that closed spherical and hyperbolic 3-manifolds are rigid. I.e., if two such manifolds are diffeomorphic, then they are isometric (moreover, I think, that every diffeomorphism is isotopic ...
Roman's user avatar
  • 173
4 votes
1 answer
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Non compact Seifert manifolds

A Seifert manifold $M$ is a $3$-dimensional orientable smooth manifold with an effective circle action with no fixed points. Closed connected Seifert manifolds are classified up to an equivariant ...
Rei Henigman's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
159 views

Volume of the Weeks manifold and of the 5.2 knot complement

Some computations show that the Weeks manifold and the 5.2 knot complement have the same trace field (which is $\mathbb{Q}[x]/(x^3-x+1)$) and the (hyperbolic) volume of the second is 3 times the ...
Julien Marché's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
118 views

Triangulating piecewise-linear manifolds

Question 1: Is this the mainstream definition of a PL-manifold? Definition. A PL-manifold is a manifold with an atlas $(\varphi_i)_{i\in I}$ in which all transition maps $\varphi_j\circ\varphi_i^{-1}$ ...
Vadim's user avatar
  • 346
2 votes
1 answer
312 views

Realizable geometrically finite hyperbolic 3-manifolds with prescribed conformal boundaries

By Bers' simultaneous uniformization theorem, if $\Gamma$ is a Fuchsian group, then $\operatorname{QC}(\Gamma)\cong \mathcal{T}(S)\times\mathcal{T}(\overline{S})$ where $S = \Bbb H^2/\Gamma$. In ...
one potato two potato's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
232 views

Example of three dimensional atoroidal Poincaré duality group with some pathology

I am looking for a 3-manifold which is closed, aspherical, orientable, and atoroidal. And additionally I want to see an example that does not admit a fixed-point-free action on a simplicial tree. As a ...
Peter Kropholler's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
343 views

"canonical" framing of 3-manifolds

In Witten's 1989 QFT and Jones polynomial paper, he said Although the tangent bundle of a three manifold can be trivialized, there is no canonical way to do this. So if I understand correctly, ...
zeta's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
126 views

Examples of counting holomorphic curves in cylindrical reformulation of Heegaard Floer

In 2005, Robert Lipshitz reformulated Heegaard Floer in a "cylindrical setting" by counting holomorphic curves in $\Sigma \times [0,1] \times \mathbb{R}$ where $\Sigma$ is a Heegaard surface ...
semper-lux's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
260 views

Casson's knot invariant

$\DeclareMathOperator\SU{SU}$Informally speaking, the Casson invariant counts half the number of conjugacy classes of representations of the fundamental group of a homology $3$-sphere $M$ into the ...
Partha's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
103 views

When are homologous embedded surfaces in 3-manifolds related by embedded cobordisms?

Let $M$ be an orientable closed 3-manifold and suppose $A$ and $B$ are embedded incompressible closed orientable surfaces in $M$ with $[A] = [B]$ in $H_2(M,\mathbb{Z})$. In general, there are a ...
Edgar A. Bering IV's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
114 views

Homotopy type of a 3-manifold produced via Dehn surgery?

My apologizes if this is a fairly elementary question, I am still a novice when it comes to 3-manifold topology. I am wondering the following: by Kirby calculus, we know that two links (say in $S^{3}$ ...
Elliot's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
379 views

Branched coverings of non-orientable 3-manifolds

A continuous map of 3-dimensional manifolds $f \colon M^3 \to N^3$ is called a branched covering if there is a link $L \subset N^3$, such that the restriction $f \colon M \setminus f^{-1}(L) \to N \...
vladimir smurygin's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
560 views

If the universal cover has three boundary components, does it have infinitely many?

Suppose that $M$ is a compact, connected three-manifold with boundary. Suppose that $\pi_1(M)$ is infinite. Suppose that $\tilde{M}$, the universal cover of $M$, has at least three boundary components....
Sam Nead's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
515 views

Betti numbers of non-orientable $3$-manifolds

Let $M^3$ be a compact $3$-manifold with boundary $\partial M$. If $M$ is orientable, then it is known (see Lemma 3.5 here) that $2\dim(\ker(H_1(\partial M,\mathbb{Q})\rightarrow H_1(M,\mathbb{Q})))=\...
Alessio Di Prisa's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
134 views

Properly embedded surfaces in handlebodies are compressible or boundary compressible?

