arXiv subjects

Darryl McCullough

Publications and source records attributed to Darryl McCullough.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2011

Diffeomorphisms of Elliptic 3-Manifolds

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. The Smale Conjecture holds for all elliptic 3-manifolds containing geometrically incompressible Klein bottles. These include all quaternionic and prism manifolds. 2. The Smale Conjecture holds for all lens spaces L(m,q) with m at least 3. These results complete the Smale Conjecture for all cases except the 3-dimensional real projective space and those admitting a Seifert fibering over the 2-sphere with three exceptional fibers of types (2,3,3), (2,3,4), or (2,3,5). The technical work needed for these results includes the result that if V is a Haken Seifert-fibered 3-manifold, then apart from a small list of known exceptions, the inclusion from the space of fiber-preserving diffeomorphisms of V to the full diffeomorphism group is a homotopy equivalence. This has as a consequence: 3. The space of Seifert fiberings of V has contractible components, and apart from a small list of known exceptions, is contractible. Considerable foundational and background material on diffeomorphism groups is included.

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arXiv2011

Iterated splitting and the classification of knot tunnels

For a genus-1 1-bridge knot in the 3-sphere, that is, a (1,1)-knot, a middle tunnel is a tunnel that is not an upper or lower tunnel for some (1,1)-position. Most torus knots have a middle tunnel, and non-torus-knot examples were obtained by Goda, Hayashi, and Ishihara. In a previous paper, we generalized their construction and calculated the slope invariants for the resulting examples. We give an iterated version of the construction that produces many more examples, and calculate their slope invariants. If one starts with the trivial knot, the iterated constructions produce all the 2-bridge knots, giving a new calculation of the slope invariants of their tunnels. In the final section we compile a list of the known possibilities for the set of tunnels of a given tunnel number 1 knot.

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arXiv2011

The space of Heegaard Splittings

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 type (modulo the Smale Conjecture for M in the cases when it is not known).

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arXiv2011

Middle tunnels by splitting

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arXiv2011

Semisimple tunnels

A knot in the 3-sphere in genus-1 1-bridge position (called a (1,1)-position) can be described by an element of the braid group of two points in the torus. Our main results tell how to translate between a braid group element and the sequence of slope invariants of the upper and lower tunnels of the (1,1)-position. After using them to verify previous calculations of the slope invariants for all tunnels of 2-bridge knots and (1,1)-tunnels of torus knots, we obtain characterizations of the slope sequences of tunnels of 2-bridge knots, and of a class of tunnels we call toroidal. The main results lead to a general algorithm to calculate the slope invariants of the upper and lower tunnels from a braid description. The algorithm has been implemented as software, and we give some sample computations.

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arXiv2010

The Smale conjecture for Seifert fibered spaces with hyperbolic base orbifold

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 M for all compact orientable aspherical 3-manifolds. We also prove that when the base orbifold of M is hyperbolic with underlying manifold the 2-sphere with three cone points, the inclusion from the isometry group Isom(M) to Diff(M) is a homotopy equivalence.

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arXiv2009

Roots of Dehn twists

D. Margalit and S. Schleimer found examples of roots of the Dehn twist about a nonseparating curve in a closed orientable surface, that is, homeomorphisms whose nth power is isotopic to the Dehn twist. Our main theorem gives elementary number-theoretic conditions that describe the values of n for which an nth root exists, given the genus of the surface. Among its applications, we show that n must be odd, that the Margalit-Schleimer roots achieve the maximum value of n among the roots for a given genus, and that for a given odd n, nth roots exist for all genera greater than (n-2)(n-1)/2. We also describe all nth roots having n greater than or equal to the genus.

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arXiv2009

Homeomorphisms which are Dehn twists on the boundary

A homeomorphism of a 3-manifold M is said to be Dehn twists on the boundary when its restriction to the boundary of M is isotopic to the identity on the complement of a collection of disjoint simple closed curves in the boundary of M. In this paper, we give various results about such collections of curves and the associated homeomorphisms. In particular, if M is compact, orientable, irreducible and the boundary of M is a single torus, and M admits a homeomorphism which is a nontrivial Dehn twist on the boundary of M, then M must be a solid torus.

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arXiv2009

Arc distance equals level number

A knot K in 1-bridge position with respect to a genus-g Heegaard surface in a 3-manifold can be moved by isotopy through knots in 1-bridge position until it lies in a union of n parallel genus-g surfaces tubed together by n-1 straight tubes, with K intersecting each tube in two arcs connecting the ends. We prove that the minimum n for which this is possible is equal to a Hempel-type distance invariant defined using an arc complex of the two holed genus-g surface

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arXiv2008

Constructing knot tunnels using giant steps

This is the first of three papers that refine and extend portions of our earlier preprint, "Depth of a knot tunnel." Together, they rework the entire preprint. H. Goda, M. Scharlemann, and A. Thompson described a general construction of all tunnels of all tunnel number 1 knots using "tunnel moves". We apply the theory that we introduced in "The tree of knot tunnels" to study this construction. In particular, we use it to calculate the number of distinct minimal sequences of tunnel moves that can produce a given tunnel. As a consequence, we see that for a sparse infinite set of tunnels, the minimal sequence is unique, but generically a tunnel will have many such constructions.

