Study combinatorial analogues of Kronheimer-Mrowka theory for graphs.
problem No specific problem stated; focuses on theory development.
method Introduce combinatorial equivariant analogues of Kronheimer-Mrowka homology theory.
result Developed combinatorial analogues for planar trivalent graphs.
Kronheimer-Mrowka's instanton homology dimension equals Tait colorings.
problem Calculating the dimension of a specific homology group for plane trivalent graphs.
method Using SO(3) instanton Floer homology, the dimension is shown to be equal to the number of Tait colorings.
result The dimension of J#(G) is equal to the number of Tait colorings of G.
This is an expansion on my talk at the Geometry and Topology conference at McMaster University, May 2004. We outline a program to relate the Heegaard Floer homologies of Ozsvath-Szabo, and Seiberg-Witten-Floer homologies as defined by Kronheimer-Mrowka. The center-piece of this program is the construction of an interme…
Refines Kronheimer-Mrowka's invariant for 4-manifolds with specific boundary conditions.
problem Constructing a refined invariant for 4-manifolds with contact boundaries.
method Uses Kronheimer-Mrowka's invariant and Furuta's finite dimensional approximation.
result Refined invariant for 4-manifolds with H1(X,∂X;R)=0. New invariant connects symplectic fillings and contact structures.
problem Understanding symplectic fillings and contact structures.
method Floer homotopy theory and KO-cohomology.
result Constraint on symplectic fillings using KO-cohomology.
Lower bounds for a knot invariant are derived using computations and cobordism inequality.
problem Calculating the concordance invariant s# for knots. method Computation for torus knots, cobordism inequality of s#, and arguments for slice-torus invariants. result Lower bounds for s# are derived for knots. Computer program constrains foam evaluation dimensions.
problem Determining dimensions of foam evaluation for nonreducible webs.
method Developed a computer program to analyze the dimension and graded dimension of J♭(K) for webs K. result Suggests dimJ♭(W1)=58 for the dodecahedral web W1 with Tait(W1)=60. This note is an exposition of the proof of Thom's conjecture by Kronheimer and Mrowka, using the new Seiberg-Witten invariants.
Study of unoriented SL(4) foams in 3-manifolds.
problem Understanding unoriented SL(4) foams in 3-manifolds.
method Combinatorial evaluation and state space study of unoriented SL(4) foams.
result State space of any web is free of rank given by the number of its 4-colorings over a localized ground ring.
We show that any compact symplectic manifold (W,ω) with boundary embeds as a domain into a closed symplectic manifold, provided that there exists a contact plane ξon dW which is weakly compatible with omega, i.e. the restriction ω|ξdoes not vanish and the contact orientation of dW and its orientation as the boundary of…
Defines monopole Floer homology for 3-manifolds with toroidal boundaries.
problem Calculating invariants of 3-manifolds with toroidal boundaries.
method Develops monopole Floer homology using 3+1 topological quantum field theory.
result Euler characteristic recovers Milnor-Turaev torsion invariant.
Proves surgery exact triangle for monopole Floer homology over integers.
problem Proving the surgery exact triangle for monopole Floer homology over integer coefficients.
method Modification of Kronheimer--Mrowka's local system and adaptation of Freeman's computation.
result Obtains a spectral sequence over integer coefficients for an oriented link in S3. We present a large family of knots for which the Rasmussen s-invariants of arbitrary satellites do not detect sliceness. This answers a question of Hedden. The proof hinges on work of Kronheimer-Mrowka and Cochran-Harvey-Horn.
Unknot recognition is one of the fundamental questions in low dimensional topology. In this work, we show that this problem can be encoded as a validity problem in the existential fragment of the first-order theory of real closed fields. This encoding is derived using a well-known result on SU(2) representations of kno…
We observe inequalities involving the Herzlich volume of a 4-dimensional asymptotically complex hyperbolic Einstein manifold and its Euler characteristic provided the metrics is either Kaehler or selfdual. In the selfdual case we have to assume furthermore that the Kronheimer-Mrowka invariant is non vanishing.
We use grid diagrams to investigate the Ozsvath-Szabo concordance invariant tau, and to prove that |tau(K_1)-tau(K_2)|<=g, whenever there is a genus g knot cobordism joining K_1 to K_2. This leads to an entirely grid diagram-based proof of Kronheimer-Mrowka's theorem, formerly known as the Milnor conjecture.
