All Questions
Tagged with embeddings gt.geometric-topology
33 questions
25
votes
1
answer
2k
views
On a curious map from the complex projective plane into $S^5$
I have heavily edited the post (including the title), based on a comment by @GregoryArone that my map $f$ is not injective. In an earlier version of this post, I had thought to have constructed a ...
- 5,215
25
votes
1
answer
582
views
Does every oriented $3$-dimensional submanifold of $\mathbb{R}^6$ bound an oriented $4$-dimensional submanifold?
In my recent research, I encountered the following problem about embeddings. Let $M^3$ be a closed compact oriented smooth $3$-dimensional submanifold of $\mathbb{R}^6$. Does there exist a compact ...
- 587
20
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Homotopy groups of spaces of embeddings
Let $\mathrm{Emb}(M, N)$ be the space of smooth embeddings of a closed manifold $M$ into a manifold $N$ equipped with smooth compact-open topology.
Question 1. Are there conditions ensuring that ...
- 29.1k
16
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When does a CW-complex of dimension 2 embed in $\Bbb R^4$?
Let $X$ be a finite CW-complex of dimension two having just one 0-cell
(+ finitely many 1-cells + finitely many 2-cells).
Is it true that X can be embedded in $\Bbb R^4$?
If true, is it due to ...
11
votes
2
answers
516
views
Given a 2-disc embedded in $\Bbb R^4$, can I fit another 2-disc with the same boundary?
I am given a 2-disc $D^2$ embedded into $\Bbb R^4$, that is, I have an injective continuous map $\phi:D^2\to\Bbb R^4$. I want to "double" this disc in the sense that I am looking for a ...
- 13.6k
10
votes
1
answer
207
views
The knot $K\subset \Bbb S^3$ is smoothly slice, but the disc $D\subset \Bbb D^4$ is only locally flat. Can $D$ be smoothed?
Suppose I am given a smoothly slice knot $K\subset\Bbb S^3$. But I am only given a locally flat disc $D\subset \Bbb D^4$ with boundary $K$.
Question: Is there a smooth disc $D'\subset\Bbb D^4$ with ...
- 13.6k
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
An orientable surface that cannot be embedded into $\Bbb R^3$? [duplicate]
I previously asked this question on MSE, without success.
By Whitney's embedding theorem, every 2-dimensional manifold (aka. a surface) can be embedded into $\Bbb R^4$.
Now, Wikipedia states in this ...
- 283
10
votes
1
answer
277
views
Complements of unknotted tori (higher dimensions)
It is well-known that an unknotted 2-torus in $S^3$ provides the standard Heegaard splitting, in particular its complement consists of two solid tori.
It is also known that an unknotted 3-torus in $S^...
- 10.4k
9
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Contractibility of space of embeddings of a disc
I'm pretty sure that both of the following spaces are contractible. However, I can't seem to find a proof or a reference. Can anyone provide one? Let $D^2$ be the unit disc in $\mathbb{R}^2$.
The ...
- 99
9
votes
1
answer
666
views
A wild embedding of $\mathbb{S}^1$ into $\mathbb{R}^3$
Can one construct an embedding of $\mathbb{S}^1$ into $\mathbb{R}^3$
so that every orthogonal projection onto a two dimensional plane
is a unit disc?
It is easy to construct an embedding of $\...
- 28k
9
votes
1
answer
384
views
embedding of quaternionic projective spaces
Let $\mathbb{H}P^m$ be the $m$-th quaternionic projective space. What is the smallest integer $N$ such that there exists an embedding
$$
\mathbb{H}P^2\longrightarrow \mathbb{R}^N?
$$
Are there any ...
- 1,990
9
votes
1
answer
334
views
Can a knotted sphere isometrically embed into $\mathbb R^3$?
All smooth simple closed curves in $\mathbb R^3$ (knotted or not) can be isometrically embedded into $\mathbb R^2$ as a circle of equal arclength.
The situation for knotted spheres seems more ...
- 459
8
votes
1
answer
264
views
Does the continuous image of a disc contain an embedded disc?
Let $\phi:\Bbb D^2\to\Bbb R^n$ be a continuous mapping of the 2-disc $\Bbb D^2$ that is injective on the boundary $\partial\Bbb D^2=\Bbb S^1$. Does its image contain an embedded disc with the same ...
- 13.6k
8
votes
1
answer
224
views
Can increasing the winding number of a 2-cell make a CW complex embeddable?
Let $X$ be a 2-dimensional CW complex and let $c\subset X$ be a 2-cell attached along a simple closed loop $\gamma$ in the 1-skeleton $X^{(1)}$.
For a natural number $n\ge 2$ consider the operation of ...
- 13.6k
8
votes
0
answers
123
views
Is every simplicial $d$-sphere linearly embeddable in $\Bbb R^{d+1}$?
A simplicial $d$-sphere is a simplicial complex homeomorphic to the $d$-sphere. It is known that not every such complex can be embedded into $\Bbb R^{d+1}$ as the boundary complex of a convex ...
- 13.6k
8
votes
0
answers
298
views
A conjecture about homotopy $S^1\times B^3$'s
$\textbf{Conjecture}:$
Let $X^4$ be a homotopy $S^1\times B^3$ with the following properties:
Attaching a four dimensional 2-handle gives a standard $B^4$.
The $k$-fold cyclic cover is diffeomorphic ...
5
votes
3
answers
542
views
If a polyhedron in $\mathbb{R}^3$ has local intersections, does it also have more global intersections?
