Related papers: Nielsen realization in dimension four and projecti…
In previous work we constructed twisted representations of mapping class groups of surfaces, depending on a choice of representation $V$ of the Heisenberg group $\mathcal{H}$. For certain $V$ we were able to untwist these mapping class…
In this paper we continue to study (`strong') Nielsen coincidence numbers (which were introduced recently for pairs of maps between manifolds of arbitrary dimensions) and the corresponding minimum numbers of coincidence points and…
It is shown that there are infinitely many compact orientable smooth 4-manifolds which do not admit Einstein metrics, but nevertheless satisfy the strict Hitchin-Thorpe inequality 2 chi > 3 |tau|. The examples in question arise as…
Four observations compose the main results of this note. The first records the existence of a smoothly embedded 2-sphere $S$ inside $\mathbb{R} P^2\times S^2$ such that performing a Gluck twist on $S$ produces a manifold $Y$ that is…
We discuss coincidences of pairs (f_1, f_2) of maps between manifolds. We recall briefly the definition of four types of Nielsen numbers which arise naturally from the geometry of generic coincidences. They are lower bounds for the minimum…
The symplectic cone of a closed oriented 4-manifold is the set of cohomology classes represented by symplectic forms. A well-known conjecture describes this cone for every minimal Kaehler surface. We consider the case of the elliptic…
We construct infinitely many smooth 4-manifolds which are homotopy equivalent to $S^2$ but do not admit a spine, i.e., a piecewise-linear embedding of $S^2$ which realizes the homotopy equivalence. This is the remaining case in the…
We continue to develop an obstruction theory for embedding 2-spheres into 4-manifolds in terms of Whitney towers. The proposed intersection invariants take values in certain graded abelian groups generated by labelled trivalent trees, and…
This article presents the constructions of new infinite families of smooth 4-manifolds with the property that any two manifolds in the same family are homeomorphic and, from their construction, seem to be quite different, but cannot be…
Some generalizations and variations of the Fintushel-Stern rim surgery are known to produce smoothly knotted surfaces. We show that if the fundamental groups of their complements are cyclic, then these surfaces are topologically unknotted.…
We construct smooth manifolds with order two $\pi_1$ and even intersection forms which are irreducible, meaning they do not decompose into non-trivial connected sums. Their intersection forms being even implies that their universal covers…
In this paper we show that given any 3-manifold N and any non-fibered class in H^1(N;Z) there exists a representation such that the corresponding twisted Alexander polynomial is zero. This is obtained by extending earlier work of the…
We study the monodromy diffeomorphism of Milnor fibrations of isolated complex surface singularities, by computing the family Seiberg--Witten invariant of Seifert-fibered Dehn twists using recent advances in monopole Floer homology. More…
We construct an invariant of closed ${\rm spin}^c$ 4-manifolds using families of Seiberg-Witten equations. This invariant is formulated as a cohomology class on a certain abstract simplicial complex consisting of embedded surfaces of a…
We prove that for every natural number k there are simply connected topological four-manifolds which have at leat k distinct smooth structures supporting Einstein metrics, and also have infinitely many distinct smooth structures not…
We construct examples in any odd dimension of contact manifolds with finite and non-zero algebraic torsion (in the sense of Latschev-Wendl), which are therefore tight and do not admit strong symplectic fillings. We prove that Giroux torsion…
We develop a theory of link projections to trivalent spines of 3-manifolds. We prove a Reidemeister Theorem providing a set of combinatorial moves sufficient to relate the projections of isotopic links. We also show that any link admits a…
Following McDuff and Tolman's work on toric manifolds [McDT06], we focus on 4-dimensional NEF toric manifolds and we show that even though Seidel's elements consist of infinitely many contributions, they can be expressed by closed formulas.…
An obstruction theory for representing homotopy classes of surfaces in 4-manifolds by immersions with pairwise disjoint images is developed, using the theory of non-repeating Whitney towers. The accompanying higher-order intersection…
We present a method to construct irreducible symplectic varieties by studying terminalisations of quotient of hyper-K\"ahler manifolds by non-natural group actions. In particular, we construct irreducible symplectic varieties of dimension…