I've read in a couple of different places (a paper and a blog) the following fact: if $F$ is a surface, properly embedded in a three-dimensional handlebody of genus at least two, then $F$ is either ...
luthien's user avatar
  • 379
1 vote
1 answer
215 views

Reference request and prerequisites for understanding the Sphere Theorem and the Loop Theorem in 3-manifold theory

As part of my directed studies project, my advisor has suggested that I completely understand the proof of the Sphere Theorem and the Loop Theorem in 3-manifold theory and explain it to him. I have ...
ZSMJ's user avatar
  • 131
8 votes
2 answers
742 views

Three-dimensional triangulations with fixed number of vertices

My question is the following: Are there triangulations of $S^3$ which (a) are non-degenerate, (b) have four vertices, and (c) have no edges of degree two? A side question: If one represents this ...
Kregnach's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
162 views

Mappings of reducible 3 manifolds with boundary

In section 3 of his paper "Mappings of reducible 3 manifolds" McCullough, proves that every self-homeomorphism of a reducible 3 manifold can up to isotopy be written as a composition of ...
ThorbenK's user avatar
  • 1,175
5 votes
1 answer
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0-surgery on a fibered hyperbolic ribbon knot

Does there exist a fibering hyperbolic ribbon knot such that the 0 surgery is exceptional? If so does there exist such an example where the result of 0-surgery is Seifert fibered? I tried looking at ...
ThorbenK's user avatar
  • 1,175
8 votes
1 answer
822 views

Problem 3.14 from Kirby's list

In his famous list of Problems in Low-Dimensional Topology, Kirby states the following as Problem 3.14 (B), which is attributed to Thurston: Conjecture: Suppose $G$ (an arbitrary group I suppose) ...
Agelos's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
228 views

Is the square of a primitive cohomology class always primitive?

Let $M$ be a closed manifold (in my case $\dim M=3$). Take $\alpha\in H^1(M;\mathcal{Or})$, where $\mathcal{Or}$ is the orientation local system for $M$ with coefficients $\mathbb Z$. Suppose $\alpha$ ...
Andrey Ryabichev's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
78 views

Determinant of SU(N) elements, and radius of associated manifold

I'm wondering if the fact $SU(2)$ group elements have $det = 1$ is connected with the radius of the unitary $S^{3}$ manifold associated. The context is demonstration of dU being an Haar invariant ...
Matteo's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
138 views

Topological type of complement of Heegaard curves in Heegaard surface $(\Sigma - \alpha - \beta)$

Suppose $(\Sigma, \alpha, \beta)$ is a genus-$g$ Heegaard diagram for a closed, oriented $3$-manifold $Y$, i.e. $\Sigma$ is an orientable genus-$g$ surface, and $(\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_g)$ and $(\...
Matija Sreckovic's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
164 views

Every closed surface divides a closed 3-manifold $X$ into two parts if and only if $H_1(X)$ is finite

My friend is looking for proof of the following statement Every closed surface divides a closed 3-manifold $X$ into two parts if and only if $H_1(X; \mathbb{Z})$ is finite. Rumor source: Justin ...
Arshak Aivazian's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
99 views

Explicit parameterizations of complicated unlinks?

I have a somewhat empirical question which I hope is still welcome here. I would like to know how to write down explicit parameterizations of "complicated unlinks", say with 2 or 10 ...
Sprotte's user avatar
  • 1,065
7 votes
2 answers
524 views

Covering of a knot complement

Let $B=S^3\setminus K$ for some (tame) knot $K$. Suppose we have a covering $E\to B$ with a finite fiber. Question: is $E$ homeomorphic to a knot/link complement? On this question I found only the ...
Andrey Ryabichev's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
224 views

Amenable link groups

The unknot and the Hopf link are (as far as I know) the only links whose complements have abelian fundamental groups. Are there more examples whose complement have amenable fundamental group?
ThorbenK's user avatar
  • 1,175
3 votes
0 answers
67 views

Discreteness of volumes of boundary-parabolic representations

Suppose $M$ is a cusped hyperbolic $3$-manifold of finite volume. Let $\mathfrak{R}_0(M)$ be the space of boundary-parabolic representations $\rho : \pi_1(M) \to \operatorname{PSL}_2(\mathbb C)$. Is ...
Calvin McPhail-Snyder's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
581 views

Definition of Thurston's skinning map

A key construction in Thurston's proof of the existence of hyperbolic structures on Haken manifolds is the so-called "skinning map" associated to a 3-manifold $M$ with boundary whose ...
mrburch's user avatar
  • 155
3 votes
1 answer
211 views

Example of a non $\pi_1$-injective, degree one, self-map of a three-manifold

All manifolds will be assumed to be closed, oriented, and connected. Let $f\colon M\to M$ be a map of degree $\pm 1$. It is not hard to show that $\pi_1(f)$ is surjective. What is an example of a non ...
Random's user avatar
  • 927
7 votes
1 answer
252 views

Lens space bounding a topological, simply-connected 4-manifold with $b_2=1$

The following is written in section 1.6 (p.7) of this paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1010.6257.pdf. ($\cdots$) Which lens spaces bound a smooth, simply-connected 4-manifold $W$ with $b_2(W)=1$? ($\cdots$...
user302934's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
271 views

Non-compact three-manifolds with the same proper homotopy type are homeomorphic?

