We show that every smooth closed oriented four-manifold admits a decomposition into two co- dimension zero submanifolds with common boundary. Each of these submanifolds carries a structure of a symplectic manifold with pseudo-convex boundary.
This imply, in particular, that every smooth closed simply-connected four-manifold is a Stein domain in the the complement of a certain contractible 2-complex.
We show that a stabilized convex symplectic (also called Liouville) manifold with the homotopy type of a half dimensional CW-complex is symplectomorphic to a flexible Weinstein manifold.
It has been shown by V. Colin that every tight contact 3-manifold can be written as a connected sum of prime manifolds. Here we prove that the summands in this decomposition are unique up to order and contactomorphism.
Cooper and Long generalised Epstein and Penner's Euclidean cell decomposition of cusped hyperbolic manifolds of finite volume to non-compact strictly convex projective manifolds of finite volume. We show that Weeks' algorithm to compute this decomposition for a hyperbolic surface generalises to strictly convex projective surfaces.
We use convex decomposition theory to (1) reprove the existence of a universally tight contact structure on every irreducible 3-manifold with nonempty boundary, and (2) prove that every toroidal 3-manifold carries infinitely many nonisotopic, nonisomorphic tight contact structures.
In order to obtain a closed orientable convex projective four-manifold with small positive Euler characteristic, we build an explicit example of convex projective Dehn filling of a cusped hyperbolic four-manifold through a continuous path of projective cone-manifolds.
We show that open 3-manifolds that have a locally finite decomposition along 2-spheres are characterized by the existence of a Riemannian metric with respect to which the second homotopy group of the manifold is generated by small elements.
This study of properly or strictly convex real projective manifolds introduces notions of parabolic, horosphere and cusp. Results include a Margulis lemma and in the strictly convex case a thick-thin decomposition. Finite volume cusps are shown to be projectively equivalent to cusps of hyperbolic manifolds. This is proved using a characterization of ellipsoids in projective space. Except in dimension 3, there are only finitely many topological types of strictly convex manifolds with bounded volume. In dimension 4 and higher, the diameter of a closed strictly convex manifold is at most 9 times …
In this paper we show that a given set of lengths of closed geodesics, there are only finitely many convex cocompact hyperbolic 3-manifolds with that specified length spectrum, homotopy equivalent to a given 3-manifold without a handlebody factor, up to orientation preserving isometries.
Suppose $E$ is an end of an irreducible, properly convex, real-projective $n$-manifold $M$. If $π_1E$ contains a subgroup of finite index isomorphic to ${\mathbb Z}^{n-1}$, and $E\hookrightarrow M$ is $π_1$-injective, then $E$ is a generalized cusp. We list some consequences when all ends are of this type. Under certain hypotheses we prove the holonomy of a properly convex manifold is irreducible.
We show that every plumbing of disc bundles over surfaces whose genera satisfy a simple inequality may be embedded as a convex submanifold in some closed hyperbolic four-manifold. In particular its interior has a geometrically finite hyperbolic structure that covers a closed hyperbolic four-manifold.
We try to understand the geometric properties of $n$-manifolds ($n\geq 2$) with geometric structures modeled on $(\bR P^n, \PGL(n+1, \bR))$, i.e., $n$-manifolds with projectively flat torsion free affine connections. We define the notion of $i$-convexity of such manifolds due to Carriére for integers $i$, $1 \leq i \leq n-1$, which are generalization of convexity. Given a real projective $n$-manifold $M$, we show that the failure of an $(n-1)$-convexity of $M$ implies an existence of a certain geometric object, $n$-crescent, in the completion $\che M$ of the universal cover $\tilde M$ of $M$. …
Let $M$ be a triangulated, oriented, connected compact $3$-manifold with connected non-empty boundary. Such a manifold admits a unique decomposition into $\triangle$-prime $3$-manifolds. In this paper, we show that the adjoint Reidemeister torsion has a multiplicative property on the disk sum decomposition of compact $3$-manifolds without a corrective term.
