Questions tagged [gt.geometric-topology]

Topology of cell complexes and manifolds, classification of manifolds (e.g. smoothing, surgery), low dimensional topology (e.g. knot theory, invariants of 4-manifolds), embedding theory, combinatorial and PL topology, geometric group theory, infinite dimensional topology (e.g. Hilbert cube manifolds, theory of retracts).

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248 votes
29 answers
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Intuitive crutches for higher dimensional thinking

I once heard a joke (not a great one I'll admit...) about higher dimensional thinking that went as follows- An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are discussing how to visualise four ...
128 votes
10 answers
19k views

Are there any very hard unknots?

Some years ago I took a long piece of string, tied it into a loop, and tried to twist it up into a tangle that I would find hard to untangle. No matter what I did, I could never cause the later me any ...
gowers's user avatar
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127 votes
2 answers
16k views

What are the shapes of rational functions?

I would like to understand and compute the shapes of rational functions, that is, holomorphic maps of the Riemann sphere to itself, or equivalently, ratios of two polynomials, up to Moebius ...
Bill Thurston's user avatar
114 votes
3 answers
5k views

The number $\pi$ and summation by $SL(2,\mathbb Z)$

Let $f(a,b,c,d)=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}+\sqrt{c^2+d^2}-\sqrt{(a+c)^2+(b+d)^2}$. (it is the defect in the triangle inequality) Then, we discovered by heuristic arguments and then verified by computer that $$\...
Nikita Kalinin's user avatar
103 votes
5 answers
16k views

Independent evidence for the classification of topological 4-manifolds?

Is there any evidence for the classification of topological 4-manifolds, aside from Freedman's 1982 paper "The topology of four-dimensional manifolds", Journal of Differential Geometry 17(3) 357–453? ...
Brendan Guilfoyle's user avatar
95 votes
4 answers
10k views

Which manifolds are homeomorphic to simplicial complexes?

This question is only motivated by curiosity; I don't know a lot about manifold topology. Suppose $M$ is a compact topological manifold of dimension $n$. I'll assume $n$ is large, say $n\geq 4$. The ...
Charles Rezk's user avatar
  • 26.6k
92 votes
1 answer
11k views

The mathematical theory of Feynman integrals

It is well known that Feynman integrals are one of the tools that physicists have and mathematicians haven't, sadly. Arguably, they are the most important such tool. Briefly, the question I'd like to ...
algori's user avatar
  • 23.2k
90 votes
4 answers
14k views

Can every manifold be given an analytic structure?

Let $M$ be a (real) manifold. Recall that an analytic structure on $M$ is an atlas such that all transition maps are real-analytic (and maximal with respect to this property). (There's also a sheafy ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
80 votes
12 answers
15k views

Compelling evidence that two basepoints are better than one

This question is inspired by an answer of Tim Porter. Ronnie Brown pioneered a framework for homotopy theory in which one may consider multiple basepoints. These ideas are accessibly presented in his ...
Daniel Moskovich's user avatar
79 votes
1 answer
3k views

Topological cobordisms between smooth manifolds

Wall has calculated enough about the cobordism ring of oriented smooth manifolds that we know that two oriented smooth manifolds are oriented cobordant if and only if they have the same Stiefel--...
Oscar Randal-Williams's user avatar
77 votes
3 answers
4k views

Gromov's list of 7 constructions in differential topology

At the 2010 Clay Research Conference, Gromov explained that we know of only 7 different methods for constructing smooth manifolds. Working from memory, and hence not necessarily respecting the order ...
Mohammed Abouzaid's user avatar
76 votes
4 answers
14k views

What are good mathematical models for spider webs?

Sometimes I see spider webs in very complex surroundings, like in the middle of twigs in a tree or in a bush. I keep thinking “if you understand the spider web, you understand the space around it”. ...
Claus's user avatar
  • 6,767
75 votes
5 answers
3k views

When the automorphism group of an object determines the object

Let me start with three examples to illustrate my question (probably vague; I apologize in advance). $\mathbf{Man}$, the category of closed (compact without boundary) topological manifold. For any $M,...
74 votes
29 answers
7k views

Proofs where higher dimension or cardinality actually enabled much simpler proof?

I am very interested in proofs that become shorter and simpler by going to higher dimension in $\mathbb R^n$, or higher cardinality. By "higher" I mean that the proof is using higher dimension or ...
71 votes
10 answers
24k views

Nice proof of the Jordan curve theorem?