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arXiv2008

Tunnel leveling, depth, and bridge numbers

This is the third of three papers that refine and extend portions of our earlier preprint, "The depth of a knot tunnel." Together, they rework the entire preprint. In this paper, we use the theory of tunnel number 1 knots that we introduced in "The tree of knot tunnels" to strengthen the Tunnel Leveling Theorem of H. Goda, M. Scharlemann, and A. Thompson. This yields considerable information about bridge numbers of tunnel number 1 knots. In particular, we calculate the minimum bridge number of a knot as a function of the maximum depth invariant d of its tunnels. The growth of this value is on the order of (1+\sqrt{2})^d. We also find the maximum bridge number as a function of the number of cabling constructions needed to produce the tunnel, showing in particular that the maximum bridge number of a knot produced by n cabling constructions is the (n+2)nd Fibonacci number. Finally, we examine the special case of the "middle" tunnels of torus knots.

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arXiv2008

Cabling sequences of tunnels of torus knots

This is the second of three papers that refine and extend portions of our earlier preprint, "The depth of a knot tunnel." Together, they rework the entire preprint. The theory of tunnel number 1 knots that we introduced in "The tree of knot tunnels" yields a parameterization in which each tunnel is described uniquely by a finite sequence of rational parameters and a finite sequence of 0's and 1's, that together encode a procedure for constructing the knot and tunnel. In this paper we calculate these invariants for all tunnels of torus knots.

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arXiv2007

The depth of a knot tunnel

The theory of tunnel number 1 knots detailed in our previous paper, The tree of knot tunnels, provides a non-negative integer invariant called the depth of the tunnel. We give various results related to the depth invariant. Noting that it equals the minimum number of Goda-Scharlemann-Thompson tunnel moves needed to construct the tunnel, we calculate the number of distinct minimal sequences of tunnel moves that can produce a given tunnel. Next, we give a recursion that tells the minimum bridge number of a knot having a tunnel of depth D. The rate of growth of this value improves the known estimates of the growth of bridge number as a function of the Hempel distance of the associated Heegaard splitting. We also give various upper bounds for bridge number in terms of the cabling constructions needed to produce a tunnel of a knot, showing in particular that the maximum bridge number of a knot produced by N cabling constructions is the (N+2)nd Fibonacci number. Finally, we explicitly compute the slope parameters for the "short" tunnels of torus knots. In particular, we find a sequence of such tunnels for which the bridge numbers of the associated knots, as a function of the depth, achieve the minimum growth rate. The actual minimum bridge number at a given depth cannot be achieved by a torus knot.

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arXiv2007

The tree of knot tunnels

We present a new theory which describes the collection of all tunnels of tunnel number 1 knots in the 3-sphere (up to orientation-preserving equivalence in the sense of Heegaard splittings) using the disk complex of the genus-2 handlebody and associated structures. It shows that each knot tunnel is obtained from the tunnel of the trivial knot by a uniquely determined sequence of simple cabling constructions. A cabling construction is determined by a single rational parameter, so there is a corresponding numerical parameterization of all tunnels by sequences of such parameters and some additional data. Up to superficial differences in definition, the final parameter of this sequence is the Scharlemann-Thompson invariant of the tunnel, and the other parameters are the Scharlemann-Thompson invariants of the intermediate tunnels produced by the constructions. We calculate the parameter sequences for tunnels of 2-bridge knots. The theory extends easily to links, and to allow equivalence of tunnels by homeomorphisms that may be orientation-reversing.

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arXiv2004

Orientation-reversing free actions on handlebodies

We examine free orientation-reversing group actions on orientable handlebodies, and free actions on nonorientable handlebodies. A classification theorem is obtained, giving the equivalence classes and weak equivalence classes of free actions in terms of algebraic invariants that involve Nielsen equivalence. This is applied to describe the sets of free actions in various cases, including a complete classification for many (and conjecturally all) cases above the minimum genus. For abelian groups, the free actions are classified for all genera.

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arXiv2004

The Smale Conjecture for lens spaces

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.

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arXiv2001

Imbeddings of free actions on handlebodies

Fix a free, orientation-preserving action of a finite group G on a 3-dimensional handlebody V. Whenever G acts freely preserving orientation on a connected 3-manifold X, there is a G-equivariant imbedding of V into X. There are choices of X closed and Seifert-fibered for which the image of V is a handlebody of a Heegaard splitting of X. Provided that the genus of V is at least 2, there are similar choices with X closed and hyperbolic.

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arXiv2001

Free actions on handlebodies

The equivalence (or weak equivalence) classes of orientation-preserving free actions of a finite group G on an orientable 3-dimensional handlebody of genus g can be enumerated in terms of sets of generators of G. They correspond to the equivalence classes of generating n-vectors of elements of G, where n=1+(g-1)/|G|, under Nielsen equivalence (or weak Nielsen equivalence). For abelian and dihedral G, this allows a complete determination of the equivalence and weak equivalence classes of actions for all genera. Additional information is obtained for solvable groups and for the groups PSL(2,3^p) with p prime. For all G, there is only one equivalence class of actions on the genus g handlebody if g is at least 1+r(G)|G|, where r(G) is the maximal length of a chain of subgroups of G. There is a stabilization process that sends an equivalence class of actions to an equivalence class of actions on a higher genus, and some results about its effects are obtained.

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