The original Smale Conjecture asserted that the inclusion of the group O(4) of isometries of the round 3-sphere S into the full diffeomorphism group Diff(S) is a homotopy equivalence. The (Generalized) Smale Conjecture asserts that the inclusion of Isom(M) into Diff(M) is a homotopy equivalence whenever M is an elliptic 3-manifold, that is, a closed Riemannian 3-manifold of constant positive curvature. We prove the Smale Conjecture for all lens spaces L(m,q), where m is at least 3.
The Generalized Smale Conjecture asserts that if M is a closed 3-manifold with constant positive curvature, then the inclusion of the group of isometries into the group of diffeomorphisms is a homotopy equivalence. For the 3-sphere, this was the classical Smale Conjecture proved by A. Hatcher. N. Ivanov proved the Generalized Smale Conjecture for the M which contain a 1-sided Klein bottle and such that no Seifert fibering is nonsingular on the complement of any vertical Klein bottle. We prove it in all remaining cases containing a one-sided Klein bottle, except for the lens space L(4,1).
Let M be a closed orientable Seifert fibered 3-manifold with a hyperbolic base 2-orbifold, or equivalently, admitting a geometry modeled on H^2 \times R or the universal cover of SL(2,R). Our main result is that the connected component of the identity map in the diffeomorphism group Diff(M) is either contractible or homotopy equivalent to the circle, according as the center of the fundamental group of M is trivial or infinite cyclic. Apart from the remaining case of non-Haken infranilmanifolds, this completes the homeomorphism classifications of Diff(M) and of the space of Seifert fiberings of…
The elliptic 3-manifolds are the closed 3-manifolds that admit a Riemannian metric of constant positive curvature, that is, those that have finite fundamental group. The (Generalized) Smale Conjecture asserts that for any elliptic 3-manifold M, the inclusion from the isometry group of M to the diffeomorphism group of M is a homotopy equivalence. The original Smale Conjecture, for the 3-sphere, was proven by J. Cerf and A. Hatcher, and N. Ivanov proved the generalized conjecture for many of the elliptic 3-manifolds that contain a geometrically incompressible Klein bottle. Our main results are 1…
We establish the existence of a pair of exotic surfaces in a punctured $K3$ which remains exotic after one external stabilization and have diffeomorphic complements. A key ingredient in the proof is a vanishing theorem of the family Bauer--Furuta invariant for diffeomorphisms on a large family of spin 4-manifolds, which is proved using the tom Dieck splitting theorem in equivariant stable homotopy theory. In particular, we prove that the $S^{1}$-equivariant family Bauer--Furuta invariant of any orientation-preserving diffeomorphism on $S^{4}$ is trivial and that the $\mathrm{Pin}(2)$-equivaria…
We apply Donaldson's theorem on the intersection forms of definite 4--manifolds to characterize the lens spaces which smoothly bound rational homology 4--dimensional balls. Our result implies, in particular, that every smoothly slice 2--bridge knot is ribbon, proving the ribbon conjecture for 2--bridge knots.
Closed 3-string braids admit many bandings to two-bridge links. By way of the Montesinos Trick, this allows us to construct infinite families of knots in the connected sum of lens spaces L(r,1) # L(s,1) that admit a surgery to a lens space for all pairs of integers (r,s) except (0,0). These knots are typically hyperbolic. We also demonstrate that the previously known two families of examples of hyperbolic knots in non-prime manifolds with lens space surgeries of Eudave-Munoz--Wu and Kang all fit this construction. As such, we propose a generalization of the Cabling Conjecture of Gonzales-Acuna…
Using work of Ozsvath and Szabo, we show that if a nontrivial knot in S^3 admits a lens space surgery with slope p, then p <= 4g+3, where g is the genus of the knot. This is a close approximation to a bound conjectured by Goda and Teragaito.