As a student, I was taught that the Jordan curve theorem is a great example of an intuitively clear statement which has no simple proof. What is the simplest known proof today? Is there an intuitive ...
user2498's user avatar
  • 1,823
70 votes
10 answers
21k views

Galois groups vs. fundamental groups

In a recent blog post Terry Tao mentions in passing that: "Class groups...are arithmetic analogues of the (abelianised) fundamental groups in topology, with Galois groups serving as the analogue ...
Harold Williams's user avatar
70 votes
3 answers
17k views

The story about Milnor proving the Fáry-Milnor theorem

This question is similar to a previous one about "urban legends", but not the same. It is established that Milnor proved the Fáry-Milnor theorem as an undergraduate at Princeton. For the record, ...
Greg Kuperberg's user avatar
65 votes
8 answers
10k views

What are the open subsets of $\mathbb{R}^n$ that are diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$

I would like to know if there is a known necessary and sufficient property on an open subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ to be diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$ : For example : Are all open star-shaped subsets ...
Oliver's user avatar
  • 667
64 votes
4 answers
4k views

Tying knots with reflecting lightrays

Let a lightray bounce around inside a cube whose faces are (internal) mirrors. If its slopes are rational, it will eventually form a cycle. For example, starting with a point $p_0$ in the interior of ...
62 votes
9 answers
9k views

Fundamental groups of noncompact surfaces

I got fantastic answers to my previous question (about modern references for the fact that surfaces can be triangulated), so I thought I'd ask a related question. A basic fact about surface topology ...
Andy Putman's user avatar
  • 43.3k
61 votes
14 answers
11k views

What are some of the big open problems in 3-manifold theory?

From what I understand, the geometrization theorem and its proof helped to settle a lot of outstanding questions about the geometry and topology of 3-manifolds, but there still seems to be quite a lot ...
61 votes
5 answers
11k views

Intuitively, what does a graph Laplacian represent?

Recently I saw an MO post Algebraic graph invariant $\mu(G)$ which links Four-Color-Theorem with Schrödinger operators: further topological characterizations of graphs? that got me interested. ...
GraphX's user avatar
  • 260
61 votes
4 answers
6k views

Drawing of the eight Thurston geometries?

Do you know of a picture, drawing, or other concise visual representation of the eight three-dimensional Thurston geometries? I am imagining something akin to the standard picture (of a sphere, plane,...
cdouglas's user avatar
  • 3,083
61 votes
2 answers
3k views

The topological analog of flatness?

Recall that a map $f:X\to Y$ of schemes is called flat iff for any $x\in X$ the ring $O_{X,x}$ is a flat $O_{Y,f(x)}$-module. Briefly the question is: what is the topological analog of this? Many ...
algori's user avatar
  • 23.2k
59 votes
7 answers
7k views

Status of PL topology

I posted this question on math stackexchange but received no answers. Since I know there are more people knowledgeable in geometric and piecewise-linear (PL) topology here, I'm reposting the question. ...
58 votes
6 answers
7k views

Torsion in homology or fundamental group of subsets of Euclidean 3-space

Here's a problem I've found entertaining. Is it possible to find a subset of 3-dimensional Euclidean space such that its homology groups (integer coefficients) or one of its fundamental groups is not ...
Ryan Budney's user avatar
  • 42.8k
55 votes
6 answers
10k views

Poincaré Conjecture and the Shape of the Universe

Has the solution of the Poincaré Conjecture helped science to figure out the shape of the universe?
Shake Baby's user avatar
  • 1,638
55 votes
3 answers
6k views

Kirby calculus and local moves

Every orientable 3-manifold can be obtained from the 3-sphere by doing surgery along a framed link. Kirby's theorem says that the surgery along two framed links gives homeomorphic manifolds if and ...
algori's user avatar
  • 23.2k
54 votes
8 answers
8k views

Questions about analogy between Spec Z and 3-manifolds

I'm not sure if the questions make sense: Conc. primes as knots and Spec Z as 3-manifold - fits that to the Poincare conjecture? Topologists view 3-manifolds as Kirby-equivalence classes of framed ...
54 votes
5 answers
2k views

Unusual symmetries of the Cayley-Menger determinant for the volume of tetrahedra

Suppose you have a tetrahedron $T$ in Euclidean space with edge lengths $\ell_{01}$, $\ell_{02}$, $\ell_{03}$, $\ell_{12}$, $\ell_{13}$, and $\ell_{23}$. Now consider the tetrahedron $T'$ with edge ...
Dylan Thurston's user avatar
53 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to add essentially new knots to the universe?

A knot is an embedding of a circle $S^{1}$ in $3$-dimensional Euclidean space, $\mathbb{R}^3$. Knots are considered equivalent under ambient isotopy. There are two different types of knots, tame and ...
Morteza Azad's user avatar
52 votes
1 answer
5k views

Open map D⁴ → S²

Is it possible to construct an embedding $D^4\hookrightarrow S^2\times \mathbb R^2$ such that the projection $D^4\to S^2$ is an open map? Here $D^n$ denotes closed $n$-ball. An open map D⁴ → S². It ...
ε-δ's user avatar
  • 1,785
50 votes
7 answers
10k views

Triangulating surfaces

I've had a few undergraduate students ask me for references for the classical fact (due to Rado) that closed topological surfaces can be triangulated. I know two sources for this, namely Ahlfors's ...
Andy Putman's user avatar
  • 43.3k
50 votes
4 answers
3k views

