Tagged Questions

2
votes
1answer
50 views

Annulus Theorem

I'm trying to read Rolfsen's "Knots and Links" and I'm a little discouraged that I can't do one of the first and seemingly more important exercises. The question is Use the Schoenflies theorem ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views

3-manifolds fibering over the circle and mapping tori

If $S$ is a closed connected surface and $\varphi \in \mathrm{Diff}(M)$, then we can build the mapping torus $M_\varphi = \dfrac{S \times [0,1]}{(x,0)\sim (\varphi(x),1)}$. Then we have that $ ...
4
votes
1answer
89 views

Representation of (co)homology classes of $3$-manifolds by embedded surfaces

Let $M$ be a closed oriented $3$-manifold. Theorems in algebraic topology allow us to identify $$H_2(M) \ \cong \ H^1(M) \ \cong \ \langle M,S^1\rangle$$ where (co)homology is meant with integer ...
4
votes
2answers
101 views

How does Thurston's geometrisation conjecture imply Poincaré's conjecture?

I ran into the geometrisation conjecture a few days ago, and I started wondering how to prove Poincaré's conjecture. Let $M$ be a compact, simply connected, $3$-manifold. Clearly it is irreducible ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views

vertex linking sphere

S.Choi in his article " Geometric structures on low dimensional manifolds " uses " Haken diagram " of triangulated 3-manifolds.He starts with a tetrahedron in the triangulation and form the linking ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views

Cancelling 3-handles in Kirby diagrams

Recently been trying to understand the proofs of Gompf and Akbulut that certain 4-manifolds are $S^4$ (these 2 papers: Gompfs paper in Topology Vol. 30 Issue. 1, Akbulut). In which they use a clever 2 ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views

How is PL knot theory related to smooth knot theory?

I really want to like knot theory but the PL condition seems sort of ugly. I was hoping someone could give me a justification for secretly thinking about smooth knots as I read through a book like ...
12
votes
1answer
267 views

A simply-connected closed surface is a sphere

From the Classification Theorem for closed (i.e. compact and boundaryless) surfaces, it follows that $S^2$ is the only closed surface with trivial $\pi _1$. That's easy because the fundamental group ...
4
votes
0answers
73 views

Problem from Hempel — surfaces in Lens spaces

This isn't a homework problem, just working through Hempel's 3-Manifolds for my own benefit. One exercise is to show that the lens space $L(2k,q)$ contains a surface of Euler characteristic $2-k$. ...
5
votes
0answers
76 views

$\operatorname{Spin}^c(n)$ is a Lie group?

Assume that $n\geq 3$. (This implies $\pi_1(\operatorname{SO}(n))=\mathbb{Z}/2$.) Let $\rho\colon \operatorname{Spin}(n)\to \operatorname{SO}(n)$ be the 2-fold universal cover. Identify $\ker(\rho)$ ...
4
votes
0answers
92 views

Symmetric product of genus 2-surface

Let $\Sigma$ be the genus 2-surface. Denote $\operatorname{Sym}^2(\Sigma)=\Sigma\times \Sigma/\mathbb{Z}/2$, where $\mathbb{Z}/2$ acts on $\Sigma\times \Sigma$ by $(x,y)\mapsto (y,x)$. In the very ...
2
votes
3answers
88 views

Finding the rank of subgroups of free groups?

How do you find the rank of a subgroup(of finite index) of a free group? I was thinking of looking at the fundamental group of a graph.
4
votes
1answer
98 views

Prime decomposition of 3-manifolds

Let $H_g$ be a three dimensional handlebody bounded by a genus $g$ surface. Let $M_g$ be a manifold obtained by gluing two copies of $H_g$ via an orientation reversing homeomorphism of the surface of ...
7
votes
3answers
199 views

Embedding compact (boundaryless?) n-manifolds in n-dimensional real space

I know the embedding theorems that allow you to embed $n$-manifolds into $\mathbb{R}^k$, provided $k$ is chosen large enough. Here I'm interested in the possibility of taking $k=n$ in the case of ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views

Why can we consider only torus switch rather than arbitrary Dehn filling in Lickorish theorem?

I understand that any orientable 3-manifold can be obtained by doing Dehn surgery on $S^3$ along a set of circles sitting in it; but why can we further assume the slop to be $0$, i.e. we can obtain ...
7
votes
1answer
358 views

For an $n$-dimensional object, how many types of holes are possible?

Update 2012-06-06: At some point I'll attempt to answer my own question by using a dual-fluid model that places the dimensionality and connectivity of "solids" and "holes" on an equal footing. With ...
3
votes
1answer
195 views

How does handle attachment work in Morse Theory

I am reading R.E.Gompf and A.I. Stipsicz, 4-Manifolds and Kirby Calculus. I can't understand the 2nd-paragraph of p.101, where they explain framings on the attaching sphere. In particular I cannot ...
4
votes
0answers
84 views

Heegaard Splitting of Brieskorn homology 3-spheres

For pairwise coprime integers $(p,q,r)$, we define a Brieskorn homology 3-spheres by $\Sigma(p,q,r)=\{(z_1,z_2,z_3)\in\mathbb{C}^3 | z_1^p+z_2^q+z_3^r=0, |z_1|^2+|z_2|^2+|z_3|^2=1\}$. I want to know ...
7
votes
1answer
295 views

Understanding the Hopf fibration

I'm taking a class in manifolds, and the Hopf fibration recently came up. I'm trying to get a handle on it, so I'm going to try and explain what I think is going on, and hopefully math.stackexchange ...
1
vote
2answers
114 views

When does an embedded $2$-torus bound a solid torus in $3$-manifolds?

This is a simple version of the question asked here. Let $M$ be a compact 3-manifold without boundary, $\mathbb{T}^2$ be the standard 2-torus, and $i:\mathbb{T}^2\to M$ be an embedding. (*) Assume ...
2
votes
2answers
119 views

Relationship between the $2$-plane bundles over $S^2$ and $\mathbb{Z}$

I want to follow up on this answer by asking a few more questions (posting directly on the question didn't seem to "bump" the thread). I was trying to read the referenced text (Husemoller's Fiber ...
6
votes
1answer
143 views

How to Classify $2$-Plane Bundles over $S^2$?

I'm curious how one can classify the bundles over a given manifold. I recently read this paper on classifying $2$-sphere bundles over compact surfaces. A lot of the concepts went over my head since ...
3
votes
1answer
255 views

the restriction of a homeomorphism on a subset

Let $X$ be a topological space and $f:X\to X$ be a homeomorphism. Then the induced map $f_1:\pi_1(X,x)\to\pi_1(X,fx)(\cong \pi_1(X,x))$ is an isomorphism (automorphism up to conjugate). In the ...
6
votes
3answers
235 views

Putting Geometries on Knot Complements

I have two different, but related, questions about the type of geometry one can get on a knot complement. Quickly some notation: $K$ will be a non-trivial smooth knot - living in $S^3$ - and $M$ will ...
4
votes
1answer
320 views

Which mapping tori are Seifert manifolds?

According to Orlik's lecture notes on Seifert manifolds (and the Wikipedia page on Seifert fiber spaces), a mapping torus over a 2-torus is a Seifert manifold if and only if it is the mapping torus of ...