The Cabling Conjecture states that surgery on hyperbolic knots in $S^3$ never produces reducible manifolds. In contrast, there do exist hyperbolic knots in some lens spaces with non-prime surgeries. Baker constructed a family of such hyperbolic knots and posed a conjecture that his examples encompass all hyperbolic knots in lens spaces with non-prime surgeries. Using the idea of seiferters we construct a counterexample to this conjecture. In the process of construction, we also derive an obstruction for a small Seifert fibred space to be obtainable by a surgery with a seiferter.
(Original version of PhD thesis, submitted in Spring 2009 to Harvard University. Provides a solution of the $p > k^2$ case, corresponding to Berge families I-VI, of the "Lens space realization problem" later solved in entirety by Greene.) In the 1980's, Berge proved that a certain collection of knots in $S^3$ admitted lens space surgeries, a list which Gordon conjectured was exhaustive. More recently, J. Rasmussen used techniques from Heegaard Floer homology to translate the related problem of classifying simple knots in lens spaces admitting L-space homology sphere surgeries into a combinator…
We describe necessary and sufficient conditions for a knot in an L-space to have an L-space homology sphere surgery. We use these conditions to reformulate a conjecture of Berge about which knots in S^3 admit lens space surgeries.
We show that lens space surgeries on knots in $S^3$ which arise from the primitive/Seifert type construction also arise from the primitive/primitive construction. This is the first step of a three step program to prove the Berge conjecture for tunnel number one knots.
Given a one-dimensional homology class in a lens space, a question related to the Berge conjecture on lens space surgeries is to determine all knots realizing the minimal rational genus of all knots in this homology class. It is known that simple knots are rational genus minimizers. In this paper, we construct many non-simple genus minimizers. This negatively answers a question of Rasmussen.
We define combinatorial invariants of Legendrian and transverse links in universally tight lens spaces using grid diagrams, generalizing [OST08] and prove that they are equivalent to the invariants defined in [BVVV13] and [LOSS09]. We use these combinatorial invariants to characterize index one grid diagrams for knots in lens spaces which admit surgeries to the 3-sphere and discuss a potential application to the Berge conjecture.
In this paper, for any compact Lie group $G$, we show that the space of $G$-invariant Riemannian metrics with positive scalar curvature (PSC) on any closed three-manifold is either empty or contractible. In particular, we prove the generalized Smale conjecture for spherical three-orbifolds. Moreover, for connected $G$, we make a classification of all PSC $G$-invariant three-manifolds.
We complete the first step in a two-part program proposed by Baker, Grigsby, and the author to prove that Berge's construction of knots in the three-sphere which admit lens space surgeries is complete. The first step, which we prove here, is to show that a knot in a lens space with a three-sphere surgery has simple (in the sense of rank) knot Floer homology. The second (conjectured) step involves showing that, for a fixed lens space, the only knots with simple Floer homology belong to a simple finite family. Using results of Baker, we provide evidence for the conjectural part of the program by…
We propose a classification of knots in S^1 x S^2 that admit a longitudinal surgery to a lens space. Any lens space obtainable by longitudinal surgery on some knots in S^1 x S^2 may be obtained from a Berge-Gabai knot in a Heegaard solid torus of S^1 x S^2, as observed by Rasmussen. We show that there are yet two other families of knots: those that lie on the fiber of a genus one fibered knot and the `sporadic' knots. All these knots in S^1 x S^2 are both doubly primitive and spherical braids. This classification arose from generalizing Berge's list of doubly primitive knots in S^3, though we …
We prove that if positive integer p-surgery along a knot K \subset S^3 produces an L-space and it bounds a sharp 4-manifold, then the knot genus obeys the bound 2g(K) -1 \leq p - \sqrt{3p+1}. Moreover, there exists an infinite family of pairs (K_n,p_n) attaining this bound, where K_n denotes an n-fold iterated cable of the unknot and p_n \to \infty. In particular, the stated bound applies when the knot surgery produces a lens space or a connected sum thereof. Combined with work of Gordon-Luecke, Hoffman, and Matignon-Sayari, it follows that if surgery along a knot produces a connected sum of l…
Within crystallization theory, (Matveev's) complexity of a 3-manifold can be estimated by means of the combinatorial notion of GM-complexity. In this paper, we prove that the GM-complexity of any lens space L(p,q), with p greater than 2, is bounded by S(p,q)-3, where S(p,q) denotes the sum of all partial quotients in the expansion of q/p as a regular continued fraction. The above upper bound had been already established with regard to complexity; its sharpness was conjectured by Matveev himself and has been recently proved for some infinite families of lens spaces by Jaco, Rubinstein and Tillm…
We exhibit an infinite family of knots in the Poincare homology sphere with tunnel number 2 that have a lens space surgery. Notably, these knots are not doubly primitive and provide counterexamples to a few conjectures. In the appendix, it is shown that hyperbolic knots in the Poincare homology sphere with a lens space surgery has either no symmetries or just a single strong involution.