These are notes of a talk given at the Mathematische Arbeitstagung 2005 in Bonn. Following ideas of Ozbagci-Stipsicz, a proof based on contact Dehn surgery is given of Eliashberg's concave filling theorem for contact 3-manifolds. The role of that theorem in the Kronheimer-Mrowka proof of property P for nontrivial knots…
There are a number of homological knot invariants, each satisfying an unoriented skein exact sequence, which can be realized as the limit page of a spectral sequence starting at a version of the Khovanov chain complex. Compositions of elementary 1-handle movie moves induce a morphism of spectral sequences. These morphi…
We prove that an infinite family of virtually overtwisted tight contact structures discovered by Honda on certain circle bundles over surfaces admit no symplectic semi-fillings. The argument uses results of Mrowka, Ozsvath and Yu on the translation-invariant solutions to the Seiberg-Witten equations on cylinders and th…
New invariant recovers known contact element and considers finite coverings.
problem Defining and studying new contact invariants in Seiberg-Witten Floer spectra.
method Cohomotopy set of Seiberg-Witten Floer spectrum, equivariant Borel cohomology.
result New invariant recovers known contact element and considers finite coverings.
For any link of two components in an integral homology sphere, we define an instanton Floer homology whose Euler characteristic is the linking number between the components of the link. We relate this Floer homology to the Kronheimer-Mrowka instanton Floer homology of knots. We also show that, for two-component links i…
Study instanton Floer homology for links in RP^3 and use it to detect knots.
problem Detecting knots in RP3 using instanton Floer homology. method Compute instanton Floer homology for links in RP3 and use spectral sequences. result Khovanov homology detects the unknot and projective unknot in RP3. Classifies links with small Khovanov homology ranks.
problem Classifying links with specific ranks in Khovanov homology.
method Previous results combined with new classifications.
result All links with ranks ≤ 8 and three-component links with ranks ≤ 12 are classified.
New inequality linking geodesic length and volume in complex projective plane.
problem Understanding geometric properties of complex projective plane.
method Combining recent results on area minimizers and geodesics with Kronheimer-Mrowka's proof.
result Proved a new inequality relating volume and length of geodesics.
New real invariants for 3-manifolds and links.
problem Defining real structures in Floer homology.
method Introducing real spin-c structures and applying monopole Floer homology.
result Invariants for links via double branched covers.
The paper studies scalar curvature and harmonic forms on 3-manifolds with boundaries.
problem Estimating the Thurston norm on 3-manifolds with boundaries.
method Establishing an identity relating average Euler characteristic, scalar curvature, and mean curvature.
result Characterization of the Thurston norm via scalar curvature and harmonic norm for 3-manifolds.
Proves SU(2) representations for certain 3-spheres with embedded tori.
problem Characterizing SU(2) representations for specific 3-manifolds.
method Instanton Floer homology, surgery exact triangle, holonomy perturbations, non-vanishing results, and cable surgery results.
result Fundamental groups of certain 3-manifolds admit irreducible SU(2) representations.
We construct a new spectral sequence beginning at the Khovanov homology of a link and converging to the Khovanov homology of the disjoint union of its components. The page at which the sequence collapses gives a lower bound on the splitting number of the link, the minimum number of times its components must be passed t…
We prove that every Einstein metric on the unit ball B^4 of C^2, asymptotic to the Bergman metric, is equal to it up to a diffeomorphism. We need a solution of Seiberg--Witten equations in this infinite volume setting. Therefore, and more generally, if M^4 is a manifold with a CR-boundary at infinity, an adapted spinc-…
Boundary Dehn twist on K3 surfaces becomes trivial after abelianization.
problem Understanding the boundary Dehn twist on K3 surfaces. method Obstruction from Baraglia-Konno and global Torelli theorem of K3 surfaces. result Boundary Dehn twist becomes trivial after abelianization.
We continue our program initiated in [arXiv:0912.4261] to consider supersymmetric surface operators in a topologically-twisted N=2 pure SU(2) gauge theory, and apply them to the study of four-manifolds and related invariants. Elegant physical proofs of various seminal theorems in four-manifold theory obtained by Ozsvat…
New invariants detect a specific graph in spatial webs.
problem Detecting specific graphs in spatial webs.
method Introduced new invariants and used spectral sequences.
result Proved invariants detect the planar theta graph.
