Related papers: Realization of the mapping class group of handlebo…

Let $\Diffeo=\Diffeo(\R)$ denote the group of infinitely-differentiable diffeomorphisms of the real line $\R$, under the operation of composition, and let $\Diffeo^+$ be the subgroup of diffeomorphisms of degree +1, i.e.…

We show that a complete contractible 3-manifold with positive scalar curvature and bounded geometry must be $\mathbb R^3$. We also show that an open handlebody of genus larger than 1 does not admit complete metrics with positive scalar…

Let $S$ be a nonorientable surface of genus $g\ge 5$ with $n\ge 0$ punctures, and $\Mcg(S)$ its mapping class group. We define the complexity of $S$ to be the maximum rank of a free abelian subgroup of $\Mcg(S)$. Suppose that $S_1$ and…

We give an entirely geometric proof, without recourse to cellular homology, of the fact that $\partial^2=0$ in the chain complex defined by a handle decomposition of a given manifold. Topological invariance of the resulting `handle…

Let $S$ be a closed oriented surface and $G$ a finite group of orientation preserving automorphisms of $S$ whose orbit space has genus at least $2$. There is a natural group homomorphism from the $G$-centralizer in $Diff^+(S)$ to the…

Let $M^{0}$ be a complete hyperbolic $3$-manifold whose conformal boundary is a closed Riemann surface $S$ of genus $g \geq 2$. If $M=M^{0} \cup S$, then let ${\rm Aut}(S;M)$ be the group of conformal automorphisms of $S$ which extend to…

We are concerned with mapping class groups of surfaces with nonempty boundary. We present a very natural method, due to Thurston, of finding many different left orderings of such groups. The construction involves equipping the surface with…

Given a compact oriented triangulated $3$-manifold we find a non-trivial condition satisfied by certain labelings of the tetrahedra by elements of an arbitrary abelian group which we call angle structures. Smoothness of the manifold is used…

We study the isometry groups of compact spherical orientable $3$-orbifolds $S^3/G$, where $G$ is a finite subgroup of $\mathrm{SO}(4)$, by determining their isomorphism type. Moreover, we prove that the inclusion of $\mbox{Isom}(S^3/G)$…

We prove that there are homology three-spheres that bound definite four-manifolds, but any such bounding four-manifold must be built out of many handles. The argument uses the homology cobordism invariant $\Gamma$ from instanton Floer…

We formulate a concrete geometric approximation hypothesis (Hypothesis~BB) asserting that codimension-$2$ Hodge classes on a smooth projective threefold can be realized as specializations of families whose general members are…

We show that the pre-order defined on the category of contact manifolds by arbitrary symplectic cobordisms is considerably less rigid than its counterparts for exact or Stein cobordisms: in particular, we exhibit large new classes of…

We prove that the mapping class group of a surface obtained from removing a Cantor set from either the 2-sphere, the plane, or the interior of the closed 2-disk has no proper countable-index subgroups. The proof is an application of the…

Let $M$ be a simple 3-manifold, and $F$ be a component of $\partial M$ of genus at least 2. Let $\alpha$ and $\beta$ be separating slopes on $F$. Let $M(\alpha)$ (resp. $M(\beta)$) be the manifold obtained by adding a 2-handle along…

The mapping class group of a Heegaard splitting is the group of connected components in the set of automorphisms of the ambient manifold that map the Heegaard surface onto itself. For the genus three Heegaard splitting of the 3-torus, we…

The mapping class group of a non-exceptional oriented surface of finite type admits a biautomatic structure.

When $S$ is a closed, orientable surface with genus $g(S) \geq 2$, we show that the automorphism group of the compression body graph $\mathcal{CB}(S)$ is the mapping class group. Here, vertices are compression bodies with exterior boundary…

Let G be a group acting on the plane by orientation-preserving homeomorphisms. We show that if for some k>0 there is a ball of radius r > k/\sqrt{3} such that each point x in the ball satisfies |gx -hx| < k for all g, h in G, and the action…

We analyze the mapping class group of extendible automorphisms of the exterior boundary W of a compression body of dimension 3 or 4, which extend over the compression body (Q,V), where V is the interior boundary. Those that extend as…

Let $S_{g,1,p}$ be an orientable surface of genus $g$ with one boundary component and $p$ punctures. Let $\mathcal{M}_{g,1,p}$ be the mapping-class group of $S_{g,1,p}$ relative to the boundary. We construct homomorphisms…