Another universality property for crumpled cubes

Let C denote a crumpled n-cube in the n-sphere Sⁿ such that every Cantor set in its boundary is tamely embedded in Sⁿ. The main theorem shows C to be universal in the sense that however it is sewn to a crumpled n-cube D of type 2A, a large class containing most of the explicitly described examples, the resultant space is homeomorphic to Sⁿ.     

Detecting codimension one manifold factors with topographical techniques

We prove recognition theorems for codimension one manifold factors of dimension n?4. In particular, we formalize topographical methods and introduce three ribbons properties: the crinkled ribbons property, the twisted crinkled ribbons property, and the fuzzy ribbons property. We show that X×R is a manifold in the cases when X is a resolvable generalized manifold of finite dimension n?3 with either: (1) the crinkled ribbons property; (2) the twisted crinkled ribbons property and the disjoint point disk property; or (3) the fuzzy ribbons property.     

Boundaries and complements of infinite- dimensional manifolds in the model space

Let M be a manifold modeled on a locally convex linear metric space E≌E^ω (or ≌E^ω_f and N a Z-submanifold of M. Then N is collared in M. In this paper, we study the following problem [1, 3]: Under what conditions can M be embedded in E so that N is the topological boundary of M in E? We gain a more mild sufficient condition than the previous papers [7, 8] and a necessary and sufficient condition in the case M has the homotopy type of Sⁿ (and each component of N is simply connected if n?2) and in the case N has the homotopy type of Sⁿ (n?2). Also we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition under which M can be embedded in E so that bd M = N and cl(E\M) has the homotopy type of Sⁿ (we assume that M and N are simply connected if n ? 2).     

Embedding infinite cyclic covers of knot spaces into 3-space

We say a knot k in the 3-sphere S³ has PropertyIE if the infinite cyclic cover of the knot exterior embeds into S³. Clearly all fibred knots have Property IE.There are infinitely many non-fibred knots with Property IE and infinitely many non-fibred knots without property IE. Both kinds of examples are established here for the first time. Indeed we show that if a genus 1 non-fibred knot has Property IE, then its Alexander polynomial Δ_k(t) must be either 1 or 2t²−5t+2, and we give two infinite families of non-fibred genus 1 knots with Property IE and having Δ_k(t)=1 and 2t²−5t+2 respectively.Hence among genus 1 non-fibred knots, no alternating knot has Property IE, and there is only one knot with Property IE up to ten crossings.We also give an obstruction to embedding infinite cyclic covers of a compact 3-manifold into any compact 3-manifold.     

Laminated decompositions involving a given submanifold

Let M denote a connected (n+1)-manifold (without boundary). We study laminated decompositions of M, by which we mean upper semicontinous decompositions G of M into closed, connected n-manifolds. In particular, given M with a lamination G and N, a locally flat, closed, n-dimensional submanifold, we determine conditions under which M admits another lamination G_N with N?G_N. For n ≠ 3 a sufficient condition is that i: N → M be a homotopy equivalence. For n > 3 we give examples to show that i: N → M being a homology equivalence is not sufficient. We also show how to replace the assumption of local flatness of N with a weaker cellularity criterion (n ? 4) known as the inessential loops condition. We then give examples illustrating the abundance of pathology if M is not assumed to have a preexisting lamination.     

Special manifolds and shape fibrator properties

Our main interest in this paper is further investigation of the concept of (PL) fibrators (introduced by Daverman [R.J. Daverman, PL maps with manifold fibers, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 45 (1992) 180-192]), in a slightly different PL setting. Namely, we are interested in manifolds that can detect approximate fibrations in the new setting. The main results state that every orientable, special (a new class of manifolds that we introduce) PL n-manifold with non-trivial first homology group is a fibrator in the new category, if it is a codimension-2 fibrator (Theorem 8.2) or has a non-cyclic fundamental group (Theorem 8.4). We show that all closed, orientable surface S with χ(S)<0 are fibrators in the new category.     

Detecting codimension one manifold factors with 0-stitched disks

The 0-stitched disks property is introduced and shown to detect codimension one manifold factors of dimension n?4. It is shown that if a space X is an ANR and has the 0-stitched disks property, then X has the disjoint homotopies property. It follows that if a space X is a resolvable generalized manifold of dimension n?4 with the 0-stitched disks property, then X is a codimension one manifold factor. Whether or not the 0-stitched disks property is equivalent to the disjoint homotopies property remains an open question.     

