In this paper we define and investigate Z/2-homology cobordism invariants of Z/2-homology 3-spheres which turn out to be related to classical invariants of knots. As an application we show that many lens spaces have infinite order in the Z/2-homology cobordism group and we prove a lower bound for the slice genus of a knot on which integral surgery yields a given Z/2-homology sphere. We also give some new examples of 3-manifolds which cannot be obtained by integral surgery on a knot.
In [D.A. Fedoseev, V.O. Manturov, A sliceness criterion for odd free knots,arXiv:1707.04923], the authors proved a sliceness criterion for odd free knots: free knots with odd chords. In the present paper we give a similar criterion for stably odd free knots. Some additional results on knot sliceness and cobordism are given.
We study cobordisms and cobordisms rel boundary of PL locally-flat disk knots $D^{n-2}\into D^n$. Cobordisms of disk knots that do not fix the boundary sphere knots are easily classified by the cobordism properties of these boundaries, and any two even-dimensional disk knots with isotopic boundary knots are cobordant rel boundary. However, the cobordism rel boundary theory of odd-dimensional disk knots is more subtle. Generalizing results of Levine on cobordism of sphere knots, we define disk knot Seifert matrices and show that two higher-dimensional disk knots with isotopic boundaries are cob…
We review some recent results in knot concordance and homology cobordism. The proofs rely on various forms of Heegaard Floer homology. We also discuss related open problems.
We consider free symmetries on cobordisms between knots. We classify which freely periodic knots bound equivariant surfaces in the 4-ball in terms of corresponding homology classes in lens spaces. A key tool is the homology cobordism classification of lens spaces using d-invariants. We give a numerical condition determining the free periods for which torus knots bound equivariant surfaces in the 4-ball.
In this paper we present our results on the homology cobordism group $\Th$ of the oriented integral homology 3-spheres. We specially emphasize the role played in the subject by the gauge theory including Floer homology and invariants by Donaldson and Seiberg -- Witten.
In this paper we study the cobordism of algebraic knots associated with weighted homogeneous polynomials, and in particular Brieskorn polynomials. Under some assumptions we prove that the associated algebraic knots are cobordant if and only if the Brieskorn polynomials have the same exponents.
We determine the pairs of torus knots that have a genus one cobordism between them, with one notable exception. This is done by combining obstructions using $ν^+$ from the Heegaard Floer knot complex and explicit constructions of cobordisms. As an application, we determine the pairs of torus knots related by a single crossing change. Also, we determine the pairs of Thurston-Bennequin number maximizing Legendrian torus knots that have a genus one exact Lagrangian cobordism, with one exception.
We make use of link Floer homology to study cobordisms between links embedded in 4-dimensional ribbon homology cobordisms. Combining results of Daemi--Lidman--Vela-Vick--Wong and Zemke, we show that ribbon homology concordances induce split injections on $\mathcal{HFL}^-$. We also make use of the torsion submodule of $\text{HFL}^-$ to give restrictions on the number of critical points in ribbon homology concordances.
We construct cobordism maps on link Floer homology associated to decorated link cobordisms. The maps are defined on a curved chain homotopy type invariant. We describe the construction, and prove invariance. We also make a comparison with the graph TQFT for Heegaard Floer homology.
We construct an invariant of virtual knots which is a sliceness obstruction and sensitive to the $Δ$-move. This invariants works if $\Z_{2}\oplus \Z_{2}$-index of chords is present.
We study the problem of defining maps on link Floer homology induced by unoriented link cobordisms. We provide a natural notion of link cobordism, disoriented link cobordism, which tracks the motion of index zero and index three critical points. Then we construct a map on unoriented link Floer homology associated to a disoriented link cobordism. Furthermore, we give a comparison with Oszváth-Stipsicz-Szabó's and Manolescu's constructions of link cobordism maps for an unoriented band move.
We fix a null-homologous, homotopically essential knot $J$ in a 3-manifold with PTFA fundamental group and study concordance of knots that are homotopic to $J$. We construct an infinite family of knots that are characteristic to $J$, and then use $L^2$-methods to show that they are not concordant to $J$.
This paper defines a theory of cobordism for virtual knots and studies this theory for standard and rotational virtual knots and links. Non-trivial examples of virtual slice knots are given. Determinations of the four-ball genus of positive virtual knots are given using the results of a companion paper by the author and Heather Dye and Aaron Kaestner. Problems related to band-passing are explained, and a theory of isotopy of virtual surfaces is formulated in terms of a generalization of the Yoshikawa moves.