I am looking for some literature with some (counter) examples of the following fact (though I don't know if the fact is true or not): Let $M, M'$ be two non-compact connected $3$-manifolds with the ...
Random's user avatar
  • 927
5 votes
1 answer
269 views

Homology of spherical $3$-manifold group

I have been studying $3$-manifolds recently and I got stuck in the following situation. For lens spaces the below fact is true. Let $G$ be a finite group acting freely and orthogonally on $S^3$ so ...
gola vat's user avatar
  • 179
5 votes
3 answers
224 views

Ideal triangulations of $3$-manifolds with "cusps" of genus $\ge 2$

Typically when one thinks about ideal triangulations of a $3$-manifold the link of each ideal vertex is a circle, so the ideal points correspond to toroidal cusps; alternatively, one can truncate the ...
Calvin McPhail-Snyder's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
196 views

Stallings' fibration theorem - Explicit description

Stallings' celebrated Fibration Theorem states that if a closed irreducible $3$-manifold $M$ admits a short exact sequence \begin{equation} 1 \to N \to \pi_1(M) \to \mathbb{Z} \to 1, \end{equation} ...
Frieder Jäckel's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
182 views

Bigon criterion in dimension 3?

The bigon criterion for surfaces says that if two simple closed curves $\alpha$ and $\beta$ embedded on a surface $\Sigma$ intersect in points $\{p_1,\dotsc,p_n\}$ and $\alpha$ and $\beta$ can be ...
Sprotte's user avatar
  • 1,065
5 votes
1 answer
188 views

Is there a way to calculate the Froyshov $h$-invariant for Seifert homology spheres?

In 2002, by using Floer theory, Froyshov defined the $h$-invariant for intergal homology 3-spheres, which is a surjective group homomorphism $\Theta^3_{\Bbb Z}\to \Bbb Z$, where $\Theta^3_{\Bbb Z}$ is ...
user302934's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
617 views

On trivial mapping class group of 3-manifolds

What are some examples of knots $K\subset S^3$ such that the mapping class group of $S^3_{1/n}(K)$ is trivial? I guess for hyperbolic knots with no symmetry in the complements are good candidate as ...
Anubhav Mukherjee's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
195 views

Does the Weeks manifold have the smallest volume among all finite volume oriented hyperbolic 3-manifolds?

It is a result of Chinburg-Friedman-Jones-Reid that the arithmetic hyperbolic 3-manifold of smallest volume is the Weeks manifold. There is also a result of Milley that says that if $N$ is a closed ...
Colby's user avatar
  • 33
25 votes
1 answer
1k views

Homotopy type of Diff(ℝP³)

$\DeclareMathOperator\Diff{Diff}$I am looking for the paper computing the homotopy type of the group $\Diff(\mathbb{R}P^3)$ of diffeomorphisms of the $3$-dimensional real projective space $\mathbb{R}P^...
Sergiy Maksymenko's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
119 views

Every surface of sufficiently large genus separates

Let $M^3$ be a smooth closed orientable manifold. Does there exist a non negative integer $g_0$ such that every closed orientable embedded surface $\Sigma \subset M$ of genus $g \geq g_0$ represents ...
Eduardo Longa's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
158 views

Do taut foliations leafwise branch covering S^2 yield foliations by circles?

In this paper, Danny Calegari shows that taut foliations in (let's say closed for simplicity) 3-manifolds are precisely those which admit a map $f: M \to S^2$ which restricts to a branched cover on ...
Audrey Rosevear's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
375 views

Dual surfaces of a first cohomology class of a 3-manifold

Let $M$ be closed 3-manifold and $\alpha\in H^1(M;\mathbb Z_2)$ an arbitrary element. (In my case we know that $M$ is non-orientable and $\alpha^3=0$.) It is well known that there is a closed 2-...
Andrey Ryabichev's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
106 views

About the classification of simply connected homogeneous 3-manifolds

I've read somewhere (but cannot locate the source) that the following classification holds: simply connected homogeneous 3-manifolds are either isometric to $S^2 \times \mathbb{R}$ or to a metric Lie ...
Paul Cusson's user avatar
  • 1,735
2 votes
2 answers
367 views

Under what conditions can an orientable Riemannian 3-manifold be defined implicitly?

Under what conditions can an orientable Riemannian 3-manifold $\Sigma$ be defined implicitly? What I mean by implicitly is that there exists a smooth function $f:\mathbb{R}^n\to \mathbb{R}^m$, such ...
dennis's user avatar
  • 423
10 votes
0 answers
245 views

Contact structures associated to taut foliations

Eliashberg and Thurston showed that a taut foliation may be deformed to tight (positive and negative) contact structures. Vogel proved that for a taut foliation without torus leaves, the associated ...
Ian Agol's user avatar
  • 66.8k

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