A solution to de Groot’s absolute cone conjecture

A compactum X is an ‘absolute cone’ if, for each of its points x, the space X is homeomorphic to a cone with x corresponding to the cone point. In 1971, J. de Groot conjectured that each n-dimensional absolute cone is an n-cell. In this paper, we give a complete solution to that conjecture. In particular, we show that the conjecture is true for n≤3 and false for n≥5. For n=4, the absolute cone conjecture is true if and only if the 3-dimensional Poincaré Conjecture is true.     

The converse of the Solid Torus Theorem

Given positive integers p and q, a (p,q)-solid torus is a manifold diffeomorphic to Dp+1×Sq while a (p,q)-torus in a closed manifold M is the image of a differentiably embedding Sp×Sq→M. We prove that if n=p+q+1 with p=q=1 or p≠q, then M is homeomorphic to Sn whenever every (p,q)-torus bounds a (p,q)-solid torus. We also prove for p=q that every closed n-manifold for which every (p,p)-torus bounds an irreducible manifold is irreducible. Consequently, every closed 3-manifold for which every torus bounds an irreducible manifold is irreducible.     

Locally G-homogeneous Busemann G-spaces

We present short proofs of all known topological properties of general Busemann G-spaces (at present no other property is known for dimensions more than four). We prove that all small metric spheres in locally G-homogeneous Busemann G-spaces are homeomorphic and strongly topologically homogeneous. This is a key result in the context of the classical Busemann conjecture concerning the characterization of topological manifolds, which asserts that every n-dimensional Busemann G-space is a topological n-manifold. We also prove that every Busemann G-space which is uniformly locally G-homogeneous on an orbal subset must be finite-dimensional.     

The linking pairings of orientable Seifert manifolds

We compute the p-primary components of the linking pairings of orientable 3-manifolds admitting a fixed-point free S¹-action. Any linking pairing on a finite abelian group of odd order is realized by such a manifold. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for a pairing on an abelian 2-group to be the 2-primary component of such a linking pairing, and give simple examples which are not realizable by any Seifert fibred 3-manifold.     

Embeddability of multiple cones

The main result of this paper is that if X is a Peano continuum such that its nth cone Cn(X) embeds into Rn+2 then X embeds into S². This solves a problem proposed by W. Rosicki.     

Netlike partial cubes, V: Completion and netlike classes

We define a completion of a netlike partial cube G by replacing each convex 2n-cycle C of G with n≥3 by an n-cube admitting C as an isometric cycle. We prove that a completion of G is a median graph if and only if G has the Median Cycle Property (MCP) (see N. Polat, Netlike partial cubes III. The Median Cycle Property, Discrete Math.). In fact any completion of a netlike partial cube having the MCP is defined by a universal property and turns out to be a minimal median graph containing G as an isometric subgraph. We show that the completions of the netlike partial cubes having the MCP preserves the principal constructions of these graphs, such as: netlike subgraphs, gated amalgams and expansions. Conversely any netlike partial cube having the MCP can be obtained from a median graph by deleting some particular maximal finite hypercubes. We also show that, given a netlike partial cube G having the MCP, the class of all netlike partial cubes having the MCP whose completions are isomorphic to those of G share different properties, such as: depth, lattice dimension, semicube graph and crossing graph.     

On the homotopy groups of separable metric spaces

The aim of this paper is to discuss the homotopy properties of locally well-behaved spaces. First, we state a nerve theorem. It gives sufficient conditions under which there is a weak n-equivalence between the nerve of a good cover and its underlying space. Then we conclude that for any (n−1)-connected, locally (n−1)-connected compact metric space X which is also n-semilocally simply connected, the nth homotopy group of X, πn(X), is finitely presented. This result allows us to provide a new proof for a generalization of Shelah?s theorem (Shelah, 1988 [18]) to higher homotopy groups (Ghane and Hamed, 2009 [8]). Also, we clarify the relationship between two homotopy properties of a topological space X, the property of being n-homotopically Hausdorff and the property of being n-semilocally simply connected. Further, we give a way to recognize a nullhomotopic 2-loop in 2-dimensional spaces. This result will involve the concept of generalized dendrite which introduce here. Finally, we prove that each 2-loop is homotopic to a reduced 2-loop.     