We show that the space of metrics of positive scalar curvature on any 3-manifold is either empty or contractible. Second, we show that the diffeomorphism group of every 3-dimensional spherical space form deformation retracts to its isometry group. This proves the Generalized Smale Conjecture. Our argument is independent of Hatcher's theorem in the $S^3$ case and in particular it gives a new proof of the $S^3$ case.
Grid diagrams encode useful geometric information about knots in S^3. In particular, they can be used to combinatorially define the knot Floer homology of a knot K in S^3, and they have a straightforward connection to Legendrian representatives of K in (S^3, ξ_\st), where ξ_\st is the standard, tight contact structure. The definition of a grid diagram was extended to include a description for links in all lens spaces, resulting in a combinatorial description of the knot Floer homology of a knot K in L(p, q) for all p > 0. In the present article, we explore the connection between lens space gri…
For a Heegaard surface F in a closed orientable 3-manifold M, H(M,F) = Diff(M)/Diff(M,F) is the space of Heegaard surfaces equivalent to the Heegaard splitting (M,F). Its path components are the isotopy classes of Heegaard splittings equivalent to (M,F). We describe H(M,F) in terms of Diff(M) and the Goeritz group of (M,F). In particular, for hyperbolic M each path component is a classifying space for the Goeritz group, and when the (Hempel) distance of (M,F) is greater than 3, each path component of H(M,F) is contractible. For splittings of genus 0 or 1, we determine the complete homotopy typ…
Similar to knots in S^3, any knot in a lens space has a grid diagram from which one can combinatorially compute all of its knot Floer homology invariants. We give an explicit description of the generators, differentials, and rational Maslov and Alexander gradings in terms of combinatorial data on the grid diagram. Motivated by existing results for the Floer homology of knots in S^3 and the similarity of the combinatorics presented here, we conjecture that a certain family of knots is characterized by their Floer homology. Coupled with work of the third author, an affirmative answer to this wou…
We reduced Rudyak's conjecture that a degree one map between closed manifolds cannot raise the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category to the computation of the category of the product of two lens spaces $L^n_p\times L_q^n$ with relatively prime $p$ and $q$. We have computed $cat(L^n_p\times L^n_q)$ for values of $p,q>n/2$. It turns out that our computation supports the conjecture. For spin manifolds $M$ we establish a criterion for the equality $cat M=dim M-1$ which is a K-theoretic refinement of the Katz-Rudyak criterion for $cat M=dim M$. We apply it to obtain the inequality $cat(L^n_p\times L^n_q)…
Let C be the contact structure naturally induced on the lens space L(p,q) by the standard contact structure on the three--sphere. We obtain a complete classification of the symplectic fillings of (L(p,q),C) up to orientation-preserving diffeomorphisms. In view of our results, we formulate a conjecture on the diffeomorphism types of the smoothings of complex two-dimensional cyclic quotient singularities.