We construct cobordisms of small genus between torus knots and use them to determine the cobordism distance between torus knots of small braid index. In fact, the cobordisms we construct arise as the intersection of a smooth algebraic curve in $\mathbb{C}^2$ with the unit 4-ball from which a 4-ball of smaller radius is removed. Connections to the realization problem of $A_n$-singularities on algebraic plane curves and the adjacency problem for plane curve singularities are discussed. To obstruct the existence of cobordisms, we use Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó's $Υ$-invariant, which we provide …
The $0$-surgeries of two knots $K_1$ and $K_2$ are homology cobordant rel meridians if there exists a $\mathbb{Z}$-homology cobordism $X$ between them such that the two knot meridians are in the same homology class in $H_{1}(X,\mathbb{Z})$. In this paper, we give a pair of rationally slice knots which are not smoothly concordant but whose $0$-surgeries are homology cobordant rel meridians. One knot in the pair is the figure eight knot, which has concordance order two; all previous examples of such pairs of knots are infinite order.
A major challenge in the study of the structure of the three-dimensional homology cobordism group is to understand the interaction between hyperbolic geometry and homology cobordism. In this paper, for a hyperbolic homology sphere $Y$ we derive explicit bounds on the relative grading between irreducible solutions to the Seiberg-Witten equations and the reducible one in terms of the spectral and Riemannian geometry of $Y$. Using this, we provide explicit bounds on some numerical invariants arising in monopole Floer homology (and its $\mathrm{Pin}(2)$-equivariant refinement). We apply this to st…
This paper studies cobordism and concordance for virtual knots. We define the affine index polynomial, prove that it is a concordance invariant for knots and links (explaining when it is defined for links), show that it is also invariant under certain forms of labeled cobordism and study a number of examples in relation to these phenomena. Information on determinations of the four-ball genus of some virtual knots is obtained by via the affine index polynomial in conjunction with results on the genus of positive virtual knots using joint work with Dye and Kaestner.
We introduce an equivalence relation, called stable equivalence, on knot diagrams and closed curves on surfaces. We give bijections between the set of abstract knots, the set of virtual knots, and the set of the stable equivalence classes of knot diagrams on surfaces. Using these bijections, we define concordance and link homology for virtual links. As an application, it is shown that Kauffman's example of a virtual knot diagram is not equivalent to a classical knot diagram.
For a connected cobordism S between two knots K1,K2 in S3, we establish an inequality involving the number of local maxima, the genus of S, and the torsion orders of Kht(K1),Kht(K2), where Kht denotes Lee's perturbation of Khovanov homology. This shows that the torsion order gives a lower bound for the band-unlinking number.
The homology cobordism group of homology cylinders is a generalization of the mapping class group and the string link concordance group. We study this group and its filtrations by subgroups by developing new homomorphisms. First, we define extended Milnor invariants by combining the ideas of Milnor's link invariants and Johnson homomorphisms. They give rise to a descending filtration of the homology cobordism group of homology cylinders. We show that each successive quotient of the filtration is free abelian of finite rank. Second, we define Hirzebruch-type intersection form defect invariants …
Upsilon is a homomorphism on the smooth concordance group of knots defined by Ozsváth, Stipsicz and Szabó. In this paper, we define a generalization of upsilon for a family of embedded graphs in rational homolog spheres. We show that our invariant will induce a homomorphism on the homology cobordism group of homology cylinders, and present some applications. To define this invariant, we use tangle Floer homology. We lift relative gradings on tangle Floer homology to absolute gradings (for certain tangles) and prove a concatenation formula for it.
Let S be a compact oriented surface. A homology cobordism of S is a cobordism C between two copies of S, such that both the "top" inclusion and the "bottom" inclusion of S in C induce isomorphisms in homology. Homology cobordisms of S form a monoid, into which the mapping class group of S embeds by the mapping cylinder construction. In this paper, we survey recent works on the structure of the monoid of homology cobordisms, and we outline their relations with the study of the mapping class group. We are mainly interested in the cases where the boundary of S is empty or connected.
Continuing our previous work, we effectively compute connected Heegaard Floer homologies of two families of Brieskorn spheres realized as the boundaries of almost simple linear graphs. Using Floer theoretic invariants of Dai, Hom, Stoffregen, and Truong, we show that these Brieskorn spheres also generate infinite rank summands in the homology cobordism group. Our computations also have applications to the concordance of classical knots and $0$-concordance of $2$-knots.
We determine the condition on a given lens space having a realization as a closure of homology cobordism over a planar surface with a given number of boundary components. As a corollary, we see that every lens space is represented as a closure of homology cobordism over a planar surface with three boundary components. In the proof of this corollary, we use Chebotarev density theorem.
We review the SO(3) instanton gauge theory of Fintushel and Stern and recast it in the context of 4-manifolds with cylindrical ends. Appli- cations to the Z/2-homology cobordism group of Z/2-homology 3-spheres are given.
