On 4-manifolds and span-related numbers for cat manifolds

LetM ⁿ denote any closed connected CAT manifold of positive dimensionn. We define CATs(Mⁿ) to be the smallest positive dimension of all closed connected CAT manifoldsN for which the CAT span ofM×N is strictly greater than the CAT span ofN. We determine a formula for this characteristic number which involves only the Kirby-Siebenmann numberks(M) ofM and a Stiefel-Whitney number. Several results on splitting the tangent bundles of closed 4-manifolds are obtained. For example, both the Euler number ofM ⁴ andks(M⁴) represent the total obstruction to positive CAT span for a non-smoothable closed connected 4-manifold. Dedicated to the memory of Professor Otto Endler     

Systolic volume of hyperbolic manifolds and connected sums of manifolds

The systolic volume of a closed n-manifold M is defined as the optimal constant σ(M) satisfying the inequality vol(M, g) ≥ σ(M) sys(M, g) ⁿ between the volume and the systole of every metric g on M. First, we show that the systolic volume of connected sums of closed oriented essential manifolds is unbounded. Then, we prove that the systolic volume of every sequence of closed hyperbolic (three-dimensional) manifolds is also unbounded. These results generalize systolic inequalities on surfaces in two different directions.      

Non-Zero Degree Maps Between <Emphasis Type="Italic">2n</Emphasis>-Manifolds

Abstract Thom–Pontrjagin constructions are used to give a computable necessary and sufficient condition for a homomorphism ϕ : H ⁿ (L;Z) → H ⁿ (M;Z) to be realized by a map f : M → L of degree k for closed (n − 1)-connected 2n-manifolds M and L, n > 1. A corollary is that each (n − 1)-connected 2n-manifold admits selfmaps of degree larger than 1, n > 1. In the most interesting case of dimension 4, with the additional surgery arguments we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a degree k map from a closed orientable 4-manifold M to a closed simply connected 4-manifold L in terms of their intersection forms; in particular, there is a map f : M → L of degree 1 if and only if the intersection form of L is isomorphic to a direct summand of that of M. Both authors are supported by MSTC, NSFC. The comments of F. Ding, J. Z. Pan, Y. Su and the referee enhance the quality of the paper     

Compactifying coverings of 3-manifolds

If a finitely presented groupG is negatively curved, automatic or asynchronously automatic thenG has an asynchronously bounded “almost prefix closed” combing. Results in [Br₁] and [E] imply that the fundamental group of any closed 3-manifold satisfying Thurston's geometrization conjecture has an asynchronously bounded, almost prefix closed combing. MAIN THEOREM. IfM is a compactP ²-irreducible 3-manifold,π ₁ (M) has an asynchronously bounded, almost prefix closed combing, andH, a subgroup ofπ ₁ (M), is quasiconvex with respect to this combing, then the cover ofM corresponding toH is a missing boundary manifold.     

Every surface is a leaf

FOR EACH integer n≥3, there are open, connected n-manifolds that cannot be realized as leaves in any compact, C⁰-foliated (n+1)-manifold [8] (for the C² case, cf. [10]). For n=2, the corresponding question has been thought to be hard. Here we give a proof, announced in [7], that all open surfaces are realizable. This answers a basic question posed in [14].In the following, L denotes an open, connected 2-manifold, M a closed, connected 3-manifold.     

Collapsing irreducible 3-manifolds with nontrivial fundamental group

Let M be a closed, orientable, irreducible, non-simply connected 3-manifold. We prove that if M admits a sequence of Riemannian metrics which volume-collapses and whose sectional curvature is locally controlled, then M is a graph manifold. This is the last step in Perelman’s proof of Thurston’s Geometrisation Conjecture.     

