English

Uniqueness in Haken's Theorem

Geometric Topology 2024-08-26 v4

Abstract

Following Haken and Casson-Gordon, it was shown in [Sc] that given a reducing sphere or boundary-reducing disk E in a Heegaard split manifold M, the Heegaard surface T can be isotoped so that it intersects E in a single circle. Here we show that when this is achieved by two different positionings of T, one can be moved to the other by a sequence of 1) isotopies of T rel E 2) pushing a stabilizing pair of T through E and 3) eyegelass twists of T. The last move is inspired by one of Powell's proposed generators for the Goeritz group.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.07385,
  title  = {Uniqueness in Haken's Theorem},
  author = {Michael Freedman and Martin Scharlemann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.07385},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

This version improves exposition and corrects typos, following referee's comments

R2 v1 2026-06-23T14:53:05.443Z