Related papers: Set theory, logic, and homeomorphism groups of man…

For every compact, connected manifold $M$, we prove the existence of a sentence $\phi_M$ in the language of groups such that the homeomorphism group of another compact manifold $N$ satisfies $\phi_M$ if and only if $N$ is homeomorphic to…

We show that the first order theory of the homeomorphism group of a compact manifold interprets the full second order theory of countable groups of homeomorphisms of the manifold. The interpretation is uniform across manifolds of bounded…

This is a draft of a book submitted for publication by the AMS. Its theme is the remarkable interplay, accelerating in the last few decades, between topology and the theory of orderable groups, with applications in both directions. It…

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…

Let $M$ be a locally symmetric irreducible closed manifold of dimension $\ge 3$. A result of Borel [Bo] combined with Mostow rigidity imply that there exists a finite group $G = G(M)$ such that any finite subgroup of $\text{Homeo}^+(M)$ is…

We study groups of homeomorphisms of R, each of whose elements have at most one fixed point. In particular we prove that any such group of C^2 diffeomorphisms is topologically conjugate to an affine group.

We extend the proof of automatic continuity for homeomorphism groups of manifolds to non-compact manifolds and manifolds with marked points and their mapping class groups. Specifically, we show that, for any manifold $M$ homeomorphic to the…

Let $M$ be a compact, connected manifold of positive dimension and let $\mathcal G\leq\textrm{Homeo}(M)$ be \emph{locally approximating} in the sense that for all open $U\subseteq M$ compactly contained in a single Euclidean chart of $M$,…

In a non-compact setting, the notion of hyperbolicity, and the associated structure of stable and unstable manifolds (for unbounded orbits), is highly dependent on the choice of metric used to define it. We consider the simplest version of…

The main theorem shows that if M is an irreducible compact connected orientable 3-manifold with non-empty boundary, then the classifying space BDiff(M rel dM) of the space of diffeomorphisms of M which restrict to the identity map on…

We prove a topological rigidity result for simple, thick, hyperbolic P-manifolds of dimension 2: isomorphism of the fundamental groups implies homeomorphism of the P-manifolds. An immediate application is a diagram rigidity theorem for…

Predicate logic is the premier choice for specifying classes of relational structures. Homomorphisms are key to describing correspondences between relational structures. Questions concerning the interdependencies between these two means of…

We consider classification problems for manifolds and discrete subgroups of Lie groups from a descriptive set-theoretic point of view. This work is largely foundational in conception and character, recording both a framework for general…

To each complex composition algebra $\mathbb{A}$, there associates a projective symmetric manifold $X(\mathbb{A})$ of Picard number one, which is just a smooth hyperplane section of the following varieties ${\rm Lag}(3,6), {\rm Gr}(3,6),…

We prove that a topological homeomorphism conjugating two generic 1-parameter unfoldings of 1-variable complex analytic resonant diffeomorphisms is holomorphic or anti-holomorphic by restriction to the unperturbed parameter. We provide…

We construct uncountably many simply connected open 3-manifolds with genus one ends homeomorphic to the Cantor set. Each constructed manifold has the property that any self homeomorphism of the manifold (which necessarily extends to a…

We show that the topology of pointwise convergence on scattered spaces is compatible with the group structure of their homeomorphism group. We then establish a few topological properties of the homeomorphism group of the first uncountable…

A family of closed manifolds is called cohomologically rigid if a cohomology ring isomorphism implies a diffeomorphism for any two manifolds in the family. We establish cohomological rigidity for large families of 3-dimensional and…

Following the argument for diffeomorphisms by Galatius and Randal-Williams, we prove that homeomorphisms of 1-connected manifolds of even dimension at least 6 exhibit homological stability. We deduce similar results for PL homeomorphisms…

A generalized-homology bordism-theory is constructed, such that for certain manifold homotopy stratified sets (MHSS; Quinn-spaces) homeomorphism-invariant geometric fundamental-classes exist. The construction combines three ideas: Firstly,…