Related papers: Witten's conjecture and Property P
By examining the homology groups of a 4-manifold associated to an integral surgery on a knot $K$ in a rational homology 3-sphere $Y$ yielding a rational homology 3-sphere $Y^*$ with surgery dual knot $K^*$, we show that the subgroups…
We call a knot in the 3-sphere $SU(2)$-simple if all representations of the fundamental group of its complement which map a meridian to a trace-free element in $SU(2)$ are binary dihedral. This is a generalisation of being a 2-bridge knot.…
For a knot $K$ in a homology $3$-sphere $\Sigma$, let $M$ be the result of $2/q$-surgery on $K$, and let $X$ be the universal abelian covering of $M$. Our first theorem is that if the first homology of $X$ is finite cyclic and $M$ is a…
Many three dimensional manifolds are two-fold branched covers of the three dimensional sphere. However, there are some that are not. This paper includes exposition about two-fold branched covers and many examples. It shows that there are…
We introduce defects, with internal gauge symmetries, on a knot and Seifert surface to a knot into the combinatorial construction of finite gauge-group Dijkgraaf-Witten theory. The appropriate initial data for the construction are certain…
We use instanton gauge theory to prove that if $Y$ is a closed, orientable $3$-manifold such that $H_1(Y;\mathbb{Z})$ is nontrivial and either $2$-torsion or $3$-torsion, and if $Y$ is neither $\#^r \mathbb{RP}^3$ for some $r\geq 1$ nor…
Using Taubes' periodic ends theorem, Auckly gave examples of toroidal and hyperbolic irreducible integer homology spheres which are not surgery on a knot in the three-sphere. We give an obstruction to a homology sphere being surgery on a…
We establish surgery formulas for filtration of the Heegaard Floer homology associated with p/q surgery on a null-homologous knot K in a three-manifold Y, induced by K_{p/q}. Here K_{p/q} is the core of the attached solid torus (which…
We show that there exist infinitely many pairs of distinct knots in the 3-sphere such that each pair can yield homeomorphic lens spaces by the same Dehn surgery. Moreover, each knot of the pair can be chosen to be a torus knot, a satellite…
Suppose Y is an integer homology 3-sphere, Taubes proved that the number of irreducible critical orbits of the perturbed Chern-Simons functional on Y, counted with signs, is equal to the algebraic intersection number of two character…
The Generalized Smale Conjecture asserts that if M is a closed 3-manifold with constant positive curvature, then the inclusion of the group of isometries into the group of diffeomorphisms is a homotopy equivalence. For the 3-sphere, this…
The cosmetic surgery conjecture is a longstanding conjecture in 3-manifold theory. We present a theorem about exceptional cosmetic surgery for homology spheres. Along the way we prove that if the surgery is not a small seifert…
Boyer, Gordon, and Watson have conjectured that an irreducible rational homology 3-sphere is an L-space if and only if its fundamental group is not left-orderable. Since large classes of L-spaces can be produced from Dehn surgery on knots…
Dunfield-Garoufalidis and Boyer-Zhang proved that the A-polynomial of a nontrivial knot in $S^{3}$ is nontrivial. In this paper, we use holonomy perturbations to prove the non-triviality of the A-polynomial for a nontrivial, null-homotopic…
A knot K in the 3-sphere is said to have Property nR if, whenever K is a component of an n-component link L and some integral surgery on L produces the connected sum of n copies of S^1 x S^2, there is a sequence of handle slides on L that…
We use the combinatorial techniques of graphs of intersection to study reducible Dehn surgeries on knots in the three-sphere. In particular, in the event that a reducible surgery on a knot K in the three-sphere of slope r produces a…
Given a spin rational homology sphere $Y$ equipped with a $\mathbb{Z}/m$-action preserving the spin structure, we use the Seiberg--Witten equations to define equivariant refinements of the invariant $\kappa(Y)$ from \cite{Man14}, which take…
This paper proves a theorem about Dehn surgery using a new theorem about PSL(2, C) character varieties. Confirming a conjecture of Boyer and Zhang, this paper shows that a small hyperbolic knot in a homotopy sphere having a non-trivial…
Associated to an embedded surface in the $3$-sphere, we construct a diagram of fundamental groups, and prove that it is a complete invariant, wherefrom we deduce complete invariants of handlebody links, tunnels of handlebody links, and…
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.…