arXiv research

Survey on embedding 3-manifolds in definite 4-manifolds, focusing on Donaldson's theorem.

New definite 4-manifolds found with non-cyclic groups.

Diagonalizes tautological classes of definite 4-manifolds.

Wall's result extended to 4-manifolds with definite intersection forms.

Study knots in definite 4-manifolds using minimum-genus bounds.

3D space without definite 4D counterpart found.

Study on 4-manifolds with exotic smooth structures and Z_2 fundamental group.

We show that, if a rational homology 3-sphere $Y$ bounds a positive definite smooth 4-manifold, then there are finitely many negative definite lattices, up to the stable-equivalence, which can be realized as the intersection form of a smooth 4-manifold bounded by $Y$. To this end, we make use of constraints on definite…

A proof via the Seiberg-Witten moduli space of Donaldson's theorem on smooth 4-manifolds with definite intersection forms.

New smooth structures found on certain 4D spaces.

New definition of skein lasagna module for specific 4-manifolds.

We prove that there exist infinitely many topologically slice knots which cannot bound a smooth null-homologous disk in any definite 4-manifold. Furthermore, we show that we can take such knots so that they are linearly independent in the the knot concordance group.

Two criteria for a closed connected definite 4-manifold with infinite cyclic fundamental group to be TOP-split are given. One criterion extends a sufficient condition made in a previous paper. The result is equivalent to a purely algebraic result on the question asking when a positive definite Hermitian form over the r…

The paper characterizes Einstein 4-manifolds with semi-definite curvature and derives inequalities.

New exotic structures found on 4-manifolds with specific groups.

We prove that if a compact Riemannian 4-manifold with positive sectional curvature satisfies a Kato type inequality, then it is definite. We also discuss some new insights for compact Riemannian 4-manifolds of positive sectional curvature.

For each rational homology 3-sphere $Y$ which bounds simply connected definite 4-manifolds of both signs, we construct an infinite family of irreducible rational homology 3-spheres which are homology cobordant to $Y$ but cannot bound any simply connected definite 4-manifold. As a corollary, for any coprime integers $p,…

Using instanton Floer theory, extending methods due to Froyshov, we determine the definite lattices that arise from smooth 4-manifolds bounded by certain homology 3-spheres. For example, we show that for +1 surgery on the (2,5) torus knot, the only non-diagonal lattices that can occur are E8 and the indecomposable unim…

Knots and 4-manifolds linked via matrix kinking.

This paper classifies minimal fillings of lens spaces.

By using the gluing formulae of the Seiberg-Witten invariant, we show the nonexistence of Einstein metric on manifolds obtained from a 4-manifold with nontrivial Seiberg-Witten invariant by performing sufficiently many connected sums or appropriate surgeries along circles or homologically trivial 2-spheres with closed …

In this paper, we exploit a subtle indeterminacy in the definition of the spherical Kervaire-Milnor invariant which was discovered by R. Stong to construct non-spin 4-manifolds with even intersection form and prescribed signature.

The possibilities for new or unusual kinds of topological, locally linear periodic maps of non-prime order on closed, simply connected 4-manifolds with positive definite intersection pairings are explored. On the one hand, certain permutation representations on homology are ruled out under appropriate hypotheses. On th…

We construct an infinite family of hyperbolic, homologically thin knots that are not quasi-alternating. To establish the latter, we argue that the branched double-cover of each knot in the family does not bound a negative definite 4-manifold with trivial first homology and bounded second betti number. This fact depends…

We use the equivariant Yang-Mills moduli space to investigate the relation between the singular set, isotropy representations at fixed points, and permutation modules realized by the induced action on homology for smooth group actions on certain 4-manifolds.

