Related papers: On the mapping class groups of simply-connected sm…

For $(\mathbb{C} P^2 \# 5{\overline {\mathbb{C} P^2}},\omega)$, let $N_{\omega}$ be the number of $(-2)$-symplectic spherical homology classes.We completely determine the Torelli symplectic mapping class group (Torelli SMCG): the Torelli…

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…

It is well known that Sullivan showed that the mapping class group of a simply connected high-dimensional manifold is commensurable with an arithmetic group, but the meaning of "commensurable" in this statement seems to be less well known.…

We prove that in dimensions not equal to 4, 5, or 7, the homology and homotopy groups of the classifying space of the topological group of diffeomorphisms of a disk fixing the boundary are finitely generated in each degree. The proof uses…

Mapping-class groups of 3-manifolds feature as symmetry groups in canonical quantum gravity. They are an obvious source through which topological information could be transmitted into the quantum theory. If treated as gauge symmetries,…

The requirement of ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetry for M-theory backgrounds of the form of a warped product ${\cal M}\times_{w}X$, where $X$ is an eight-manifold and ${\cal M}$ is three-dimensional Minkowski or AdS space, implies the existence…

For each integer $n$ we construct a simply connected $4$-manifold $X$ admitting a smoothly embedded surface $\Sigma$ of self intersection number $n$ such that the complement of the surface has non-trivial fundamental group. This answers a…

We describe the subgroup of the mapping class group of a hypersurface in $\mathbb{CP}^4$ consisting of those diffeomorphisms which can be realised by monodromy.

This article grew out of an effort to understand the smooth mapping class groups of certain 4-manifolds in a geometric manner. We prove a smooth analog of the Birman-Hilden theorem for manifolds that admit a hyperk\"ahler structure. This…

Let $X$ be a closed oriented connected topological manifold of dimension $n\geq 5$. The structure group of $X$ is the abelian group of equivalence classes of all pairs $(f, M)$ such that $M$ is a closed oriented manifold and $f\colon M \to…

We construct infinite families of topologically isotopic but smoothly distinct knotted spheres in many simply connected 4-manifolds that become smoothly isotopic after stabilizing by connected summing with $S^2 \times S^2$, and as a…

We consider the Lie group of smooth diffeomorphisms Diff$(M)$ of a simple polytope $M$ in the euclidean space. Simple polytopes are special cases of manifolds with corners. The geometric setting allows to study in particular, the subgroup…

Special generic maps are smooth maps at each singular point of which we can represent as $(x_1, \cdots, x_m) \mapsto (x_1,\cdots,x_{n-1},\sum_{k=n}^{m}{x_k}^2)$ for suitable coordinates. Morse functions with exactly two singular points on…

In this paper, we give presentations of the mapping class groups of marked surfaces stabilizing boundaries for any genus. Note that in the existing works, the mapping class groups of marked surfaces were the isotopy classes of…

The paper studies how to extend local calibration pairs to global ones in various situations. As a result, new discoveries involving mass-minimizing properties are exhibited. In particular, we show that a $\mathbb R$-homologically…

We construct, for $m\geq 6$ and $2n\leq m$, closed manifolds $M^{m}$ with finite nonzero $\varphi(M^{m},S^{n}$), where $\varphi(M,N)$ denotes the minimum number of critical points of a smooth map $M\to N$. We also give some explicit…

The purpose of this article is twofold. First we outline a general construction scheme for producing simply-connected minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with small Euler characteristics. Using this scheme, we illustrate how to obtain…

We show that the smooth $4$-manifold $M$ obtained by attaching a $2$-handle to $B^4$ along a certain knot $K\subset \partial B^4$ admits infinitely many absolutely exotic copies $M_n$, $n=0,1,2..$, such that each copy $M_n$ is obtained by…

Finite presentations for the mapping class group M(F) are known for arbitrary orientable compact surface F. If F is non-orientable, then such presentations are known only when F has genus at most 3 and few boundary components. In this paper…

We prove that the mapping class group $\mathcal{M}(N_g)$ of a closed nonorientable surface of genus $g$ different than 4 is generated by three torsion elements. Moreover, for every even integer $k\ge 12$ and $g$ of the form $g=pk+2q(k-1)$…