All Questions
24 questions
29
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Embeddings of $S^2$ in $\mathbb{CP}^2$
Suppose we are given an embedding of $S^2$ in $\mathbb{CP}^2$ with self-intersection 1. Is there a diffeomorphism of $\mathbb{CP}^2$ which takes the given sphere to a complex line?
Note: I suspect ...
- 6,247
28
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Can all n-manifolds be obtained by gluing finitely many blocks?
Fix a dimension $n\geqslant 2$. Let $S= \{M_1,\ldots, M_k\}$ be a finite set of smooth compact $n$-manifold with boundary. Let us say that a smooth closed $n$-manifold is generated by $S$ if it may ...
- 10.5k
28
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can you flip the end of a large exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$
Can you flip the end of a large exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$
Background
Definition (Exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$):
An exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$ is a smooth manifold $R$ homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{...
- 1,897
19
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What's the Kirby Diagram of a universal $\mathbb{R}^4$?
What's the Kirby diagram of a universal $\mathbb{R}^4$?
Background
Define $\mathcal{R}$ as the set of smoothings of $\mathbb{R}^4$. For two oriented elements $R_1$, $R_2$ in $\mathcal{R}$ we can ...
- 1,897
17
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Homotopy groups of Diff(X) and Homeo(X)
For a compact closed smooth manifold $X$, the group Diff(X) has a natural homomorphism $\Phi$ to the homeomorphism group Homeo(X). If $X$ has dimension at least $5$, I'm looking for some general ...
- 19.4k
10
votes
2
answers
709
views
4-dimensional cohomology $\mathbb{CP}^2$'s
Let $M$ be a closed, smooth $4$-manifold with integral cohomology ring isomorphic to that of $\mathbb{CP}^2$, is it diffeomorphic to it?
- 6,995
9
votes
1
answer
307
views
Genus 2 3-manifolds bounding only $X^4$ with $b_2(X^4)$ big?
The genus of a closed orientable 3-manifold $M^3$ is the minimum genus among all Heegaard splitting surfaces for $M$. Every such 3-manifold bounds a compact 4-manifold. Let $I(M)$ denote the ...
- 5,349
8
votes
2
answers
629
views
Presentations of exotic 4-manifolds
TLDR I want to see more examples of exotic $4$-manifold (hopefully connected, simply connected, oriented, and closed).
Are there known presentations of $4$-manifolds $M$ with exotic structures, ...
- 5,230
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 ...
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Topological Classification of Four-Manifolds
It is known that the topological classification of a closed Riemann surface is determined by its genus. Similar statements are proven for other compact Riemann surfaces with boundaries/marked points. ...
- 989
7
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Applications of E8 manifold
The $E_8$ Cartan matrix is given by,
$$
K_{E_8}=\begin{pmatrix}
2 & -1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
-1 & 2 & -1& 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
...
- 10.5k
6
votes
1
answer
395
views
Two surfaces in a 4-manifold whose algebraic intersection number is zero
Suppose $X$ is a smooth closed oriented 4-manifold, and $\Sigma_1,\Sigma_2$ are smoothly embedded compact oriented surfaces in $X$. Suppose they intersect transversally at two points with different ...
- 335
6
votes
0
answers
181
views
Kirby diagram of Enriques surface (as the "(1/2) K3 surface")
Not to be confused with $E(1)\cong\mathbb{C}P^2\#9\overline{\mathbb{C}P^2}$, which is also known as a $\frac{1}{2}K3$ surface (in the sense that removing a neighbourhood of a regular torus fiber in $E(...
- 159
5
votes
1
answer
319
views
Are "Unions" of small exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$'s small?
Suppose $M$ is a smooth 4-manifold, and $U,V \subset M$ are exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$'s, i.e. homeomorphic to standard $\mathbb{R} ^4$.
Further more suppose $U$ an $V$ intersect nicely sucht that $U \cup ...
5
votes
0
answers
610
views
Closed 4-manifolds with uncountably many differentiable structures
I know that $\mathbb{R}^4$ admits uncountably many differentiable structures. So, I wonder what happens if we consider closed 4-manifolds. Are there any closed 4-manifolds with uncountably many ...
- 683
4
votes
1
answer
453
views
Detecting a "bad map" in Fintushel-Stern knot surgery
Background
Let $X$ be a simply-connected smooth 4-manifold which contains a smoothly embedded torus $T$ with trivial normal bundle (in other words, $T^2\times D^2\subset X$). Let $K$ be a knot in $S^3$...
- 159
4
votes
1
answer
270
views
Homology classes in connected sum of $\Bbb CP^2$'s that can be represented by smoothly embedded spheres
Let $h=[\Bbb CP^1]\in H_2(\Bbb CP^2;\Bbb Z)$. By a theorem of Kronheimer and Mrowka (Theorem 1 of this paper: https://people.math.harvard.edu/~kronheim/thomconj.pdf), a class $nh \in H_2(\Bbb CP^2;\...
- 335
4
votes
1
answer
379
views
h-cobordisms between non-simply-connected 4-manifolds
Let $M_0^4$ and $M_1^4$ be two closed smooth 4-manifolds and let $M$ be an $h$-cobordism between them (i.e., a compact smooth 5-manifold with boundary the disjoint union of $M_0$ and $M_1$ and with ...
- 5,349
4
votes
1
answer
492
views
Boundaries of smooth manifolds
If one has a smooth simply connected manifold $M^n$ which we know to bound an $n+1$ dimensional manifold $N$, what can be said about a handle decomposition for one in terms of a handle decomposition ...
- 41
4
votes
0
answers
128
views
Involutions on $D^4$ with a fixed arc
By a theorem of Livesay, the 3-sphere has a unique (up to equivariant diffeomorphism) smooth involution with exactly two fixed points. Thinking of $S^3$ as the unit sphere in $\mathbb{R}^4$, this ...
4
votes
0
answers
348
views
Smoothability of open 4-manifolds
F. Quinn proved that any open topological 4-manifold admits a smooth structure in Ends of maps III: dimensions 4 and 5.
He first proves the generalized annulus conjecture:
Suppose $h:D^j\times \...
- 91
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Homeomorphism classification of 4-manifolds
Question 1. Let $X_i$ be an infinite family of closed, orientable, smooth 4-manifolds with the following properties:
a) $\pi_1(X_i) = \mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{Z_{2}}$ for any $i = 1, 2, \cdots $
b) ...
- 45
2
votes
0
answers
197
views
$4$-manifolds with boundary homotopic to $K(G,1)$
I am not very conversant with the $3$-manifold or $4$-manifold theory. The literature I found so far related to $3$-manifold tells me that $S^1\times S^2$ is "very special". It is prime but ...
- 1,177
2
votes
0
answers
95
views
If a Compact $n$-Manifold Immerses in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ is there a Locally Flat Immersion?
Suppose that $M$ is a compact, topological $n$-manifold and there is a topological immersion (i.e. local embedding) of $M$ into $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$. Is there necessarily a locally flat immersion of $M$...
- 439