We establish a structural understanding of the involutive Heegaard Floer homology for all linear combinations of almost-rational (AR) plumbed three-manifolds. We use this to show that the Neumann-Siebenmann invariant is a homology cobordism invariant for all linear combinations of AR plumbed homology spheres. As a corollary, we prove that if $Y$ is a linear combination of AR plumbed homology spheres with $μ(Y) = 1$, then $Y$ is not torsion in the homology cobordism group. A general computation of the involutive Heegaard Floer correction terms for these spaces is also included.
We explain new developments in classical knot theory in 3 and 4~dimensions, i.e. we study knots in 3-space, up to isotopy as well as up to concordance. In dimension~3 we give a geometric interpretation of the Kontsevich integral (joint with Jim Conant), and in dimension 4 we introduce new concordance invariants using von Neumann signatures (joint with Tim Cochran and Kent Orr). The common geometric feature of our results is the notion of a grope cobordism.
We explain the notion of a grope cobordism between two knots in a 3-manifold. Each grope cobordism has a type that can be described by a rooted unitrivalent tree. By filtering these trees in different ways, we show how the Goussarov-Habiro approach to finite type invariants of knots is closely related to our notion of grope cobordism. Thus our results can be viewed as a geometric interpretation of finite type invariants. An interesting refinement we study are knots modulo symmetric grope cobordism in 3-space. On one hand this theory maps onto the usual Vassiliev theory and on the other hand it…
In the present paper, we construct a simple invariant which provides a sliceness obstruction for {\em free knots}. This obstruction provides a new point of view to the problem of studying cobordisms of curves immersed in 2-surfaces, a problem previously studied by Carter, Turaev, Orr, and others. The obstruction to sliceness is constructed by using the notion of {\em parity} recently introduced by the author into the study of virtual knots and their modifications. This invariant turns out to be an obstruction for cobordisms of higher genera with some additional constraints.
Periodic Floer homology (PFH) is a Gromov-Floer type invariant for fibered three-manifolds with Hamiltonian structures. The cobordism maps on periodic Floer homology induced by symplectic cobordisms are currently only defined indirectly by using Seiberg-Witten theory. In this paper, we investigate the cobordism maps induced by a class of symplectic cobordisms constructed by P. Seidel, called elementary Lefschetz brations. We define the PFH cobordism maps induced by elementary Lefschetz fibrations in terms of holomorphic curves. Moreover, we compute these maps for some cases.
Given a connected cobordism between two knots in the 3-sphere, our main result is an inequality involving torsion orders of the knot Floer homology of the knots, and the number of local maxima and the genus of the cobordism. This has several topological applications: The torsion order gives lower bounds on the bridge index and the band-unlinking number of a knot, the fusion number of a ribbon knot, and the number of minima appearing in a slice disk of a knot. It also gives a lower bound on the number of bands appearing in a ribbon concordance between two knots. Our bounds on the bridge index a…
We show that the link cobordism maps defined by the author are graded and satisfy a grading change formula. Using the grading change formula, we prove a new bound for $Υ_K(t)$ for knot cobordisms in negative definite 4-manifolds. As another application, we show that the link cobordism maps associated to a connected, closed surface in $S^4$ are determined by the genus of the surface. We also prove a new adjunction relation and adjunction inequality for the link cobordism maps. Along the way, we see how many known results in Heegaard Floer homology can be proven using basic properties of the lin…
We study 4-dimensional homology cobordisms without 3-handles, showing that they interact nicely with Thurston geometries, character varieties, and instanton and Heegaard Floer homologies. Using these, we derive obstructions to such cobordisms. As one example of these obstructions, we generalize other recent results on the behavior of knot Floer homology under ribbon concordances. Finally, we provide topological applications, including to Dehn surgery problems.
It is known that every closed oriented 3-manifold is homology cobordant to a hyperbolic 3-manifold. By contrast we show that many homology cobordism classes contain no Seifert fibered 3-manifold. This is accomplished by determining the isomorphism type of the rational cohomology ring of all Seifert fibered 3-manifolds with no 2-torsion in their first homology. Then we exhibit families of examples of 3-manifolds (obtained by surgery on links), with fixed linking form and cohomology ring, that are not homology cobordant to any Seifert fibered space (as shown by their rational cohomology ring). T…
It follows implicitly from recent work in Heegaard Floer theory that lens spaces are homology cobordant exactly when they are oriented homeomorphic. We provide a new combinatorial proof using the Heegaard Floer d-invariants, which themselves may be defined combinatorially for lens spaces.