High distance Heegaard splittings of 3-manifolds

J. Hempel [J. Hempel, 3-manifolds as viewed from the curve complex, Topology 40 (3) (2001) 631-657] used the curve complex associated to the Heegaard surface of a splitting of a 3-manifold to study its complexity. He introduced the distance of a Heegaard splitting as the distance between two subsets of the curve complex associated to the handlebodies. Inspired by a construction of T. Kobayashi [T. Kobayashi, Casson-Gordon's rectangle condition of Heegaard diagrams and incompressible tori in 3-manifolds, Osaka J. Math. 25 (3) (1988) 553-573], J. Hempel [J. Hempel, 3-manifolds as viewed from the curve complex, Topology 40 (3) (2001) 631-657] proved the existence of arbitrarily high distance Heegaard splittings.In this work we explicitly define an infinite sequence of 3-manifolds {Mn} via their representative Heegaard diagrams by iterating a 2-fold Dehn twist operator. Using purely combinatorial techniques we are able to prove that the distance of the Heegaard splitting of Mn is at least n.Moreover, we show that π₁(Mn) surjects onto π₁(Mn−1). Hence, if we assume that M⁰ has nontrivial boundary then it follows that the first Betti number β₁(Mn)>0 for all n?1. Therefore, the sequence {Mn} consists of Haken 3-manifolds for n?1 and hyperbolizable 3-manifolds for n?3.     

The higher derived functors of the primitive element functor of quasitoric manifolds

Let P be an n-dimensional, q?1 neighborly simple convex polytope and let M2n(λ) be the corresponding quasitoric manifold. The manifold depends on a particular map of lattices λ:Zm→Zn where m is the number of facets of P. In this note we use ESP-sequences in the sense of Larry Smith to show that the higher derived functors of the primitive element functor are independent of λ. Coupling this with results that appear in Bousfield (1970) [3] we are able to enrich the library of nice homology coalgebras by showing that certain families of quasitoric manifolds are nice, at least rationally, from Bousfield?s perspective.     

Cellularity in polyhedra

A compact subset X of a polyhedron P is cellular in P if there is a pseudoisotropy of P shrinking precisely X to a point. A proper surjection between polyhedra f:P→Q is cellular if each point inverse of f is cellular in P. It is shown that if f:P→Q is a cellular map and either P or Q is a generalized n-manifold, n≠4, then f is approximable by homeomorphisms. Also, if P or Q is an n-manifold with boundary, n≠4, 5, then a cellular map f:P→Q is approximable by homeomorphisms. A cellularity criterion for a special class of cell-like sets in polyhedra is established.     

On the quantum filtration of the Khovanov-Rozansky cohomology

We prove the quantum filtration on the Khovanov-Rozansky link cohomology Hp with a general degree (n+1) monic potential polynomial p(x) is invariant under Reidemeister moves, and construct a spectral sequence converging to Hp that is invariant under Reidemeister moves, whose E₁ term is isomorphic to the Khovanov-Rozansky sl(n)-cohomology Hn. Then we define a generalization of the Rasmussen invariant, and study some of its properties. We also discuss relations between upper bounds of the self-linking number of transversal links in standard contact S³.     

How strange can an attractor for a dynamical system in a 3-manifold look?

The aim of this paper is to characterise those compact subsets K of 3-manifolds M that are (stable and not necessarily global) attractors for some flow on M. We will show that it is the topology of M−K, rather than that of K, the one that plays a relevant role in this problem.A necessary and sufficient condition for a set K to be an attractor is that it must be an “almost tame” subset of M in a sense made precise under the equivalent notions of “weakly tame” and “tamely embedded up to shape”, defined in the paper. These are complemented by a further equivalent condition, “algebraic tameness”, which has the advantage of being checkable by explicit computation.A final section of the paper is devoted to a partial analysis of the same question when one replaces flows by discrete dynamical systems.     

Classifying simple closed curve pairs in the 2-sphere and a generalization of the Schoenflies theorem

A classification theory is developed for pairs of simple closed curves (A,B) in the sphere S², assuming that A∩B has finitely many components. Such a pair of simple closed curves is called an SCC-pair, and two SCC-pairs (A,B) and (A^′,B^′) are equivalent if there is a homeomorphism from S² to itself sending A to A^′ and B to B^′. The simple cases where A and B coincide or A and B are disjoint are easily handled. The component code is defined to provide a classification of all of the other possibilities. The component code is not uniquely determined for a given SCC-pair, but it is straightforward that it is an invariant; i.e., that if (A,B) and (A^′,B^′) are equivalent and C is a component code for (A,B), then C is a component code for (A^′,B^′) as well. It is proved that the component code is a classifying invariant in the sense that if two SCC-pairs have a component code in common, then the SCC-pairs are equivalent. Furthermore code transformations on component codes are defined so that if one component code is known for a particular SCC-pair, then all other component codes for the SCC-pair can be determined via code transformations. This provides a notion of equivalence for component codes; specifically, two component codes are equivalent if there is a code transformation mapping one to the other. The main result of the paper asserts that if C and C^′ are component codes for SCC-pairs (A,B) and (A^′,B^′), respectively, then (A,B) and (A^′,B^′) are equivalent if and only if C and C^′ are equivalent. Finally, a generalization of the Schoenflies theorem to SCC-pairs is presented.