Consider a simplicial complex $K$. A piecewise linear map $f: K \to \mathbb{R}^n$ is an almost-embedding if $f(\sigma) \cap f(\tau) = \emptyset$ for any two disjoint simplices $\sigma,\tau$ in $K$.
...
- 141
4
votes
2
answers
374
views
Knot theory in handlebodies of arbitrary genus
It is well known that not all graphs embed on the plane (e.g. the graph $K_{3,3}$). However, every finite graph embeds into a surface of some genus. One can think of this procedure as starting with a ...
4
votes
1
answer
169
views
"Almost embedding" the complete 2-dimensional complex $\mathcal K_7^2$ into $\Bbb R^4$
Let $\mathcal K_7^2$ be the complete 2-dimensional simplicial complex on seven vertices, i.e. it has all $7\choose 2$ edges and all $7\choose 3$ 2-simplices (and no higher-dimensional simplices).
I ...
- 13.6k
4
votes
1
answer
220
views
Embedding spaces and surface knots in high dimensional manifolds
This is a variation of Craig's Knot complement diffeomorphism groups and embedding spaces for a different type of very simple manifold (surfaces which have a 1-relator fundamental group instead of ...
- 1,981
4
votes
0
answers
154
views
Is there a notion of "locally flat" for CW complexes?
A submanifold $X^n\subset Y^m$ is locally flat if each point $x\in X$ has a neighborhood $U\subset Y$ so that $(U,U\cap X)\simeq (\Bbb R^m, \Bbb R^n)$ with the standard embedding $\Bbb R^n\...
- 13.6k
4
votes
0
answers
263
views
Does this "join-like complex" of $K_5$ and $K_3$ embed in $\Bbb R^4$?
Consider the following 2-dimensional CW-complex: its 1-skeleton is $K_8$, which we write as an edge-disjoint union $K_5\cup K_{5,3}\cup K_3$.
Then for any two edges $ab\in E(K_5)$ and $cd\in E(K_3)$ ...
- 13.6k
4
votes
0
answers
114
views
Mostow-Palais equivariant embedding for manifolds with corners
Let $M$ be a compact smooth manifold and let $G$ be a connected compact Lie group acting on $M$. According to an old theorem of Mostow and Palais, there exists a $G$-equivariant embedding of $M$ into ...
- 373
4
votes
0
answers
183
views
In how far does the Whitney trick work in the piecewise linear setting in $\Bbb R^4$?
I usually read about the Whitney trick in the context of smooth manifolds, but I wonder in how far it works in the piecewise linear (PL) category as well. I have a specific setting in mind that I will ...
- 13.6k
3
votes
1
answer
161
views
How to properly define a slice knot (or a locally flat disk)?
A knot $K\subset\Bbb S^3=\partial \Bbb D^4$ is said to be (topolopgically) slice if there is a locally flat disk $D\subset\Bbb D^4$ with $\partial D=D\cap \Bbb S^3=K$. As far as I understand, locally ...
- 13.6k
3
votes
0
answers
88
views
Is the thickening of a PL 2-disc in $\Bbb R^4$ a 4-ball?
Let $D\subset\Bbb R^4$ be a PL-embedded 2-dimensional disc. Let $N=D+K$ be a thickening of the disc, where $K$ is some sufficiently small 4-dimensional PL-ball and "$+$" means Minkowski ...
- 13.6k
3
votes
0
answers
177
views
Different definitions of linkless graphs
Robertson, Seymour and Thomas defined linkless embeddings of graphs as follows:
An embedding of $G$ is linkless if every pair of disjoint circuits of $G$ have zero linking number (see here). However ...
- 415
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
embeddings of product of spheres in Euclidean spaces [closed]
I notice that $T^2=S^1\times S^1$ can be embedded in $\mathbb{R}^3$ as a hypersurface (submnaifolds of codimension 1).
In general,
(1). could the product of spheres $S^{m_1}\times\cdots\times S^{...
- 2,223
2
votes
0
answers
77
views
Dense embeddings into Euclidean space
The question is a follow-up on this old post. Fix a positive integer $d$ and consider $\mathbb{R}^d$ with its usual Euclidean topology. Given a metric space $(X,\delta_X)$, what conditions are ...
- 5,405
2
votes
0
answers
139
views
Disks in Flat Embeddings of Graphs in $\mathbb{R}^3$
Robertson, Seymour and Thomas proved that any linkless graph $G$ has a flat embedding in $\mathbb{R}^3$ (see for example A survey of linkless embeddings). An embedding of $G$ is flat if for any cycle $...
- 415
1
vote
1
answer
451
views
Difference between straight and piecewise linear and continuous embeddings of graphs / complexes in d-dimensional space?
Here is my main question: what is the difference between "straight" and "piecewise linear" and "continuous" embeddings of graphs/complexes in d-dimensional space?
Moreover I would like to know if any ...
- 415
1
vote
0
answers
141
views
Can a closed null-homotopic curve be filled in by a disc?
Let $U\subseteq\Bbb R^n$ be an open set and $\gamma\subset U$ a closed null-homotopic curve in $U$ (i.e. it can be contracted to a point). Then is there an embedded disc $D\subset U$ with boundary $\...
- 13.6k
0
votes
1
answer
135
views
Local embedding and disk in domain perturbation
Consider say $M=(\mathbb{S}^1\times\dotsb\times \mathbb{S}^1)-q$ ($n$-times). Assume that $B$ is an $n$ disk in $M$ (for instance, thinking of $\mathbb{S}^1$ as gluing $-1$ and $1$, the cube $B=[-\...