[Original abstract (1992):] The modulus of quasipositivity q(K) of a knot K was introduced as a tool in the knot theory of complex plane curves, and can be applied to Legendrian knot theory in symplectic topology. It has also, however, a straightforward characterization in ordinary knot theory: q(K) is the supremum of …
Study irreducible SU(2) representations for knots in 3D.
problem Existence of irreducible SU(2) representations for cyclic branched covers of knots.
method Combining covering space techniques, SICUP matrices, and instanton Floer homology.
result Irreducible SU(2) representations exist for certain knots and branched covers.
Link groups can only have certain SU(2) representations.
problem Characterizing SU(2) representations of link groups.
method Analyzing the structure of link groups and their representations in SU(2).
result Irreducible SU(2) representations of link groups are restricted to specific configurations.
Paper classifies Heegaard Floer minimal knots in sutured manifolds.
problem Classifying minimal knots in sutured manifolds.
method Uses Heegaard Floer homology.
result Agrees with instanton Floer homology classification when applicable.
Let K be a knot in the 3-sphere. A slope p/q is said to be characterising for K if whenever p/q surgery on K is homeomorphic, via an orientation-preserving homeomorphism, to p/q surgery on another knot K' in the 3-sphere, then K and K' are isotopic. It was an old conjecture of Gordon, proved by Kronheimer, Mrowka, Ozsv…
New knot invariant s♯ reveals unexpected phenomena.
problem Understanding the new knot invariant s♯ and its properties. method Computations and new characterizations of s♯ using immersed cobordisms. result Invariant s♯ does not agree with s and is not additive under connected sums. New findings contradict the Thom conjecture for high degree hypersurfaces in CP3.
problem Finding the simplest smooth simply connected 4-manifold in CP3 homologous to a degree d hypersurface Vd. method Comparing b2 values of manifolds in the same homology class as Vd. result For all d≥5, there exists a manifold Md with b2(Md)<b2(Vd). Boundary Dehn twists become trivial after abelianization.
problem Understanding the behavior of boundary Dehn twists in smooth mapping classes.
method Constructing diffeomorphisms and showing commutators represent boundary Dehn twists.
result Boundary Dehn twists become trivial after abelianization.
New invariant shows Dehn twist on connected sum of homology tori is not isotopic to identity.
problem Determining when Dehn twists on connected sums of homology tori are isotopic to identity.
method Generalized Pin(2)-equivariant family Bauer-Furuta invariant to nonsimply connected manifolds and constructed a refinement.
result Dehn twist on X1#X2 is not isotopic to identity if determinants r1,r2 are odd. New contactomorphisms found via Dehn twists on 3-manifold sums.
problem Detecting exotic contactomorphisms in 3-manifold sums.
method Combining Kronheimer-Mrowka invariant and h-principle for convex spheres.
result First examples of infinite-order exotic contactomorphisms.
New example of non-smooth isotopy after stabilization in 4-manifolds.
problem Non-smooth isotopy of Dehn twist after stabilization.
method Pin(2)-equivariant Bauer-Furuta invariant.
result Dehn twist is not smoothly isotopic even after stabilization.
Integrase proteins acting on circular double-stranded DNA often change its topology by transforming unknotted circles into torus knots and links. Two systems of tangle equations--corresponding to the two initial DNA sequences--arise when modelling this transformation: direct and inverted. With no a priori assumptions o…
Monopole invariant studies contact structures on 3-manifolds.
problem Topology of contact structures on 3-manifolds.
method Generalized Kronheimer--Mrowka--Ozsváth--Szabó contact invariant for families of contact structures.
result Obstructs the existence of sections and detects exotic loops of contact structures.
New insights into knot surgeries via instanton 2-torsion.
problem Understanding rational surgeries on knots and their implications.
method Extending earlier results on integral surgeries to rational surgeries using framed instanton homology.
result If framed instanton homology is 2-torsion-free, the knot is an instanton L-space knot and the surgery parameter is greater than 2g(K)-1.
Detects knots in thickened surfaces using instanton homology.
problem Detecting knots in thickened surfaces using homology.
method Uses Asaeda-Przytycki-Sikora (APS) homology and sutured instanton homology.
result Detects the unknot in (−1,1)imesΣ and characterizes minimal sutured instanton homology. The paper connects scalar curvature to harmonic maps and level sets, extending Thurston norm results.
problem Understanding scalar curvature and its relation to harmonic maps and level sets.
method Establishing an identity relating scalar curvature to the average Euler characteristic of level sets.
result Extending Kronheimer-Mrowka's characterization of Thurston norm to any closed 3-manifold.