The classical Kneser-Milnor theorem says that every closed oriented connected 3-dimensional manifold admits a unique connected sum decomposition into manifolds that cannot be decomposed any further. We discuss to what degree such decompositions exist in higher dimensions and we show that in many settings uniqueness fails in higher dimensions.
In this paper we extend previous results concerning the behaviour of JSJ decompositions of closed 3-manifolds with respect to the profinite completion to the case of compact 3-manifolds with boundary. We also illustrate an alternative and perhaps more natural approach to part of the original theorem, using relative cohomology to analyse the actions of an-annular atoroidal groups on profinite trees.
We give examples of open 3-manifolds and 3-orbifolds that exhibit pathological behavior with respect to splitting along surfaces (2-suborbifolds) with nonnegative Euler characteristic.
In this paper we study colored triangulations of compact PL 4-manifolds with empty or connected boundary which induce handle decompositions lacking in 1-handles or in 1- and 3-handles, thus facing also the problem, posed by Kirby, of the existence of {\it special handlebody decompositions} for any simply-connected closed PL 4-manifold. In particular, we detect a class of compact simply-connected PL 4-manifolds with empty or connected boundary, which admit such decompositions and, therefore, can be represented by (undotted) framed links. Moreover, this class includes any compact simply-connecte…
We show that if $G$ is an upper semicontinuous decomposition of $\mathbb{R}^n$, $n \geq 4$, into convex sets, then the quotient space $\mathbb{R}^n/G$ is a codimension one manifold factor. In particular, we show that $\mathbb{R}^n/G$ has the disjoint arc-disk property.
A pants-block decomposition of a 3-manifold is similar to a triangulation of a 3-manifold in many aspects. In this paper we show that any two pants-block decompositions of a 3-manifold are related by a finite sequence of moves which are called P-moves. The P-moves between pants-block decompositions are similar to the Pachner moves between triangulations. Moreover, we also give a list of types of P-moves. The main tools we used in this paper are the Morse 2-functions, Reeb complexes and a new 2-dimensional complex called P-complex.
We study a properly convex real projective manifold with (possibly empty) compact, strictly convex boundary, and which consists of a compact part plus finitely many convex ends. We extend a theorem of Koszul which asserts that for a compact manifold without boundary the holonomies of properly convex structures form an open subset of the representation variety. We also give a relative version for non-compact (G,X)-manifolds of the openess of their holonomies.
We describe a new approach to the canonical decompositions of 3-manifolds along tori and annuli due to Jaco-Shalen and Johannson (with ideas from Waldhausen) - the so-called JSJ-decomposition theorem. This approach gives an accessible proof of the decomposition theorem; in particular it does not use the annulus-torus theorems, and the theory of Seifert fibrations does not need to be developed in advance.
In this article, we study convex affine domains which can cover a compact affine manifold. For this purpose, we first show that every strictly convex quasi-homogeneous projective domain has at least $C^1$ boundary and it is an ellipsoid if its boundary is twice differentiable. And then we show that an n-dimensional paraboloid is the only strictly convex quasi-homogeneous affine domain in $\mathbb R^n$ up to affine equivalence. Furthermore we prove that if a strictly convex quasi-homogeneous projective domain is $C^α$ on an open subset of its boundary, then it is $C^α$ everywhere. Using this fa…
A theorem on the existence of the unique minimal topologic handle decomposition of differentiable simply connected five-dimensional manifolds is proved. For a decomposition of this sort, the number of handles of each index is given.
