arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Marco Marengon.
We give an alternative proof of a result of Miyazaki and Yasuhara that there exists links that are not smoothly slice in $S^2 \times S^2$. We discuss potential applications to the detection of exotic $S^2 \times S^2$. This is a follow-up note to a similar paper for the $\mathbb{CP}^2 \# \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$ case.
For every $n \ge 3$, we construct 2-component links in $S^{n+1}$ that are a split by an integer homology $n$-sphere, but not by $S^n$. In the special case $n=3$, i.e. that of 2-links in $S^4$, we produce an infinite family of links $L_\ell$ and of integer homology spheres $Y_\ell$ such that the link $L_\ell$ is (topologically or smoothly) split by $Y_\ell$ and by no other integer homology sphere in the family.
We show that there exists a link with 2 components which is not smoothly slice in $\mathbb{CP}^2 \# \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$. By contrast, it is well-known that every knot (i.e., link with 1 component) is smoothly slice therein. Our proof uses classical topological and smooth obstructions, as well as constructive arguments to exploit the symmetries of the problem. As a consequence, we show that there are infinitely many integer homology 3-spheres such that if any of them bounds a ribbon integer homology 4-ball, than there exists an exotic $\mathbb{CP}^2 \# \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$.
We use the immersed curves description of bordered Floer homology to study $d$-invariants of double branched covers $Σ_2(L)$ of arborescent links $L \subset S^3$. We define a new invariant $Δ_{sym}$ of bordered $\mathbb{Z}_2$-homology solid tori from an involution of the associated immersed curves and relate it to both the $d$-invariants and the Neumann-Siebenmann $\barμ$-invariants of certain fillings. We deduce that if $L$ is a 2-component arborescent link and $Σ_2(L)$ is an L-space, then the spin $d$-invariants of $Σ_2(L)$ are determined by the signatures of $L$. By a separate argument, we show that the same relationship holds when $L$ is a 2-component link that admits a certain symmetry.
We prove that all knots with unknotting number at most 21 are smoothly slice in the K3 surface. We also prove a more general statement for 4-manifolds that contain a plumbing tree of spheres. Our strategy is based on a flexible method to remove double points of immersed surfaces in 4-manifolds by tubing over neighbourhoods of embedded trees. As a byproduct, we recover a classical result of Norman and Suzuki that every knot is smoothly slice in $S^2 \times S^2$ and in $\mathbb{CP}^2 \# \overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}$.
In this brief note, we investigate the $\mathbb{CP}^2$-genus of knots, i.e. the least genus of a smooth, compact, orientable surface in $\mathbb{CP}^2\setminus \mathring{B^4}$ bounded by a knot in $S^3$. We show that this quantity is unbounded, unlike its topological counterpart. We also investigate the $\mathbb{CP}^2$-genus of torus knots. We apply these results to improve the minimal genus bound for some homology classes in $\mathbb{CP}^2\# \mathbb{CP}^2$.
These notes provide an introduction to the stable homotopy types in Khovanov theory (due to Lipshitz-Sarkar) and in knot Floer theory (due to Manolescu-Sarkar). They were written following a lecture series given by Sucharit Sarkar at the Renyi Institute during a special semester on "Singularities and low-dimensional topology", organised by the Erdos Center.
Given a closed four-manifold $X$ with an indefinite intersection form, we consider smoothly embedded surfaces in $X \setminus $int$(B^4)$, with boundary a knot $K \subset S^3$. We give several methods to bound the genus of such surfaces in a fixed homology class. Our tools include adjunction inequalities and the $10/8 + 4$ theorem. In particular, we present obstructions to a knot being H-slice (that is, bounding a null-homologous disk) in a four-manifold and show that the set of H-slice knots can detect exotic smooth structures on closed $4$-manifolds.
For a ribbon knot, it is a folk conjecture that the rank of its knot Floer homology must be 1 modulo 8, and another folk conjecture says the same about reduced Khovanov homology. We give the first counter-examples to both of these folk conjectures, but at the same time present compelling evidence for new conjectures that either of these homologies must have rank congruent to 1 modulo 4 for any ribbon knot. We prove that each revised conjecture is equivalent to showing that taking the rank of the homology modulo 4 gives a homomorphism of the knot concordance group. We check the revised conjectures for 2.4 million ribbon knots, and also prove they hold for ribbon knots with fusion number 1.
We use unoriented versions of instanton and knot Floer homology to prove inequalities involving the Euler characteristic and the number of local maxima appearing in unorientable cobordisms, which mirror results of a recent paper by Juhasz, Miller, and Zemke concerning orientable cobordisms. Most of the subtlety in our argument lies in the fact that maps for non-orientable cobordisms require more complicated decorations than their orientable counterparts. We introduce unoriented versions of the band unknotting number and the refined cobordism distance and apply our results to give bounds on these based on the torsion orders of the Floer homologies. Finally, we show that the difference between the unoriented refined cobordism distance of a knot $K$ from the unknot and the non-orientable slice genus of $K$ can be arbitrarily large.