On the pontryagin-steenrod-wu theorem

We present a short and direct proof (based on the Pontryagin-Thom construction) of the following Pontryagin-Steenrod-Wu theorem: (a) LetM be a connected orientable closed smooth (n + 1)-manifold,n≥3. Define the degree map deg: π ⁿ (M) →H ⁿ (M; ℤ) by the formula degf =f*[S ⁿ ], where [S ⁿ ] εH ⁿ (M; ℤ) is the fundamental class. The degree map is bijective, if there existsβ εH ₂(M, ℤ/2ℤ) such thatβ ·w ₂(M) ε 0. If suchβ does not exist, then deg is a 2-1 map; and (b) LetM be an orientable closed smooth (n+2)-manifold,n≥3. An elementα lies in the image of the degree map if and only ifρ ₂ α ·w ₂(M)=0, whereρ ₂: ℤ → ℤ/2ℤ is reduction modulo 2.     

On macroscopic dimension of rationally inessential manifolds

We show that, for a rationally inessential orientable closed n-manifold M whose fundamental group is a duality group, the macroscopic dimension of its universal cover [(M)\tilde]\tilde M is strictly less than n: dim _MC [(M)\tilde] < n\tilde M < n. As a corollary, we obtain the following partial result towards Gromov’s conjecture     

A note on the genus of 3-manifolds with boundary

Summary In this paper we prove that the minimum among all regular genera of the graphs representing a 3-manifold with boundaryM ³ can always be obtained by a crystallization. As a consequence, we also prove that every 3-coloured graph representing ∂M ³ is the boundary of a 4-coloured graph which representsM ³ and whose genus equals the regular genus ofM ³.

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Riassunto In questo lavoro si prova che ogni 3-varietà con bordoM ³ ammette sempre una cristallizzazione di genere minimo. Come conseguenza, si ottiene che ogni grafo 3-colorato che rappresenta ∂M ³ è il bordo di un grafo 4-colorato che rappresentaM ³, il cui genere è uguale al genere regolare diM ³.

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Work performed under the auspices of the G.N.S.A.G.A.-C.N.R., and within the Project ?Geometria delle varietà differenziabili?, supported by M.P.I. of Italy.     

Relations between a manifold and its focal set

Summary Throughout this paper, smooth meansC . All manifolds and embeddings will be smooth. By aclosed m-manifold we mean a compact connected manifold of dimensionm, without boundary.LetM be a closedm-manifold (m>0), andf: ME ⁿ an embedding in Euclideann-space. The focal points off are the centres of principal curvature (with respect to some normal direction) of the embedded manifoldf(M). These points form thefocal set C(f) off.The starting point for our investigation is the following problem. Is there any relation between the topological structure ofM and the relative positions ofC(f) andf(M) inE ⁿ ? In particular, canf be so chosen thatC(f) andf(M) are disjoint? We say that such an embedding isnonfocal.We find that there are manifolds for which no such embedding exists.     

An algorithm for finding planar surfaces in three-manifolds

By a slope in the boundary ∂M of a 3-manifold, we mean the isotopy class α of a finite set of disjoint simple closed curves in ∂M that are nontrivial and pairwise nonparallel. In this paper, we construct an algorithm to decide whether or not a given orientable 3-manifold M contains an essential planar surface whose boundary has a given slope α. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 197–202, 2005.     

Constructing integrable systems of semitoric type

Let (M, ω) be a connected, symplectic 4-manifold. A semitoric integrable system on (M, ω) essentially consists of a pair of independent, real-valued, smooth functions J and H on M, for which J generates a Hamiltonian circle action under which H is invariant. In this paper we give a general method to construct, starting from a collection of five ingredients, a symplectic 4-manifold equipped a semitoric integrable system. Then we show that every semitoric integrable system on a symplectic 4-manifold is obtained in this fashion. In conjunction with the uniqueness theorem proved recently by the authors, this gives a classification of semitoric integrable systems on 4-manifolds, in terms of five invariants.     

Margulis numbers for Haken manifolds

For every closed orientable hyperbolic Haken 3-manifold and, more generally, for any orientable hyperbolic 3-manifold M which is homeomorphic to the interior of a Haken manifold, the number 0.286 is a Margulis number. If H ₁(M;ℚ) ≠ 0, or if M is closed and contains a semi-fiber, then 0.292 is a Margulis number for M.     