We introduce a variant of the Seiberg-Witten equations, Pin^-(2)-monopole equations, and give its applications to intersection forms with local coefficients of 4-manifolds. The first application is an analogue of Froyshov's results on 4-manifolds which have definite forms with local coefficients. The second is a local …

We show that every negative definite configuration of symplectic surfaces in a symplectic 4--manifold has a strongly symplectically convex neighborhood. We use this to show that, if a negative definite configuration satisfies an additional negativity condition at each surface in the configuration, and if the complex si…

Let (M,g) be a compact oriented Einstein 4-manifold. Write R-plus for the part of the curvature operator of g which acts on self-dual 2-forms. We prove that if R-plus is negative definite then g is locally rigid: any other Einstein metric near to g is isometric to it. This is a chiral generalisation of Koiso's Theorem,…

Construct non-split 2-component links in $S^4$ to produce exotic pairs of 4-manifolds

Study cohomotopy classes for 4-manifolds using complex spin structures.

Study shows 3D shapes can't fit in certain 4D spaces.

We show that the set of even positive definite lattices that arise from smooth, simply-connected 4-manifolds bounded by a fixed homology 3-sphere can depend on more than the ranks of the lattices. We provide two homology 3-spheres with distinct sets of such lattices, each containing a distinct nonempty subset of the ra…

Recently Andrei Teleman considered instanton moduli spaces over negative definite four-manifolds $X$ with $b_2(X) \geq 1$. If $b_2(X)$ is divisible by four and $b_1(X) =1$ a gauge-theoretic invariant can be defined; it is a count of flat connections modulo the gauge group. Our first result shows that if such a moduli s…

We work on a parallelizable time-orientable Lorentzian 4-manifold and prove that in this case the notion of spin structure can be equivalently defined in a purely analytic fashion. Our analytic definition relies on the use of the concept of a non-degenerate two-by-two formally self-adjoint first order linear differenti…

Study exotic Dehn twists in 4-manifolds, producing first known exotic diffeomorphisms.

Notes on Whitney towers in 4-manifolds, focusing on local surface manipulations and invariants.

We establish the slice-ribbon conjecture for a large family of Montesinos' knots by means of Donaldson's theorem on the intersection forms of definite 4-manifolds.

We show that every positive definite closed 4-manifold with $b_2^+>1$ and without 1-handles has a vanishing stable cohomotopy Seiberg-Witten invariant, and thus admits no symplectic structure. We also show that every closed oriented 4-manifold with $b_2^+\not\equiv 1$ and $b_2^-\not\equiv 1\pmod{4}$ and without 1-handl…

These notes summarize and expand on a mini-course given at CIRM in February 2018 as part of Winter Braids VIII. We somewhat obsessively develop the slogan `Trisections are to 4-manifolds as Heegaard splittings are to 3-manifolds', focusing on and clarifying the distinction between three ways of thinking of things: the …

An invariant of orientable 3-manifolds is defined by taking the minimum $n$ such that a given 3-manifold embeds in the connected sum of $n$ copies of $S^2 \times S^2$, and we call this $n$ the embedding number of the 3-manifold. We give some general properties of this invariant, and make calculations for families of le…

New methods distinguish exotic 4-manifolds using Heegaard Floer homology.

New homology $q_2$ from 3D cobordism to integers.

In this paper we construct families of homology spheres which bound 4-manifolds with intersection forms isomorphic to $-E_8$. We show that these families have arbitrary large correction terms. This result says that among homology spheres, the difference of the maximal rank of minimal sub-lattice of definite filling and…

Study shows non-spin 4-manifolds where smooth Nielsen realization fails.

Study shows exotic Dehn twists on certain 3-sphere fillings.

Proof of Donaldson's theorem using Seiberg-Witten equations for multiple spinors.

We prove that every smoothly embedded surface in a 4--manifold can be isotoped to be in bridge position with respect to a given trisection of the ambient 4--manifold; that is, after isotopy, the surface meets components of the trisection in trivial disks or arcs. Such a decomposition, which we call a \emph{generalized …

In this note, we complete the classification of quasi-alternating Montesinos links. We show that the quasi-alternating Montesinos links are precisely those identified independently by Qazaqzeh-Chbili-Qublan and Champanerkar-Ording. A consequence of our proof is that a Montesinos link $L$ is quasi-alternating if and onl…