This paper studies the rational homotopy groups of the group $\mathrm{Diff}(S^4)$ of self-diffeomorphisms of $S^4$ with the $C^\infty$-topology. We present a method to prove that there are many `exotic' non-trivial elements in $π_*\mathrm{Diff}(S^4)\otimes \mathbb{Q}$ parametrized by trivalent graphs. As a corollary of the main result, the 4-dimensional Smale conjecture is disproved. The proof utilizes Kontsevich's characteristic classes for smooth disk bundles and a version of clasper surgery for families. In fact, these are analogues of Chern--Simons perturbation theory in 3-dimension and cl…
We use the equivalence between embedded contact homology and Seiberg-Witten Floer homology to obtain the following improvements on the Weinstein conjecture. Let Y be a closed oriented connected 3-manifold with a stable Hamiltonian structure, and let R denote the associated Reeb vector field on Y. We prove that if Y is not a T^2-bundle over S^1, then R has a closed orbit. Along the way we prove that if Y is a closed oriented connected 3-manifold with a contact form such that all Reeb orbits are nondegenerate and elliptic, then Y is a lens space. Related arguments show that if Y is a closed orie…
By taking the complements of embeddings of sphere plumbings in connected sums of $\mathbb{C} P^2$, we construct examples of simply connected four-manifolds with lens space boundary and $b_2 = 1$. The resulting boundaries include many lens spaces that cannot come from integer surgery on any knot in $S^3$, so the corresponding four-manifolds cannot be built by attaching a single two-handle to $B^4$. Using similar constructions, we give an example of an embedded sphere in $\#^4 \mathbb{C} P^2$ with self-intersection number $20$, and conjecture that this is the maximum possible.
We complete the proof of the Generalized Smale Conjecture, apart from the case of $RP^3$, and give a new proof of Gabai's theorem for hyperbolic 3-manifolds. We use an approach based on Ricci flow through singularities, which applies uniformly to spherical space forms other than $S^3$ and $RP^3$ and hyperbolic manifolds, to prove that the moduli space of metrics of constant sectional curvature is contractible. As a corollary, for such a 3-manifold $X$, the inclusion $\text{Isom} (X,g)\to \text{Diff}(X)$ is a homotopy equivalence for any Riemannian metric $g$ of constant sectional curvature.
Geometrical spines are defined for 3-manifolds with natural metrics, in particular, for lens manifolds. We show that any spine of L(p,q) close enough to its geometrical spine (i.e., to the cut locus with respect to the standard metric) contains at least E(p,q)-3 vertices, which is exactly the conjectured value for Matveev's complexity of L(p,q); here E(p,q) stands for the sum of the elements of the continued fraction expansion of p/q. As a byproduct, we find the minimal (over all triangulations) rotation distance (the term coined by Sleator, Tarjan, and Thurston) between a triangulation of a r…
Discrete normal surfaces are normal surfaces whose intersection with each tetrahedron of a triangulation has at most one component. They are also natural Poincaré duals to 1-cocycles with $\ZZ/2\ZZ$-coefficients. For a fixed cohomology class in a simplicial poset the average Euler characteristic of the associated discrete normal surfaces only depends on the $f$-vector of the triangulation. As an application we determine the minimum simplicial poset representations, also known as crystallizations, of lens spaces $L(2k,q),$ where $2k=qr+1.$ Higher dimensional analogs of discrete normal surfaces …
Consider the Chern-Simons topological quantum field theory with gauge group SU(2) and level k. Given a knot in the 3-sphere, this theory associates to the knot exterior an element in a vector space. We call this vector the knot state and study its asymptotic properties when the level is large. The latter vector space being isomorphic to the geometric quantization of the SU(2)-character variety of the peripheral torus, the knot state may be viewed as a section defined over this character variety. We first conjecture that the knot state concentrates in the large level limit to the character vari…