A (flat) affine $3$-manifold is a $3$-manifold with an atlas of charts to an affine space $\mathbb{R}^3$ with transition maps in the affine transformation group $\mathrm{Aff}(\mathbb{R}^3)$. We will show that a connected closed affine $3$-manifold is either an affine Hopf $3$-manifold or decomposes canonically to concave affine submanifolds with incompressible boundary, toral $π$-submanifolds and $2$-convex affine manifolds, each of which is an irreducible $3$-manifold. It follows that if there is no toral $π$-submanifold, then $M$ is prime. Finally, we prove that if a closed affine manifold i…
We prove a decomposition formula for twisted Blanchfield pairings of 3-manifolds. As an application we show that the twisted Blanchfield pairing of a 3-manifold obtained from a 3-manifold Y with a representation $ϕ: Z[π_1(Y)] \to R$, infected by a knot J along a curve $η$ with $ϕ(η) \neq 1$, splits orthogonally as the sum of the twisted Blanchfield pairing of Y and the ordinary Blanchfield pairing of the knot J, with the latter tensored up from $Z[t,t^{-1}]$ to R.
It is known by A. Loi and R. Piergallini that a closed, oriented, smooth 3-manifold is Stein fillable if and only if it has a positive open book decomposition. In the present paper we will show that for every link L in a Stein fillable 3-manifold there exists an additional knot L' to L such that the union of the links L and L' is the binding of a positive open book decomposition of the Stein fillable 3-manifold. To prove the assertion, we will use the divide, which is a generalization of real morsification theory of complex plane curve singularities, and 2-handle attachings along Legendrian cu…
The profinite completion of the fundamental group of a closed, orientable $3$-manifold determines the Kneser--Milnor decomposition. If $M$ is irreducible, then the profinite completion determines the Jaco--Shalen--Johannson decomposition of $M$.
A compact Fuchsian manifold with boundary is a hyperbolic 3-manifold homeomorphic to $S_g \times [0; 1]$ such that the boundary component $S_g \times \{ 0\}$ is geodesic. We prove that a compact Fuchsian manifold with convex boundary is uniquely determined by the induced path metric on $S_g \times \{1\}$. We do not put further restrictions on the boundary except convexity.
Generalising a seminal result of Epstein and Penner for cusped hyperbolic manifolds, Cooper and Long showed that each decorated strictly convex projective cusped manifold has a canonical cell decomposition. Penner used the former result to describe a natural cell decomposition of decorated Teichmüller space of punctured surfaces. We extend this cell decomposition to the moduli space of decorated strictly convex projective structures of finite volume on punctured surfaces. The proof uses Fock and Goncharov's $\mathcal{A}$-coordinates for doubly decorated structures. In addition, we describe a s…
We consider Gromov-Thurston examples of negatively curved n-manifolds which do not admit metrics of constant sectional curvature. We show that for each n some of the Gromov-Thurston manifolds admit strictly convex real-projective structures.
In this paper, we study face vectors of simplicial posets that are the face posets of cell decompositions of topological manifolds without boundary. We characterize all possible face vectors of simplicial posets whose geometric realizations are homeomorphic to the product of spheres. As a corollary, we obtain the characterization of face vectors of simplicial posets whose geometric realizations are odd dimensional manifolds without boundary.
Let $M$ be a convex cocompact acylindrical hyperbolic 3-manifold of infinite volume, and let $M^*$ denote the interior of the convex core of $M$. In this paper we show that any geodesic plane in $M^*$ is either closed or dense. We also show that only countably many planes are closed. These are the first rigidity theorems for planes in convex cocompact 3-manifolds of infinite volume that depend only on the topology of M.
In this paper we show that bending a finite volume hyperbolic $d$-manifold $M$ along a totally geodesic hypersurface $Σ$ results in a properly convex projective structure on $M$ with finite volume. We also discuss various geometric properties of bent manifolds and algebraic properties of their fundamental groups. We then use this result to show in each dimension $d\geq 3$ there are examples finite volume, but non-compact, properly convex $d$-manifolds. Furthermore, we show that the examples can be chosen to be either strictly convex or non-strictly convex.
