Related papers: Realization problems for diffeomorphism groups

There are a least uncountably many diffeomorphism types for open manifolds. Hence the classification problem is extremely difficult. We proceed as follows: We define several uniform structures of proper metric spaces and consider their arc…

Given a finite subgroup G of the mapping class group of a surface S, the Nielsen realization problem asks whether G can be realized as a finite group of homeomorphisms of S. In 1983, Kerckhoff showed that for S a finite-type surface, any…

The automorphism groups of certain factorial complex affine threefolds admitting locally trivial actions of the additive group are determined. As a consequence new counterexamples to a generalized cancellation problem are obtained.

We study dismantling properties of the arc, disc and sphere graphs. We prove that any finite subgroup H of the mapping class group of a surface with punctures, the handlebody group, or Out(F_n) fixes a filling (resp. simple) clique in the…

Comparing and recognizing metrics can be extraordinarily difficult because of the group of diffeomorphisms. Two metrics, that could even be the same, could look completely different in different coordinates. This is the gauge problem. The…

There are many open problems and some mysteries connected to the realizations of the associahedra as convex polytopes. In this note, we describe three -- concerning special realizations with the vertices on a sphere, the space of all…

Which groups can occur as the group of units in a ring? Such groups are called realizable. Though the realizable members of several classes of groups have been determined (e.g., cyclic, odd order, alternating, symmetric, finite simple,…

This is partly a survey and partly a research article. Some known results and open problems about Kaehler groups (fundamental groups of compact Kaehler manifolds) are discussed. A new notion of Kaehler homomorphism is introduced. This is a…

For r at least 3, p at least 2, we classify all actions of the groups Diff^r_c(R) and Diff^r_+(S1) by C^p -diffeomorphisms on the line and on the circle. This is the same as describing all nontrivial group homomorphisms between groups of…

We prove:(1) the existence, for every integer n > 3, of a noncompact smooth n-dimensional topological manifold whose diffeomorphism group contains an isomorphic copy of every finitely presented group; (2) a finiteness theorem on finite…

We investigate the group of large diffeomorphisms fixing a frame at a point for general closed 3-manifolds. We derive some general structural properties of these groups which relate to the picture of the manifold as being composed of…

A venerable problem in combinatorics and geometry asks whether a given incidence relation may be realized by a configuration of points and lines. The classic version of this would ask for algebraic lines over some field or possibly real…

We consider the problem of whether, for a given virtually torsionfree discrete group $\Gamma$, there exists a cocompact proper topological $\Gamma$-manifold, which is equivariantly homotopy equivalent to the classifying space for proper…

We will show the following three theorems on the diffeomorphism and homeomorphism groups of a $K3$ surface. The first theorem is that the natural map $\pi_{0}(Diff(K3)) \to Aut(H^{2}(K3;\mathbb{Z}))$ has a section over its image. The second…

Some groups of real analytic diffeomorphism act n-transitively for each finite n.

We survey the status of some decision problems for 3-manifolds and their fundamental groups. This includes the classical decision problems for finitely presented groups (Word Problem, Conjugacy Problem, Isomorphism Problem), and also the…

We prove that, for a closed oriented smooth spin 4-manifold $X$ with non-zero signature, the Dehn twist about a $(+2)$- or $(-2)$-sphere in $X$ is not homotopic to any finite order diffeomorphism. In particular, we negatively answer the…

Let $X$ be a smooth, compact, oriented $4$-manifold. Building upon work of Li-Liu, Ruberman, Nakamura and Konno, we consider a families version of Seiberg-Witten theory and obtain obstructions to the existence of certain group actions on…

Given a diagram of Pi-algebras (graded groups equipped with an action of the primary homotopy operations), we ask whether it can be realized as the homotopy groups of a diagram of spaces. The answer given here is in the form of an…

We discuss a number of open problems about mapping class groups of surfaces. In particular, we discuss problems related to linearity, congruence subgroups, cohomology, pseudo-Anosov stretch factors, Torelli subgroups, and normal subgroups.