Related papers: Deep and shallow slice knots in 4-manifolds

For a 4-manifold represented by a framed knot in $S^3$, it has been well known that the 4-manifold admits a Stein structure if the framing is less than the maximal Thurston-Bennequin number of the knot. In this paper, we prove either the…

We consider intrinsic linking and knotting in the context of directed graphs. We construct an example of a directed graph that contains a consistently oriented knotted cycle in every embedding. We also construct examples of intrinsically…

We show that if C is a simple closed curve bounding an embedded disk in a closed 3-manifold M, then there exists a disk D in M with boundary C such that D minimizes the area among the embedded disks with boundary C. Moreover, D is smooth,…

We use the famous knot-theoretic consequence of Freedman's disc theorem---knots with trivial Alexander polynomial bound a locally-flat disc in the 4-ball---to prove the following generalization. The degree of the Alexander polynomial of a…

In this paper, we develop a lower bound for the double slice genus of a knot using Casson-Gordon invariants. As an application, we show that the double slice genus can be arbitrarily larger than twice the slice genus. As an analogue to the…

For a 3-manifold M and a subsurface $X$ of the boundary of M with empty or incompressible boundary we use surgery to identify a graph whose vertices are disks with boundary in X and which is quasi-isometrically embedded in the curve graph…

Finite-order invariants of knots in arbitrary 3-manifolds (including non-orientable ones) are constructed and studied by methods of the topology of discriminant sets. Obstructions to the integrability of admissible weight systems to…

We introduce a new technique for showing classical knots and links are not slice. As one application we resolve a long-standing question as to whether certain natural families of knots contain topologically slice knots. We also present a…

We construct divide knots with arbitrary smooth four-genus but topological four-genus equal to one. In particular, for strongly quasipositive fibred knots, the ratio between the topological and the smooth four-genus can be arbitrarily close…

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…

There are 352.2 million prime knots in the 3-sphere with at most 19 crossings. We study which of these knots are slice, in both the smooth and topological categories. While no algorithm is known for deciding whether a given knot is slice in…

We consider a homology sphere $M_n(K_1,K_2)$ presented by two knots $K_1,K_2$ with linking number 1 and framing $(0,n)$. We call the manifold {\it Matsumoto's manifold}. We show that there exists no contractible bound of $M_n(T_{2,3},K_2)$…

We obtain new lower bounds of the minimal genus of a locally flat surface representing a 2-dimensional homology class in a topological 4-manifold with boundary, using the von Neumann-Cheeger-Gromov $\rho$-invariant. As an application our…

To a smooth, compact, oriented, properly-embedded surface in the $4$-ball, we define an invariant of its boundary-preserving isotopy class from the Khovanov homology of its boundary link. Previous work showed that when the boundary link is…

We prove that every smoothly embedded surface in a 4--manifold can be isotoped to be in bridge position with respect to a given trisection of the ambient 4--manifold; that is, after isotopy, the surface meets components of the trisection in…

Let $X$ be a real algebraic variety with set of complex points $X_{\mathbb C}$ and set of real points $X_{\mathbb R}$. A complex slice of $X$ is a transverse intersection of $X_{\mathbb R}$ with a complex subvariety $V$ of $X_{\mathbb C}$.…

We classify the positive definite intersection forms that arise from smooth 4-manifolds with torsion-free homology bounded by positive integer surgeries on the right-handed trefoil. A similar, slightly less complete classification is given…

Loi and Piergallini showed that a smooth compact, connected $4$-manifold $X$ with boundary admits a Stein structure if and only if $X$ is a simple branched cover of a $4$-disk $D^4$ branched along a positive braided surface $S$ in a bidisk…

As proved by Hedden and Ording, there exist knots for which the Ozsvath-Szabo and Rasmussen smooth concordance invariants, tau and s, differ. The Hedden-Ording examples have nontrivial Alexander polynomials and are not topologically slice.…

We construct a compact, contractible 4-manifold $C$, an infinite-order self-diffeomorphism $f$ of its boundary, and a smooth embedding of $C$ into a closed, simply connected 4-manifold $X$, such that the manifolds obtained by cutting $C$…