Let $(M^{n+1},\partial M,g)$ be a compact manifold with non-negative Ricci curvature, convex boundary and $2\leq n\leq 6$. We show that the min-max minimal hypersurface with respect to one-parameter families of hypersurfaces in $(M,\partial M)$ is orientable, of index one and multiplicity one.
We introduce a natural subset of the unit tangent bundle of a convex projective manifold, the biproximal unit tangent bundle; it is closed and invariant under the geodesic flow, and we prove that the geodesic flow is topologically mixing on it whenever the manifold is irreducible. We also show that, for higher-rank, irreducible, compact convex projective manifolds, the geodesic flow is topologically mixing on each connected component of the non-wandering set.
We prove entropy rigidity for finite volume strictly convex projective manifolds in dimensions $\geq 3$, generalizing the work of arXiv:1708.03983 to the finite volume setting. The rigidity theorem uses the techniques of Besson, Courtois, and Gallot's entropy rigidity theorem. It implies uniform lower bounds on the volume of any finite volume strictly convex projective manifold in dimensions $\geq 3$.
A simplified, user-friendly repackaging of the curvature estimates implied by the Seiberg-Witten equations is formulated in terms of the convex hull of the set of monopole classes. New results are also obtained concerning boundary cases of the resulting forms of the curvature estimates.
We prove that non-compact finite volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds that satisfy a mild cohomological condition (infinitesimal rigidity) admit a family of properly convex deformations of their complete hyperbolic structure where the ends become generalized cusps of type 1 or type 2. We also discuss methods for controlling which types of cusp occur. Using these methods we produce the first known example of a 1-cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold that admits a convex projective structure with a type 2 cusp. We also use these techniques to produce new 1-cusped manifolds that admit a convex projective structu…
In contrast to the many examples of convex divisible domains in real projective space, we prove that up to projective isomorphism there is only one convex divisible domain in the Grassmannian of $p$-planes in $\mathbb{R}^{2p}$ when $p > 1$. Moreover, this convex divisible domain is a model of the symmetric space associated to the simple Lie group SO$(p, p)$.
Y. Benoist proved that if a closed three-manifold M admits an indecomposable convex real projective structure, then M is topologically the union along tori and Klein bottles of finitely many sub-manifolds each of which admits a complete finite volume hyperbolic structure on its interior. We describe some initial results in the direction of a potential converse to Benoist's theorem. We show that a cusped hyperbolic three-manifold may, under certain assumptions, be deformed to convex projective structures with totally geodesic torus boundary. Such structures may be convexly glued together whenev…
We reinterpret the renormalized volume as the asymptotic difference of the isoperimetric profiles for convex co-compact hyperbolic 3-manifolds. By similar techniques we also prove a sharp Minkowski inequality for horospherically convex sets in $\mathbb{H}^3$. Finally, we include the classification of stable constant mean curvature surfaces in regions bounded by two geodesic planes in $\mathbb{H}^3$ or in cyclic quotients of $\mathbb{H}^3$.
We introduce a new topological invariant, which is a nonnegative integer, of compact manifolds with boundaries associated with a kind of decomposition of them. Let M and N be m-dimensional compact connected manifolds with boundaries. The new invariant of any boundary union of M and N is less than or equal to that of M (resp. that of N).
In this survey, we study representations of finitely generated groups into Lie groups, focusing on the deformation spaces of convex real projective structures on closed manifolds and orbifolds, with an excursion on projective structures on surfaces. We survey the basics of the theory of character varieties, geometric structures on orbifolds, and Hilbert geometry. The main examples of finitely generated groups for us will be Fuchsian groups, 3-manifold groups and Coxeter groups.
In this paper, we show that a smooth 4-manifold diffeomorphic to a complex hypersurface in $\mathbb{CP}^3 $ of degree $d\geq 5$ can be decomposed as the union of $d(d-4)^2$ copies of 4-dimensional pair-of-pants and certain subsets of K3 surfaces.