Related papers: The van Kampen obstruction and its relatives

The trace of $n$-framed surgery on a knot in $S^3$ is a 4-manifold homotopy equivalent to the 2-sphere. We characterise when a generator of the second homotopy group of such a manifold can be realised by a locally flat embedded 2-sphere…

We work in the smooth category. Let $N$ be a closed connected orientable 4-manifold with torsion free $H_1$, where $H_q:=H_q(N;Z)$. Our main result is a complete readily calculable classification of embeddings $N\to R^7$, up to the…

We give examples of finite, simplicial $2$-complexes that do not PL embed in $\mathbb{R}^4$ and exhibit, for each such complex, a family of PL immersions into $\mathbb{R}^4$ that hide the obstruction to embedding in "higher and higher order…

We determine the combinatorial types of all the 3-dimensional simple convex polytopes in R^3 that can be realized as mean curvature convex (or totally geodesic) Riemannian polyhedra with non-obtuse dihedral angles in Riemannian 3-manifolds…

Using an obstruction based on Donaldson's theorem on the intersection forms of definite 4-manifolds, we determine which connected sums of lens spaces smoothly embed in S^4. We also find constraints on the Seifert invariants of Seifert…

In the theory of combinatorial algebras, there is a sequence of embeddings between Kleene's second model, van Oosten's model, and Scott's graph model. We prove that none of these embeddings can be reversed. We also prove nonembedding…

We show that the Vassiliev invariants of orders $\leq n$ of a knot K, are obstructions to finding a regular Seifert surface, S, whose complement looks "simple" (e.g. like the complement of a disc) to the lower central series of its…

We provide a calculus for the presentation of closed 3-manifolds via nullhomotopic filling Dehn spheres and we use it to define an invariant of closed 3-manifolds by applying the state-sum machinery. As a potential application of this…

This paper studies smooth obstructions to integrability and proves two main results. First, it is shown that if a smooth topological n-torus admits a real-analytically completely integrable convex hamiltonian on its cotangent bundle, then…

Motivated by topological Tverberg-type problems and by classical results about embeddings (maps without double points), we study the question whether a finite simplicial complex K can be mapped into R^d without triple, quadruple, or, more…

We construct degenerations of Mukai varieties and linear sections thereof to special unobstructed Fano Stanley-Reisner schemes corresponding to convex deltahedra. This can be used to find toric degenerations of rank one index one Fano…

Let M be a (possibly non-orientable) compact 3-manifold with (possibly empty) boundary consisting of tori and Klein bottles. Let $X\subset\partial M$ be a trivalent graph such that $\partial M\setminus X$ is a union of one disc for each…

The ``complex Plateau problem'' (or boundary problem) in a complexe manifold X is the problem of characterizing the real submanifolds $\Gamma$ of X which are boundaries of analytic sub-varieties of $X \backslash \Gamma$. Our principal…

This paper introduces modern geometric combinatorial technology from the theory of triangulations in order to derive results in toric symplectic geometry. In the main part of the paper we prove a number of properties of the space…

Let M be a 2n-dimensional Kahler manifold deformation equivalent to the Hilbert scheme of length n subschemes of a K3 surface S. Let Mon be the group of automorphisms of the cohomology ring of M, which are induced by monodromy operators.…

We develop homological techniques for finding explicit combinatorial expressions of finite-type cohomology classes of spaces of knots in $R^n, n \ge 3,$ generalizing Polyak--Viro formulas for invariants (i.e. 0-dimensional cohomology…

Let $M$ be a submanifold of ${\Bbb P}^N$ of dimension $n>2$. Suppose that $(M,{\Cal O}_M(1))\cong{\Bbb P}({\Cal E}),{\Cal O}(1))$ for some vector bundle ${\Cal E}$ on a surface $S$. Then $N\ge 2n-1$ by Barth-Lefschetz Theorem. We are…

This paper studies the existence of $2$-torsion in instanton Floer homology with $\mathbb{Z}$ coefficients for closed $3$-manifolds and singular knots. First, we show that the non-existence of $2$-torsion in the framed instanton Floer…

A complex manifold $X$ of dimension $n$ together with an ample vector bundle $E$ on it will be called a {\sf generalized polarized variety}. The adjoint bundle of the pair $(X,E)$ is the line bundle $K_X + det(E)$. We study the positivity…

We show that every orthogonal polyhedron homeomorphic to a sphere can be unfolded without overlap while using only polynomially many (orthogonal) cuts. By contrast, the best previous such result used exponentially many cuts. More precisely,…