Related papers: Splice diagram determining singularity links and u…
To a rational homology sphere graph manifold one can associate a weighted tree invariant called splice diagram. It was shown earlier that the splice diagram determines the universal abelian cover of the manifold. We will in this article…
It was shown in my earlier article that the splice diagram of a rational homology sphere graph manifold determines the manifolds universal abelian cover. In this article we use the proof of this to give a condition on the splice diagram to…
Given a rational homology sphere M, whose splice diagram satisfy the semigroup condition, Neumann and Wahl were able to define a complete intersection surface singularity called splice diagram singularity from the splice diagram of M. They…
A three-dimensional orbifold $(\Sigma, \gamma_i, n_i)$, where $\Sigma$ is a rational homology sphere, has a universal abelian orbifold covering, whose covering group is the first orbifold homology. A singular pair $(X,C)$, where $X$ is a…
We prove the "End Curve Theorem," which states that a normal surface singularity $(X,o)$ with rational homology sphere link $\Sigma$ is a splice-quotient singularity if and only if it has an end curve function for each leaf of a good…
Every normal complex surface singularity with $\mathbb Q$-homology sphere link has a universal abelian cover. It has been conjectured by Neumann and Wahl that the universal abelian cover of a rational or minimally elliptic singularity is a…
By using superisolated surface singularities whose link is a rational homology sphere we give counterexamples to some of the most important conjetures concernig invariants of normal surface singularities.
This expository talk is an expanded version of a lecture at G.-M. Greuel's 60th Birthday Conference in Kaiserslautern in October, 2004. We survey recent work of Neumann-Wahl and others on the relation between topology and geometry of normal…
A Riemannian orbifold is a mildly singular generalization of a Riemannian manifold that is locally modeled on $R^n$ modulo the action of a finite group. Orbifolds have proven interesting in a variety of settings. Spectral geometers have…
The splice quotients are an interesting class of normal surface singularities with rational homology sphere links, defined by W. Neumann and J. Wahl. If Gamma is a tree of rational curves that satisfies certain combinatorial conditions,…
We discuss the evidence for and implications of a conjecture that the universal abelian cover of a Q-Gorenstein surface singularity with finite local homology (i.e., the singularity link is a Q-homology sphere) is a complete intersection…
While the topological types of {normal} surface singularities with homology sphere link have been classified, forming a rich class, until recently little was known about the possible analytic structures. We proved in [Geom. Topol. 9(2005)…
In this article we prove that a semialgebraic map is a branched covering if and only if its associated spectral map is a branched covering. In addition, such spectral map has a neat behavior with respect to the branching locus, the…
Graphs with given k vertices generate an (acyclic) simplicial complex. We describe the homology of its quotient complex, formed by all connected graphs, and demonstrate its applications to the topology of braid groups, knot theory,…
It has long been known that every quasi-homogeneous normal complex surface singularity with Q-homology sphere link has universal abelian cover a Brieskorn complete intersection singularity. We describe a broad generalization: First, one has…
A theorem of Mumford states that, on complex surfaces, any normal isolated singularity whose link is diffeomorphic to a sphere is actually a smooth point. While this property fails in higher dimensions, McLean asks whether the contact…
Much information about a graph can be obtained by studying its spanning trees. On the other hand, a graph can be regarded as a 1-dimensional cell complex, raising the question of developing a theory of trees in higher dimension. As observed…
The main question we target is the following: If one fixes a topological type of a complex normal surface singularity then what are the possible analytic types supported by it, and/or, what are the possible values of the geometric genus? We…
We study the analytic and topological invariants associated with complex normal surface singularities. Our goal is to provide topological formulae for several discrete analytic invariants whenever the analytic structure is generic (with…
We show that if $Y$ is a toroidal closed graph manifold rational homology $3$-sphere with $|H_1(Y;\mathbb{Z})| \le 5$, then there exists an irreducible representation $\fund{Y} \to SU(2)$, using topological methods and avoiding the use of…