arXiv research

New method finds non-orientable knotted surfaces in 4D.

We show that there exists a universal positive constant $\varepsilon_0 > 0$ with the following property: Let $g$ be a positive Einstein metric on $S^4$. If the Yamabe constant of the conformal class $[g]$ satisfies $Y(S^4, [g]) >\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} Y(S^4, [g_{\mathbb S}]) - \varepsilon_0$ where $g_{\mathbb S}$ denot…

Study shows Einstein structures on 4-manifolds are rigid.

Smoothly knotted 5RP^2 found in 4-sphere.

We introduce bridge trisections of knotted surfaces in the four-sphere. This description is inspired by the work of Gay and Kirby on trisections of four-manifolds and extends the classical concept of bridge splittings of links in the three-sphere to four dimensions. We prove that every knotted surface in the four-spher…

We show that the members of a large class of unbalanced four-manifold trisections are standard, and we present a family of trisections that is likely to include non-standard trisections of the four-sphere. As an application, we prove a stable version of the Generalized Property R Conjecture for $c$-component links with…

We classify the total spaces of bundles over the four sphere with fiber a three sphere up to orientation preserving and reversing homotopy equivalence, homeomorphism and diffeomorphism. These total spaces have been of interest to both topologists and geometers. It has recently been shown by Grove and Ziller that each o…

In the spirit of recent work of Lamm, Malchiodi and Micallef in the setting of harmonic maps, we identify Yang-Mills connections obtained by approximations with respect to the Yang-Mills α-energy. More specifically, we show that for the SU(2) Hopf fibration over the four sphere, for sufficiently small α values the SO(4…

It is an open problem whether Kirk's $σ$ invariant is the complete obstruction to a link map $S^2\cup S^2\to S^4$ being link homotopically trivial. With the objective of constructing counterexamples, Li proposed a link homotopy invariant $ω$ that is defined on the kernel of $σ$ and also obstructs link nullhomotopy. We …

We prove that there exists a metric of positive curvature in a three-sphere which admits a given torus knot as a closed geodesic.We also sketch a construction of a metric in a four sphere, very likely of positive curvature, which admits a totally geodesic projective plane with Euler number four. Surpisingly, the techni…

We summarize and expand known connections between the study of Dehn surgery on links and the study of trisections of closed, smooth 4-manifolds. In addition, we describe how the potential counterexamples to the Generalized Property R Conjecture given by Gompf, Scharlemann, and Thompson yield genus four trisections of t…

We consider locally linear Z_p x Z_p actions on the four-sphere. We present simple constructions of interesting examples, and then prove that a given action is concordant to its linear model if and only if a single surgery obstruction taking to form of an Arf invariant vanishes. We discuss the behavior of this invarian…

Meier and Zupan showed that every surface in the four-sphere admits a bridge trisection and can therefore be represented by three simple tangles. This raises the possibility of applying methods from link homology to knotted surfaces. We use link homology to construct an invariant of knotted surfaces (up to isotopy) whi…

Innovates a three-component link homotopy invariant.

The four-dimensional sphere is uniquely rigid in terms of scalar curvature.

A knot in the three-sphere is doubly slice if it is the cross-section of an unknotted two-sphere in the four-sphere. For low-crossing knots, the most complete work to date gives a classification of doubly slice knots through 9 crossings. We extend that work through 12 crossings, resolving all but four cases among the 2…

Paper explores using 0-surgery to find exotic 4-manifolds.

The paper studies how submanifolds of a sphere evolve over time.

Four-dimensional quaternion-Kahler metrics, or equivalently self-dual Einstein spaces M, are known to be encoded locally into one real function h subject to Przanowski's Heavenly equation. We elucidate the relation between this description and the usual twistor description for quaternion-Kahler spaces. In particular, w…

We define a `Higgs field' for a four-dimensional spin$^c$-manifold to be a smooth section of its positive half-spinor bundle, transverse to the zero section, and defined only up to a positive functional factor. This is intended to be a generalization of almost complex structures on real four-manifolds, each of which ma…

We extend our previous analysis of Riemannian four-manifolds M admitting rigid supersymmetry to N=1 theories that do not possess a U(1)_R symmetry. With one exception, we find that M must be a Hermitian manifold. However, the presence of supersymmetry imposes additional restrictions. For instance, a supercharge that sq…

Study shows persistence of singularities in minimal hypersurfaces is rare.