To which extent can one recover a manifold from its group of homeomorphisms

Question. Suppose that $M$ is a closed connected topological manifold and $G$ is its group of homeomorphisms (with compact-open topology). Does $G$ (as a topological group) uniquely determine $M$? One ...
Misha's user avatar
  • 31k
49 votes
8 answers
8k views

Classification problem for non-compact manifolds

Background It is well-known that the compact two-dimensional manifolds are completely classified (by their orientability and their Euler characteristic). I'm also under the impression that there is ...
Victoria Flat's user avatar
49 votes
4 answers
6k views

Elegant proof that any closed, oriented 3-manifold is the boundary of some oriented 4-manifold?

I'm looking for an elegant proof that any closed, oriented $3$-manifold $M$ is the boundary of some oriented $4$-manifold $B$.
Kevin Wray's user avatar
  • 1,689
49 votes
3 answers
4k views

Explicit metrics

Every surface admits metrics of constant curvature, but there is usually a disconnect between these metrics, the shapes of ordinary objects, and typical mathematical drawings of surfaces. Can ...
Bill Thurston's user avatar
49 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can knot diagrams be monotonically simplified using under moves?

It is well known that knot diagrams cannot be monotonically simplified using Reidemeister moves. For instance, the Goeritz unknot cannot be directly simplified. On the other hand, there is a stronger ...
Dylan Thurston's user avatar
48 votes
3 answers
7k views

Thurston's 24 questions: All settled?

Thurston's 1982 article on three-dimensional manifolds1 ends with $24$ "open questions":       $\cdots$ Two naive questions from an outsider: (1) Have all $24$ now been resolved? (2)...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
47 votes
3 answers
3k views

A metric characterization of the real line

Is the following metric characterization of the real line true (and known)? A nonempty complete metric space $(X,d)$ is isometric to the real line if and only if for every $c\in X$ and positive real ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
  • 40.7k
45 votes
1 answer
2k views

Exotic $R^4$ as the universal covering space

Is there a smooth compact 4-manifold whose universal covering is an exotic $R^4$, i.e. is homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to $R^4$? Remark. I am aware of examples (due to Mike Davis) of compact $...
Moishe Kohan's user avatar
  • 9,624
44 votes
1 answer
2k views

Pach's "Animals": What if the genus is positive?

Janos Pach asked a deep question 23 years ago (1988) that remains unsolved today: Can every animal—a topological ball in $\mathbb{R^3}$ composed of unit cubes glued face-to-face—be ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
43 votes
9 answers
28k views

Applications of knot theory

An answer of André Henriques' inspired the following closely related CW question. Parts of the following is extracted from his answer and my comments. I regularly teach a knot theory class. ...
43 votes
7 answers
6k views

Why should I care about Heegaard-Floer theory?

I would like to collect a list of applications of Heegaard-Floer theory. By applications, I don't mean things like "it can detect the unknot" or "it can detect knot genus". Algorithms for these ...
43 votes
2 answers
5k views

Meaning/origin of Seiberg-Witten equations/invariants

Having now seen and "understood" (quotes necessary) the Seiberg-Witten equations on a closed oriented Riemannian 4-manifold $X$, I have no real understanding of where they came from. We take ...
Chris Gerig's user avatar
  • 17.1k
41 votes
9 answers
3k views

In knot theory: Benefits of working in $S^3$ instead of $\mathbb{R}^3$?

In several textbooks on knot theory (e.g. Lickorish's, Rolfsen's) knots are considered in $\mathbb{R}^3$ or $S^3$. The reason for working in $S^3$ is sometimes given at the beginning of a text as that ...
hsp's user avatar
  • 571
41 votes
5 answers
4k views

Can cotangent bundles see exotic smooth structures?

I have two questions that are inspired by a couple of questions here on MO (referenced below), as well as by a conversation with some other grad students at a summer school. Caveat: I'm not a ...
Marco Golla's user avatar
  • 10.4k
40 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can the nth projective space be covered by n charts?

That is, is there an open cover of $\mathbb{R}P^n$ by $n$ sets homeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$? I came up with this question a few years ago and I´ve thought about it from time to time, but I haven´t ...
Saúl RM's user avatar
  • 7,916
40 votes
1 answer
2k views

Are there only countably many compact topological manifolds?

Up to homeomorphism, there are 2 one-dimensional topological manifolds and countably many 2- and 3-dimensional compact manifolds, respectively, since each manifold in these dimensions can be ...
Dominik's user avatar
  • 3,007
40 votes
1 answer
1k views

Four circles on the sphere

Consider generic configurations consisting of 4 distinct circles on the sphere. Two configurations are equivalent if they can be mapped onto each other by a homeomorphism of the sphere. How to ...
Alexandre Eremenko's user avatar

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