English

A homological generalized Property R conjecture is false

Geometric Topology 2026-03-09 v1

Abstract

The generalized Property R conjecture (GPRC) predicts that if framed surgery on an nn-component link LL in S3S^3 produces #n(S1×S2)\#^{n} (S^1\times S^2), then LL is handleslide equivalent to an unlink, the obvious way to construct such a surgery. Many potential counterexamples to the GPRC are known, but obstructing handleslide equivalence is a tricky proposition. In this vein, we disprove a further generalization of the GPRC. It would be reasonable to expect that if an nn-component link in S3S^3 surgers to the connected sum of nn three-manifolds with the homology of S1×S2S^1 \times S^2, then this link should be handleslide equivalent to an nn-component split link, the obvious way to construct such a surgery. However, we prove that there are 2-component framed links in S3S^3 that surger to a connected sum of homology S1×S2S^1\times S^2's but that are not handleslide equivalent, or even weakly handleslide equivalent, to a split link.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.05664,
  title  = {A homological generalized Property R conjecture is false},
  author = {Tye Lidman and Trevor Oliveira-Smith and Alexander Zupan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.05664},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

11 pages, 10 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:05:44.473Z