Fundamental groups of manifolds with <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript>-category 2

A closed topological n-manifold M ⁿ is of S ¹-category 2 if it can be covered by two open subsets W ₁,W ₂ such that the inclusions W _i → M ⁿ factor homotopically through maps W _i → S ¹ → M ⁿ . We show that the fundamental group of such an n-manifold is a cyclic group or a free product of two cyclic groups with nontrivial amalgamation. In particular, if n = 3, the fundamental group is cyclic.      

A note on nonstable monomorphisms¶of vector bundles

In this paper we consider the question of the existence of a nonstable vector bundle monomorphism u:α→β over a closed, connected and smooth manifold M, when dimension of α= 3, dimension of β= dimension of M=n≡ 0(4). The singularity method provides the full obstruction to this problem and under some homological hypothesis we can compute it in terms of well known invariants. Received: 31 May 1999     

Nonnegativity of CR Paneitz Operator and Its Application to the CR Obata’s Theorem

In this paper, we first prove the CR analogue of M. Obata’s theorem on a closed pseudohermitian (2n+1)-manifold with free pseudohermitian torsion. Secondly, we have the CR analogue of Li-Yau’s eigenvalue estimate on the lower bound estimate of positive first eigenvalue of the sub-Laplacian on a closed pseudohermitian (2n+1)-manifold with a more general curvature condition for n≥2. The key step is a discovery of CR analogue of Bochner formula which involving the CR Paneitz operator and nonnegativity of CR Paneitz operator P ₀ for n≥2. Research supported in part by the NSC of Taiwan.     

Nonstandard uniformized conformal structures on hyperbolic manifolds

Summary The main question which the paper discusses is:Is the spaceC(M ⁿ ) of uniformized conformal structures of a finite volume (or closed) hyperbolicn-manifoldM ⁿ (or its Teichmüller space) connected or not?For the surface case (n=2) the answer is well known to be in the affirmative. By contrast, for the casen=3, we describe herein some exotic conformal structures on a closed hyperbolic 3-manifoldM which are uniformized but cannot be approximated by structures onM obtained from the distinguished conformal (=hyperbolic) structure onM by any of the presently known deformations, meaning by bendings or stampings ofM along totally geodesic submanifolds.Oblatum 17-III-1990 & 26-XI-1990This paper was written while the author was visiting Institut Mittag-Leffler, which he thanks for its hospitality. Financial support from Institut Mittag-Leffler is gratefully acknowledged. The author is thankful to Bruce Palka for his help with the English language and to Karin Lindberg for her excellent typesetting.     

Comparing the relative volume with a revolution manifold as a model

Given a pair (P, M), whereM is ann-dimensional connected compact Riemannian manifold andP is a connected compact hypersurface ofM, the relative volume of (P, M) is the quotient volume(P)/volume(M). In this paper we give a comparison theorem for the relative volume of such a pair, with some bounds on the Ricci curvature ofM and the mean curvature ofP, with respect to that of a model pair where ℳ is a revolution manifold and a “parallel” of ℳ. Work partially supported by a DGICYT Grant No. PB91-0324.     

Curvature, Diameter and Bounded Betti Numbers

In this paper, we introduce the notion of bounded Betti numbers, and show that the bounded Betti numbers of a closed Riemannian n-manifold (M, g) with Ric (M) ≥ -(n - 1) and Diam (M) ≤ D are bounded by a number depending on D and n. We also show that there are only finitely many isometric isomorphism types of bounded cohomology groups (H*(M), || · ||∞) among closed Riemannian manifold (M, g) with K(M) ≥-1 and Diam (M) ≤ D.     

Manifolds with S 1-category 2 have cyclic fundamental groups

A closed topological n-manifold M ⁿ is of S ¹-category 2 if it can be covered by two open subsets W ₁, W ₂ such that the inclusions W _i → M ⁿ factor homotopically through maps W _i → S ¹. We show that for n > 3 the fundamental group of such an n-manifold is either trivial or infinite cyclic.