The smooth rational homology cobordism group of rational homology three spheres, T, contains subgroups T_p generated by 3-manifolds with first homology p-torsion, where p is a prime. Rochlin's theorem and gauge theoretic methods show that the inclusion of the direct sum of the T_p into T has infinitely generated kernel. We use Heegaard-Floer methods to show that the cokernel is infinitely generated. On the level of Witt groups of linking forms and conjecturally in the topological category, the inclusion is an isomorphism. One application is the demonstration of the failure in dimension three o…
The homology cobordism group of homology cylinders is a generalization of both the mapping class group of surfaces and the string link concordance group. We consider extensions of Johnson homomorphisms of a mapping class group, Milnor invariants and Orr invariants of links to homology cylinders, all of which are related to free nilpotent groups. We establish a combined filtration via kernels of extended Johnson homomorphisms and extended Milnor invariants. We determine its image under the three invariants, and investigate relations among the invariants, and relations of the filtration to autom…
We give simple homological conditions for a rational homology 3-sphere Y to have infinite order in the rational homology cobordism group, and for a collection of rational homology spheres to be linearly independent. These translate immediately to statements about knot concordance when Y is the branched double cover of a knot, recovering some results of Livingston and Naik. The statements depend only on the homology groups of the 3-manifolds, but are proven through an analysis of correction terms and their behavior under connected sums.
We use Ozsváth, Stipsicz, and Szabó's Upsilon-invariant to provide bounds on cobordisms between knots that `contain full-twists'. In particular, we recover and generalize a classical consequence of the Morton-Franks-Williams inequality for knots: positive braids that contain a positive full-twist realize the braid index of their closure. We also establish that quasi-positive braids that are sufficiently twisted realize the minimal braid index among all knots that are concordant to their closure. Finally, we provide inductive formulas for the Upsilon invariant of torus knots and compare it to t…
We consider the question of when a rational homology 3-sphere is rational homology cobordant to a connected sum of lens spaces. We prove that every rational homology cobordism class in the subgroup generated by lens spaces is represented by a unique connected sum of lens spaces whose first homology embeds in any other element in the same class. As a first consequence, we show that several natural maps to the rational homology cobordism group have infinite rank cokernels. Further consequences include a divisibility condition between the determinants of a connected sum of 2-bridge knots and any …
In this paper, we discuss degree 0 crossing change on Khovanov homology in terms of cobordisms. Namely, using Bar-Natan's formalism of Khovanov homology, we introduce a sum of cobordisms that yields a morphism on complexes of two diagrams of crossing change, which we call the "genus-one morphism." It is proved that the morphism is invariant under the moves of double points in tangle diagrams. As a consequence, in the spirit of Vassiliev theory, taking iterated mapping cones, we obtain an invariant for singular tangles that extending sl(2) tangle homology; examples include Lee homology, Bar-Nat…
The cobordism distance between knots, d(K,J), equals the four-genus g_4(K # -J). We consider d(K,K^r), where K^r is the reverse of K. It is elementary that 0 \le d(K,K^r) \le 2g_4(K) and it is known that there are knots K for which d(K,K^r) is arbitrarily large. Here it is shown that for any knot for which g_4(K) = g_3(K) (such as non-slice knots with g_3(K) = 1 or strongly quasi-positive knots), one has that d(K,K^r) is strictly less that twice g_4(K). It is shown that for arbitrary positive g, there exist knots for which d(K,K^r) = g = g_4(K). There are no known examples for which d(K,K^r) >…
We investigate rational homology cobordisms of 3-manifolds with non-zero first Betti number. This is motivated by the natural generalization of the slice-ribbon conjecture to multicomponent links. In particular we consider the problem of which rational homology $S^1\times S^2$'s bound rational homology $S^1\times D^3$'s. We give a simple procedure to construct rational homology cobordisms between plumbed 3-manifold. We introduce a family F of plumbed 3-manifolds with first Betti number equal to 1. By adapting an obstruction based on Donaldson's diagonalization theorem we characterize all manif…
For each integral homology sphere $Y$, a function $Γ_Y$ on the set of integers is constructed. It is established that $Γ_Y$ depends only on the homology cobordism of $Y$ and it recovers the Frøyshov invariant. A relation between $Γ_Y$ and Fintushel-Stern's $R$-invariant is stated. It is shown that the value of $Γ_Y$ at each integer is related to the critical values of the Chern-Simons functional. Some topological applications of $Γ_Y$ are given. In particular, it is shown that if $Γ_Y$ is trivial, then there is no simply connected homology cobordism from $Y$ to itself.
Let $\widehat{\mathcal{C}}_{\mathbb{Z}}$ denote the group of knots in homology spheres that bound homology balls, modulo smooth concordance in homology cobordisms. Answering a question of Matsumoto, the second author previously showed that the natural map from the smooth knot concordance group $\mathcal{C}$ to $\widehat{\mathcal{C}}_{\mathbb{Z}}$ is not surjective. Using tools from Heegaard Floer homology, we show that the cokernel of this map, which can be understood as the non-locally-flat piecewise-linear concordance group, is infinitely generated and contains elements of infinite order.
