Related papers: Twisted Alexander polynomials and symplectic struc…
We study when the Thurston norm is detected by twisted Alexander polynomials associated to representations of the 3-manifold group to SL(2, C). Specifically, we show that the hyperbolic torsion polynomial determines the genus for a large…
A topological condition is given, characterizing which closed manifolds in dimensions < 8 (and conjecturally in general) admit symplectic structures. The condition is the existence of a certain fibration-like structure called a hyperpencil.…
Suppose $K$ is a knot in a 3-manifold $Y$, and that $Y$ admits a pair of distinct contact structures. Assume that $K$ has Legendrian representatives in each of these contact structures, such that the corresponding Thurston-Bennequin…
We study knots in $\mathbb{S}^3$ obtained by the intersection of a minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with a small 3-sphere centered at a branch point. We construct examples of new minimal knots. In particular we show the existence of…
Let $(X,\omega)$ be a symplectic rational 4 manifold. We study the space of tamed almost complex structures $\mathcal{J}_{\omega}$ using a fine decomposition via smooth rational curves and a relative version of the infinite-dimensional…
The Milnor fibre of a $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein smoothing of a Wahl singularity is a rational homology ball $B_{p,q}$. For a canonically polarised surface of general type $X$, it is known that there are bounds on the number $p$ for which…
By analyzing the decategorification of bordered sutured Heegaard Floer homology, we reinterpret and generalize the classical Frohman-Nicas TQFT for the Alexander polynomial in the setting of 3d sutured cobordisms between sutured surfaces.…
Let $K$ be a tame knot embedded in $\mathbf{S}^3$. We address the problem of finding the minimal degree non-cyclic cover $p:X \rightarrow \mathbf{S}^3 \smallsetminus K$. When $K$ has non-trivial Alexander polynomial we construct finite…
We observe the twisted Alexander polynomial for metabelian representations of knot groups into SL(2,C) and study relations to the characterizations of metabelian representations in the character varieties. We give a factorization of the…
The Neumann--Zagier matrices of an ideal triangulation are integer matrices with symplectic properties whose entries encode the number of tetrahedra that wind around each edge of the triangulation. They can be used as input data for the…
In the early 1980's Mike Freedman showed that all knots with trivial Alexander polynomial are topologically slice (with fundamental group Z). This paper contains the first new examples of topologically slice knots. In fact, we give a…
We show that if $(X,g,J,\omega)$ is a K\"ahler manifold with an $SU(n+s)$-structure and a Hamiltonian holomorphic action of a compact torus $T^s$, then the usual symplectic quotient $Y$ inherits an $SU(n)$-structure provided the existence…
In this paper, we complete the classification of six-dimensional closed monotone symplectic manifolds admitting semifree Hamiltonian $S^1$-actions. We also show that every such manifold is $S^1$-equivariantly symplectomorphic to some…
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 present explicit infinite families of twisted torus knots that are not fibered. Our approach relies on an explicit formula for the Alexander polynomial derived in our previous work. We show that the leading coefficients of the Alexander…
A compact solvmanifold of completely solvable type, i.e. a compact quotient of a completely solvable Lie group by a lattice, has a K\"ahler structure if and only if it is a complex torus. We show more in general that a compact solvmanifold…
We show that the almost complex structure underlying a non-Kahler, nearly Kahler 6-manifold (in particular, the standard almost complex structure of S^6) cannot be compatible with any symplectic form, even locally.
The symplectic cone of a closed oriented 4-manifold is the set of cohomology classes represented by symplectic forms. A well-known conjecture describes this cone for every minimal Kaehler surface. We consider the case of the elliptic…
We consider circle bundles over compact three-manifolds with symplectic total spaces. We show that the base of such a space must be irreducible or the product of the two-sphere with the circle. We then deduce that such a bundle admits a…
We discuss a particular class of rational Gorenstein singularities, which we call symplectic. A normal variety V has symplectic singularities if its smooth part carries a closed symplectic 2-form whose pull-back in any resolution X --> V…