Related papers: Smooth surfaces with non-simply-connected compleme…

In this paper we construct a simply connected, minimal, complex surface of general type with p_g=0 and K^2=2 using a rational blow-down surgery and Q-Gorenstein smoothing theory.

We produce infinite families of exotic actions of finite cyclic groups on simply connected smooth 4-manifolds with nontrivial Seiberg-Witten invariants.

This paper expands some of the issues of the paper math.SG/0506449. We introduce a new technique to produce symplectic manifolds, by taking a symplectic non-free action of a finite group on a symplectic manifold and resolving symplectically…

We study symplectic deformation types of minimal symplectic fillings of links of quotient surface singularities. In particular, there are only finitely many symplectic deformation types for each quotient surface singularity.

The purpose of this article is twofold. First we outline a general construction scheme for producing simply-connected minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with small Euler characteristics. Using this scheme, we illustrate how to obtain…

We study symplectic structures on K\"ahler surfaces with p_g = 0. We give an example of a projective surface which admits a symplectic structure which is not compatible with any K\"ahler metric.

We show that certain classes of contact 3-manifolds do not admit non-separating contact type embeddings into any closed symplectic 4-manifolds, e.g. this is the case for all contact manifolds that are (partially) planar or have Giroux…

We compute the topological mapping class group of every compact, simply connected, topological 4-manifold. This was previously only known in the closed case. If the 4-manifold is smooth, we deduce an analogous description of the stable…

We use rudiments of the Seiberg-Witten gluing theory for trivial circle bundles over a Riemann surface to relate de Seiberg-Witten basic classes of two $4$-manifolds containing Riemann surfaces of the same genus and self-intersection zero…

We construct noncomplex smooth 4-manifolds which admit genus-2 Lefschetz fibrations over S^2. The fibrations are necessarily hyperelliptic, and the resulting 4-manifolds are not even homotopy equivalent to complex surfaces. Furthermore,…

Smooth and symplectic symmetries of an infinite family of distinct exotic $K3$ surfaces are studied, and comparison with the corresponding symmetries of the standard $K3$ is made. The action on the $K3$ lattice induced by a smooth finite…

We consider a family of closed symplectic manifolds 4-manifolds which we call symplectic bielliptic surfaces and study its Lagrangian cobordism group of weakly-exact Lagrangian G-branes (that is, Lagrangians equipped with a grading, a Pin…

For suitable finite groups G, we construct contractible 4-manifolds C with an effective G-action on $\partial C$ whose associated pairs (C,g) for all $g \in G$ are distinct smoothings of the pair $(C,\partial C)$. Indeed C embeds in a…

Given two four-dimensional symplectic manifolds, together with knots in their boundaries, we define an ``anchored symplectic embedding'' to be a symplectic embedding, together with a two-dimensional symplectic cobordism between the knots…

Motivated by the programmes initiated by Taubes and Perutz, we study the geometry of near-symplectic 4-manifolds, i.e., manifolds equipped with a closed 2-form which is symplectic outside a union of embedded 1-dimensional submanifolds, and…

Let $\Gamma_g$ be the fundamental group of a closed connected orientable surface of genus $g\geq2$. We introduce a combinatorial structure of "core surfaces", that represent subgroups of $\Gamma_g$. These structures are (usually)…

Given a closed $n$-manifold, we consider the set of simple homotopy types of $n$-manifolds within its homotopy type, called its simple homotopy manifold set. We characterise it in terms of algebraic K-theory, the surgery obstruction map,…

By studying the example of smooth structures on CP^2#3(-CP^2) we illustrate how surgery on a single embedded nullhomologous torus can be utilized to change the symplectic structure, the Seiberg-Witten invariant, and hence the smooth…

We prove that a positive definite smooth four-manifold with $b_2^+ \geq 2$ and having either no 1-handles or no 3-handles cannot admit a symplectic structure.

Symplectic 4-manifolds $(X,\omega)$ with $b_+{=}1$ are roughly classified by the canonical class $K$ and the symplectic form $\omega$ depending upon the sign of $K^2$ and $K\cdot \omega$. Examples are known for each category except for the…