Related papers: Multiple genus 2 Heegaard splittings: a missed cas…

A Heegaard splitting of an open 3-manifold is the partition of the manifold into two non-compact handlebodies which intersect on their common boundary. This paper proves several non-compact analogues of theorems about compact Heegaard…

An updated proof of a 1933 theorem of Goeritz, exhibiting a finite set of generators for the group of automorphisms of the 3-sphere that preserve a genus two Heegaard splitting. The group is analyzed via its action on a certain connected…

For each g greater than one there is a 3-manifold with two genus g Heegaard splittings that require g stabilizations to become equivalent. Previously known examples required at most one stabilization. Control of families of Heegaard…

This paper generalizes the definition of a Heegaard splitting to unify Scharlemann and Thomspon's concept of thin position for 3-manifolds, Gabai's thin position for knots, and Rubinstein's almost normal surface theory. This gives…

Let two Heegaard splittings $V_1 \cup W_1$ and $V_2 \cup W_2$ of a 3-manifold $M$ be given. We consider the union stabilization $M=V \cup W$ which is a common stabilization of $V_1 \cup W_1$ and $V_2 \cup W_2$ having the property that…

We construct a sequence of pairs of 3-manifolds each with torus boundary and with the following two properties: 1) For the result of a carefully chosen glueing of the nth pair of 3-manifolds along their boundary tori, the ratio of the genus…

We describe for each postive integer $k$ a 3-manifold with Heegaard surfaces of genus $2k$ and $2k-1$ such that any common stabilization of these two surfaces has genus at least $3k-1$. We also show that for every positive $n$, there is a…

Kevin Hartshorn showed that if a three-dimensional manifold $M$ admits a Heegaard surface $\Sigma$ with Hempel distance $d$ then every incompressible surface in $M$ has genus at least $\frac{d}{2}$. Scharlemann-Tomova generalized this,…

We show that if the Hempel distance of a Heegaard splitting is larger than three then the mapping class group of the Heegaard splitting is isomorphic to a subgroup of the mapping class group of the ambient 3-manifold. This implies that…

This paper has been withdrawn by the author, as the proof of Theorem 3.2 contains a flaw; subsequently, both it and Theorem 3.3 are not known to hold. The content of Section 5 has been improved and expanded upon in two separate papers. The…

Let $(M,g)$ be a closed oriented Riemannian $3$-manifold and suppose that there is a strongly irreducible Heegaard splitting $H$. We prove that $H$ is either isotopic to a minimal surface of index at most one or isotopic to the stable…

We show that sub-surfaces of a Heegaard surface for which the relative Hempel distance of the splitting is sufficiently high have to appear in any Heegaard surface of genus bounded by half that distance.

These are problems on Heegaard splittings, that were raised at the Workshop, listed according to their contributors: David Bachman, Mario Eudave-Munoz, John Hempel, Tao Li, Yair Minsky, Yoav Moriah and Richard Weidmann. On pages 285-298 of…

In this paper, we introduce a new concept of {\it strongly keen} for Heegaard splittings, and show that, for any integers $n\geq 2$ and $g\geq 3$, there exists a strongly keen Heegaard splitting of genus $g$ whose Hempel distance is $n$.

We introduce a new technique for finding lower bounds on the Heegaard genus of a 3-manifold obtained by gluing a pair of 3-manifolds together along an incompressible torus or annulus. We deduce a number of inequalities, including one which…

We give a new elementary proof of the parallelizability of closed orientable 3-manifolds. We use as the main tool the fact that any such manifold admits a Heegaard splitting.

We give a proof of the so-called generalized Waldhausen conjecture, which says that an orientable irreducible atoroidal 3-manifold has only finitely many Heegaard splittings in each genus, up to isotopy. Jaco and Rubinstein have announced a…

Let M be a closed 3-manifold with a given Heegaard splitting. We show that after a single stabilization, some core of the stabilized splitting has arbitrarily high distance with respect to the splitting surface. This generalizes a result of…

We give a new perspective of Heegaard splittings in terms square complexes and Guirardel's notion of a \textit{core} which allows for combinatorial measurement of the obstruction to being a connect sum of Heegaard diagrams. A Heegaard…

Let $P, Q$ be Heegaard surfaces of a closed orientable 3-manifold. In this paper, we introduce a method for giving an upper bound of Hempel distance of $P$ by using the Reeb graph derived from a certain horizontal arc in the ambient space…