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Questions tagged [surgery-theory]

In geometric topology, surgery theory is used to produce one finite-dimensional manifold from another in a 'controlled' way. Originally developed for differentiable (smooth) manifolds, surgery techniques also apply to piecewise linear and topological manifolds. Surgery refers to cutting out parts of the manifold and replacing it with a part of another manifold, matching up along the cut or boundary. This is related to handlebody decompositions.

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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
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18 votes
1 answer
565 views

A search for a sequence of $6$-manifolds

How to construct closed, orientable, smooth, simply-connected $6$-manifolds such that $H^{*}(M,\mathbb{Z}) \cong \mathbb{Z}[a]/(a^{4})$ (Where $a$ is a generator of degree 2) satisfying $p_{1}(M) = n ...
Nick L's user avatar
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16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Smooth structures on the connected sum of a manifold with an Exotic sphere

What can we say about the connected sum of a manifold $M^n$ with an Exotic sphere? Is is possible some of them are still diffemorphic to $M^n$. Is it possible to classifying all the exotic smooth ...
Xiaolei Wu's user avatar
  • 1,598
11 votes
0 answers
237 views

Torus trick without surgery theory

It follows from surgery theory that in dimension $\geq 5$ every closed PL manifold homotopy equivalent to a torus has a finite cover which is PL homeomorphic to a torus. This is an important ...
user124543's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
641 views

Künneth formulas/theorem for bordism groups and cobordisms?

We are familiar with Künneth theorem: The Kunneth formula is given by $R$ as a ring, $M,M'$ as the R-modules, $X,X'$ are some chain complex. The Kunneth formula shows the cohomology of a chain ...
wonderich's user avatar
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9 votes
0 answers
257 views

Building examples of elements of $\Omega_4(\xi)$ via surgery theory: how to do it?

When computing special bordism groups, I often need to determine existence of (singular) smooth $4$-manifolds with fixed fundamental group and certain properties like the spin behaviour (i.e. being ...
Riccardo's user avatar
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