Related papers: Extending homeomorphisms from 2-punctured surfaces…
In this paper, we describe the relation between the study of closed connected surfaces embedded in $S^3$ and the theory of handlebody-knots. By Fox's theorem, a pair of handlebody-knots is associated to a closed connected surface embedded…
Fix a finite group $G$ and a conjugacy invariant subset $C\subseteq G$. Let $\Sigma$ be an oriented surface, possibly with punctures. We consider the question of when two homomorphisms $\pi_1(\Sigma) \to G$ taking punctures into $C$ are…
The space of n-sided polygons embedded in three-space consists of a smooth manifold in which points correspond to piecewise linear or ``geometric'' knots, while paths correspond to isotopies which preserve the geometric structure of these…
We construct a family $\{\Phi_t\}_{t\in[0,1]}$ of homeomorphisms of the two-torus isotopic to the identity, for which all of the rotation sets $\rho(\Phi_t)$ can be described explicitly. We analyze the bifurcations and typical behavior of…
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…
The mapping class group of an orientable surface, which records its symmetries up to isotopy, plays a central role in low-dimensional topology. This chapter explores the foundational problem of determining minimal generating sets for these…
We study the space of oriented genus g subsurfaces of a fixed manifold M, and in particular its homological properties. We construct a "scanning map" which compares this space to the space of sections of a certain fibre bundle over M…
We construct an infinite family of hyperbolic, homologically thin knots that are not quasi-alternating. To establish the latter, we argue that the branched double-cover of each knot in the family does not bound a negative definite…
Let $G$ be the fundamental group of the complement of the torus knot of type $(m,n)$. This has a presentation $G=<x,y|x^m=y^n>$. We find the geometric description of the character variety $X(G)$ of characters of representations of $G$ into…
We show that there is a type-preserving homomorphism from the fundamental group of the figure-eight knot complement to the mapping class group of the thrice-punctured torus. As a corollary, we obtain infinitely many commensurability classes…
We decompose linear $\mathrm{G}_2$-structure in canonical ways adapted to 3-dimensional subspaces, in terms of certain natural 1-forms and definite triple of 2-forms, and apply the decompositions to the study of $\mathrm{G}_2$-structure…
We construct a hyperbolic 3-manifold $M$ (with $\partial M$ totally geodesic) which contains no essential closed surfaces, but for any even integer $g> 0$ there are infinitely many separating slopes $r$ on $\partial M$ so that $M[r]$, the…
Let $F$ be a non-singular foliation on the plane with all leaves being closed subsets, $H^{+}(F)$ be the group of homeomorphisms of the plane which maps leaves onto leaves endowed with compact open topology, and $H^{+}_{0}(F)$ be the…
Let F be a closed orientable surface. If i,i':F \to R^3 are two regularly homotopic generic immersions, then it has been shown in [N] that all generic regular homotopies between i and i' have the same number mod 2 of quadruple points. We…
Let $G$ be a compact Lie group. (Compact) topological $G$-manifolds have the $G$-homotopy type of (finite-dimensional) countable $G$-CW complexes (2.5). This partly generalizes Elfving's theorem for locally linear $G$-manifolds [Elf96],…
For two generator free Fuchsian groups, the quotient three manifold is a genus two solid handlebody and its boundary is a hyperelliptic Riemann surface. The convex core is also a hyperelliptic Riemann surface. We find the Weierstrass points…
We prove a Markov theorem for tame links in a connected closed orientable 3-manifold $M$ with respect to a plat-like representation. More precisely, given a genus $g$ Heegaard surface $\Sigma_g$ for $M$ we represent each link in $M$ as the…
Let $S_{g,1,p}$ be an orientable surface of genus $g$ with one boundary component and $p$ punctures. Let $\mathcal{M}_{g,1,p}$ be the mapping-class group of $S_{g,1,p}$ relative to the boundary. We construct homomorphisms…
Given any genus-two, hyperbolic, fibered knot in $S^3$ with nonzero fractional Dehn twist coefficient, we show that its pseudo-Anosov representative has a fixed point. Combined with recent work of Baldwin--Hu--Sivek, this proves that knot…
For every integer g, we construct a 2-solvable and 2-bipolar knot whose topological 4-genus is greater than g. Note that 2-solvable knots are in particular algebraically slice and have vanishing Casson-Gordon obstructions. Similarly all…