We extend the definition of Khovanov-Lee homology to links in connected sums of $S^1 \times S^2$'s, and construct a Rasmussen-type invariant for null-homologous links in these manifolds. For certain links in $S^1 \times S^2$, we compute the invariant by reinterpreting it in terms of Hochschild homology. As applications, we prove inequalities relating the Rasmussen-type invariant to the genus of surfaces with boundary in the following four-manifolds: $B^2 \times S^2$, $S^1 \times B^3$, $\mathbb{CP}^2$, and various connected sums and boundary sums of these. We deduce that Rasmussen's invariant also gives genus bounds for surfaces inside homotopy 4-balls obtained from $B^4$ by Gluck twists. Therefore, it cannot be used to prove that such homotopy 4-balls are non-standard.
We give a generators-and-relations description of differential graded algebras recently introduced by Ozsváth and Szabó for the computation of knot Floer homology. We also compute the homology of these algebras and determine when they are formal.
We define new differential graded algebras A(n,k,S) in the framework of Lipshitz-Ozsváth-Thurston's and Zarev's strands algebras from bordered Floer homology. The algebras A(n,k,S) are meant to be strands models for Ozsváth-Szabó's algebras B(n,k,S); indeed, we exhibit a quasi-isomorphism from B(n,k,S) to A(n,k,S). We also show how Ozsváth-Szabó's gradings on B(n,k,S) arise naturally from the general framework of group-valued gradings on strands algebras.
The Knight Move Conjecture claims that the Khovanov homology of any knot decomposes as direct sums of some "knight move" pairs and a single "pawn move" pair. This is true for instance whenever the Lee spectral sequence from Khovanov homology to Q^2 converges on the second page, as it does for all alternating knots and knots with unknotting number at most 2. We present a counterexample to the Knight Move Conjecture. For this knot, the Lee spectral sequence admits a nontrivial differential of bidegree (1,8).
We study the maps induced on link Floer homology by elementary decorated link cobordisms. We compute these for births, deaths, stabilizations, and destabilizations, and show that saddle cobordisms can be computed in terms of maps in a decorated skein exact triangle that extends the oriented skein exact triangle in knot Floer homology. In particular, we completely determine the Alexander and Maslov grading shifts. As a corollary, we compute the maps induced by elementary cobordisms between unlinks. We show that these give rise to a $(1+1)$-dimensional TQFT that coincides with the reduced Khovanov TQFT. Hence, when applied to the cube of resolutions of a marked link diagram, it gives the complex defining the reduced Khovanov homology of the knot. Finally, we define a spectral sequence from (reduced) Khovanov homology using these cobordism maps, and we prove that it is an invariant of the (marked) link.
We show that a decorated knot concordance $C$ from $K$ to $K'$ induces a homomorphism $F_C$ on knot Floer homology that preserves the Alexander and Maslov gradings. Furthermore, it induces a morphism of the spectral sequences to $\widehat{HF}(S^3) \cong \mathbb{Z}_2$ that agrees with $F_C$ on the $E^1$ page and is the identity on the $E^\infty$ page. It follows that $F_C$ is non-vanishing on $\widehat{HFK}_0(K, τ(K))$. We also obtain an invariant of slice disks in homology 4-balls bounding $S^3$. If $C$ is invertible, then $F_C$ is injective, hence $\dim \widehat{HFK}_j(K,i) \le \dim \widehat{HFK}_j(K',i)$ for every $i$, $j \in \mathbb{Z}$. This implies an unpublished result of Ruberman that if there is an invertible concordance from the knot $K$ to $K'$, then $g(K) \le g(K')$, where $g$ denotes the Seifert genus. Furthermore, if $g(K) = g(K')$ and $K'$ is fibred, then so is $K$.
By considering negative surgeries on a knot $K$ in $S^3$, we derive a lower bound to the non-orientable slice genus $γ_4(K)$ in terms of the signature $σ(K)$ and the concordance invariants $V_i(\overline{K})$, which strengthens a previous bound given by Batson, and which coincides with Ozsváth-Stipsicz-Szabó's bound in terms of their $\upsilon$ invariant for L-space knots and quasi-alternating knots. A curious feature of our bound is superadditivity, implying, for instance, that the bound on the stable non-orientable genus is sometimes better than the one on $γ_4(K)$.
We prove that for particular infinite families of $L$-spaces, arising as branched double covers, the $d$-invariants defined by Ozsváth and Szabó are arbitrarily large and small. As a consequence, we generalise a result by Greene and Watson by proving, for every odd number $Δ\geq 5$, the existence of infinitely many non-quasi-alternating homologically thin knots with determinant $Δ^2$, and a result by Hoffman and Walsh concerning the existence of hyperbolic weight $1$ manifolds that are not surgery on a knot in $S^3$.