Related papers: Algebraic Montgomery-Yang problem and smooth obstr…

The $N=2$ topological Yang-Mills and holomorphic Yang-Mills theories on simply connected compact K\"{a}hler surfaces with $p_g\geq 1$ are reexamined. The $N=2$ symmetry is clarified in terms of a Dolbeault model of the equivariant…

This paper first generalises the Bogomolov-Tian-Todorov unobstructedness theorem to the case of Calabi-Yau threefolds with canonical singularities. The deformation space of such a Calabi-Yau threefold is no longer smooth, but the general…

In this paper we give a necessary combinatorial condition for a negative--definite plumbing tree to be suitable for rational blow--down, or to be the graph of a complex surface singularity which admits a rational homology disk smoothing.…

We present three large families of new examples of plumbed 3-manifolds that bound rational homology 4-balls. These are constructed using two operations, also defined here, that preserve the lack of a lattice embedding obstruction to…

Let $X\subseteq \mathbb{P}^3$ be a smooth projective surface of degree $d\ge 4$ defined over a number field $K$, and let $N_{X^{\prime}}(B)$ be the number of rational points of $X$ of height at most $B$ that do not lie on lines contained in…

We show that all large enough positive integral surgeries on algebraic knots bound a 4-manifold with a negative definite plumbing tree, which we describe explicitly. Then we apply the lattice embedding obstruction coming from Donaldson's…

We consider spherically symmetric Yang-Mills equations with gauge group $SO(d)$ in $d+1$ dimensional Minkowski spacetime. For any given odd $d\geq 11$, we establish existence and uniqueness (modulo reflection symmetry) of exactly $N$ smooth…

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…

In this paper we show that if the minimal good resolution graph of a normal surface singularity contains at least two nodes (i.e. vertex with valency at least 3) then the singularity does not admit a smoothing with Milnor fiber having…

We classify the possible elementary amenable fundamental groups of compact aspherical 4-manifolds with boundary and conclude that they are either polycyclic or solvable Baumslag- Solitar. Since these groups are good and satisfy the…

Koll\'ar's conjecture states that a complex projective surface $S$ with quotient singularities and with $H^2(S,\bbQ)\cong \bbQ$ should be rational if its smooth part $S^0$ is simply connected. We confirm the conjecture under the additional…

Using instanton Floer theory, extending methods due to Froyshov, we determine the definite lattices that arise from smooth 4-manifolds bounded by certain homology 3-spheres. For example, we show that for +1 surgery on the (2,5) torus knot,…

We construct nearly topological Yang-Mills theories on eight dimensional manifolds with a special holonomy group. These manifolds are the Joyce manifold with $Spin(7)$ holonomy and the Calabi-Yau manifold with SU(4) holonomy. An invariant…

We exhibit infinitely many, explicit special Lagrangian isolated singularities that admit no asymptotically conical special Lagrangian smoothings. The existence/ nonexistence of such smoothings is an important component of the current…

We show that any closed oriented 3-manifold can be topologically embedded in some simply-connected closed symplectic 4-manifold, and that it can be made a smooth embedding after one stabilization. As a corollary of the proof we show that…

Let $Y$ be the complement of a plane quartic curve $D$ defined over a number field. Our main theorem confirms the Lang-Vojta conjecture for $Y$ when $D$ is a generic smooth quartic curve, by showing that its integral points are confined in…

The rational blowdown operation in 4-manifold topology replaces a neighborhood of a configuration of spheres by a rational homology ball. Such configurations typically arise from resolutions of surface singularities that admit rational…

It has become obvious that certain singular phenomena cannot be explained by a mere investigation of the configuration space, defined as the solution set of the loop closure equations. For example, it was observed that a particular 6R…

We study supersolvable line arrangements in ${\mathbb P}^2$ over the reals and over the complex numbers, as the first step toward a combinatorial classification. Our main results show that a nontrivial (i.e., not a pencil or near pencil)…

The relationship between convex geometry and algebraic geometry has deep historical roots, tracing back to classical works in enumerative geometry. In this paper, we continue this theme by studying two interconnected problems regarding…