Related papers: An algorithm for Seifert surfaces in 3-manifolds v…

We show that three natural decision problems about links and 3-manifolds are computationally hard, assuming some conjectures in complexity theory. The first problem is determining whether a link in the 3-sphere bounds a Seifert surface with…

We produce a rational homology 3-sphere that does not smoothly bound either a positive or negative definite 4-manifold. Such a 3-manifold necessarily cannot be rational homology cobordant to a Seifert fibered space or any 3-manifold…

In an earlier paper, we used the absolute grading on Heegaard Floer homology to give restrictions on knots in $S^3$ which admit lens space surgeries. The aim of the present article is to exhibit stronger restrictions on such knots, arising…

The Heegaard genus is a fundamental invariant of 3-manifolds. However, computing the Heegaard genus of a triangulated 3-manifold is NP-hard, and while algorithms exist, little work has been done in making such an algorithm efficient and…

We derive a cut-and-paste surgery formula of Seiberg--Witten invariants for negative definite plumbed rational homology 3-spheres. It is similar to (and motivated by) Okuma's recursion formula [arXiv:math.AG/0610464, 4.5] targeting analytic…

A periodic automorphism of a surface $\Sigma$ is said to be extendable over $S^3$ if it extends to a periodic automorphism of the pair $(S^3,\Sigma)$ for some possible embedding $\Sigma\to S^3$. We classify and construct all extendable…

We introduce a notion of symmetric Whitney tower cobordism between bordered 3-manifolds, aiming at the study of homology cobordism and link concordance. It is motivated by the symmetric Whitney tower approach to slicing knots and links…

In a recent article, the authors constructed a six-parameter family of highly connected 7-manifolds which admit an SO(3)-invariant metric of non-negative sectional curvature. Each member of this family is the total space of a Seifert…

For a given smooth $2$-knot in $S^4$, we relate the existence of a smooth Seifert hypersurface of a certain class to the existence of irreducible $ SU(2)$-representations of its knot group. For example, we see that any smooth $2$-knot…

By studying the example of smooth structures on CP^2#3(-CP^2) we illustrate how surgery on a single embedded nullhomologous torus can be utilized to change the symplectic structure, the Seiberg-Witten invariant, and hence the smooth…

We study framed links in irreducible 3-manifolds that are $Z$-homology 3-spheres or atoroidal $Q$-homology 3-spheres. We calculate the dual of the Kauffman skein module over the ring of two variable power series with complex coefficients.…

All knots in $R^3$ possess Seifert surfaces, and so the classical Thurston-Bennequin and rotation (or Maslov) invariants for Legendrian knots in a contact structure on $R^3$ can be defined. The definitions extend easily to null-homologous…

In a recent paper, {\it Algorithms for Deforming and Contracting Simply Connected Discrete Closed Manifolds (II)}, we discussed two algorithms for deforming and contracting a simply connected discrete closed manifold into a discrete sphere.…

Understanding non-Haken 3-manifolds is central to many current endeavors in 3-manifold topology. We describe some results for closed orientable surfaces in non-Haken manifolds, and extend Fox's theorem for submanifolds of the 3-sphere to…

Using the combinatorial approach to Heegaard Floer homology we obtain a relatively easy formula for computation of hat Heegaard Floer homology for the three-manifold obtained by rational surgery on a knot K inside a homology sphere Y.

In this paper, we study and almost completely classify contact structures on closed 3--manifolds which are totally geodesic for some Riemannian metric. Due to previously known results, this amounts to classifying contact structures on…

We classify the Seifert fibrations of any given lens space L(p,q). We give an algorithmic construction of a Seifert fibration of L(p,q) over the base orbifold S^2(m,n) with the coprime parts of m and n arbitrarily prescribed. This algorithm…

Let $M$ be a connected, closed, oriented three-manifold and $K$, $L$ two rationally null-homologous oriented simple closed curves in $M$. We give an explicit algorithm for computing the linking number between $K$ and $L$ in terms of a…

A real 3-manifold is a smooth 3-manifold together with an orientation preserving smooth involution, which is called a real structure. A real contact 3-manifold is a real 3-manifold with a contact distribution that is antisymmetric with…

A multiple group rack (MGR) is an algebraic system which is used to construct invariants of spatial surfaces, which are compact surfaces embedded in the $3$-sphere $S^{3}$. Seifert surfaces for links are spatial surfaces. In this paper, we…