Related papers: On $5$-manifolds with free fundamental group and s…
Given a closed smooth manifold $M$ of even dimension $2n\ge6$ with finite fundamental group, we show that the classifying space ${\rm BDiff}(M)$ of the diffeomorphism group of $M$ is of finite type and has finitely generated homotopy groups…
A topological space is called self-covering if it is a nontrivial cover of itself. We prove that, under mild assumptions, a closed self-covering manifold with an abelian fundamental group fibers over a torus in various senses. As a…
We show that every $PD_3$-complex $P$ bounds a $PD_4$-pair $(Z,P)$. If $P$ is orientable we may assume that $\pi_1(Z)=1$. We show also that if $P$ has a manifold 1-skeleton then it is homotopy equivalent to a closed 3-manifold, and that if…
We show that mapping class groups associated to all types of real algebraic curves are virtual duality groups. We also deduce some results about the orbifold homotopy groups of the moduli spaces of real algebraic curves. We achieve these…
For each integer n\ge 2, we construct an irreducible, smooth, complex projective variety M of dimension n, whose fundamental group has infinitely generated homology in degree n+1 and whose universal cover is a Stein manifold, homotopy…
We show that a closed orientable Riemannian $n$-manifold, $n \ge 5$, with positive isotropic curvature and free fundamental group is homeomorphic to the connected sum of copies of $S^{n-1} \times S^1$.
Our main result is a generalization of Cappell's 5-dimensional splitting theorem. As an application, we analyze, up to internal s-cobordism, the smoothable splitting and fibering problems for certain 5-manifolds mapping to the circle. For…
We show that the category of abelian gerbes over a smooth manifold is equivalent to a certain category of principal bundles over the free loop space. These principal bundles are equipped with fusion products and are equivariant with respect…
We compute the rational stable homology of the automorphism groups of free nilpotent groups. These groups interpolate between the general linear groups over the ring of integers and the automorphism groups of free groups, and we employ…
We have been interested in understanding the class of 7-dimensional closed and simply-connected manifolds in geometric and constructive ways. We have constructed explicit fold maps, which are higher dimensional versions of Morse functions,…
Lei and Wu have given a description of the second homotopy group of a closed orientable 3-manifold in terms of the kernels of the epimorphisms from the fundamental group of a Heegaard splitting surface onto the fundamental groups of the two…
Let $M$ be a closed 4-manifold with $\pi_2(M)\cong{Z}$. Then $M$ is homotopy equivalent to either $CP^2$, or the total space of an orbifold bundle with general fibre $S^2$ over a 2-orbifold $B$, or the total space of an $RP^2$-bundle over…
We show that if $N$, an open connected $n$-manifold with finitely generated fundamental group, is $C^{2}$ foliated by closed planes, then $\pi_{1}(N)$ is a free group. This implies that if $\pi_{1}(N)$ has an Abelian subgroup of rank…
We use classical obstruction theory \`{a} la Eilenberg-Steenrod to obtain a homotopy classification of $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-structures on compact $8$-manifolds with abelian fundamental group. As an application, we show that a compact,…
We classify isometric immersions $f\colon M^{n}\to \mathbb{R}^{n+p}$, $n \geq 5$ and $2p \leq n$, with constant Moebius curvature and flat normal bundle.
We classify those compact 3-manifolds with incompressible toral boundary whose fundamental groups are residually free. For example, if such a manifold $M$ is prime and orientable and the fundamental group of $M$ is non-trivial then $M \cong…
Given a semisimple, compact, connected Lie group G with complexification G^c, we show there is a stable range in the homotopy type of the universal moduli space of flat connections on a principal G-bundle on a closed Riemann surface, and…
We show that an odd dimensional closed manifold with positive curvature cannot contain an incompressible real projective plane in the sense that there is no map of the projective plane into the manifold which is nontrivial on both first and…
We consider embeddings of 3-manifolds in $S^4$ such that each of the two complementary regions has an abelian fundamental group. In particular, we show that an homology handle $M$ has such an embedding if and only if $\pi_1(M)'$ is perfect,…
For a topological group $G$ let $E_{\textsf{com}}(G)$ be the total space of the universal transitionally commutative principal $G$-bundle as defined by Adem--Cohen--Torres-Giese. So far this space has been most studied in the case of…