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Rachel Roberts

Publications and source records attributed to Rachel Roberts.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Taut foliations from double-diamond replacements

A 3-manifold is foliar if it supports a codimension-one co-oriented taut foliation. Suppose $M$ is an oriented 3-manifold with connected boundary a torus, and suppose $M$ contains a properly embedded, compact, oriented, surface $R$ with a single boundary component that is Thurston norm minimizing in $H_2(M, \partial M)$. We define a readily recognizable type of sutured manifold decomposition, which for notational reasons we call double-diamond taut, and show that if $R$ admits a double-diamond taut sutured manifold decomposition, then every boundary slope except one is strongly realized by a co-oriented taut foliation; that is, the foliation intersects $\partial M$ transversely in a foliation by curves of that slope. In the case that $M$ is the complement of a knot $\kappa$ in $S^3$, the exceptional filling is the meridional one, and hence $\kappa$ is persistently foliar, by which we mean that every non-trivial slope is strongly realized; hence, restricting attention to rational slopes, every manifold obtained by non-trivial Dehn surgery along $\kappa$ is foliar. In particular, if $R$ is a Murasugi sum of surfaces $R_1$ and $R_2$, where $R_2$ is an unknotted band with an even number $2m\ge 4$ of half-twists, then $\kappa= \partial R$ is persistently foliar.

math.GT

Persistently foliar composite knots

A knot $\kappa$ in $S^3$ is persistently foliar if, for each non-trivial boundary slope, there is a co-oriented taut foliation meeting the boundary of the knot complement transversely in a foliation by curves of that slope. For rational slopes, these foliations may be capped off by disks to obtain a co-oriented taut foliation in every manifold obtained by non-trivial Dehn surgery on that knot. We show that any composite knot with a persistently foliar summand is persistently foliar and that any nontrivial connected sum of fibered knots is persistently foliar. As an application, it follows that any composite knot in which each of two summands is fibered or at least one summand is nontorus alternating or Montesinos is persistently foliar. We note that, in constructing foliations in the complements of fibered summands, we build branched surfaces whose complementary regions agree with those of Gabai's product disk decompositions, except for the one containing the boundary of the knot complement. It is this boundary region which provides for persistence.

math.GT

Basalt or not? Near-infrared spectra, surface mineralogical estimates, and meteorite analogs for 33 Vp-type asteroids

Investigations of the main asteroid belt and efforts to constrain that population's physical characteristics involve the daunting task of studying hundreds of thousands of small bodies. Taxonomic systems are routinely employed to study the large scale nature of the asteroid belt because they utilize common observational parameters, but asteroid taxonomies only define broadly observable properties and are not compositionally diagnostic (Tholen, 1984; Carvano et al., 2010, Hasselmann et al., 2012). This work builds upon the results of Hardersen et al. (2014, 2015), which has the goal of constraining the abundance and distribution of basaltic asteroids throughout the main asteroid belt. We report on the near infrared (NIR: 0.7 to 2.5 microns) reflectance spectra, surface mineralogical characterizations, spectral band parameter analysis, and meteorite analogs for 33 Vp asteroids. NIR reflectance spectroscopy is an effective remote sensing technique to detect most pyroxene group minerals, which are spectrally distinct with two very broad spectral absorptions at 0.9 and 1.9 microns (Cloutis et al., 1986; Gaffey et al., 2002; Burbine et al., 2009). Combined with the results from Hardersen et al. (2014, 2015), we identify basaltic asteroids for 95 percent (39 of 41) of our inner-belt Vp sample, but only 25 percent (2 of 8) of the outer-belt Vp sample. Inner belt basaltic asteroids are most likely associated with 4 Vesta and represent impact fragments ejected from previous collisions. Outer belt Vp asteroids exhibit disparate spectral, mineralogic, and meteorite analog characteristics and likely originate from diverse parent bodies. The discovery of two additional likely basaltic asteroids provides additional evidence for an outer-belt basaltic asteroid population.

astro-ph.EP

$C^{1,0}$ Foliation Theory

Transverse one dimensional foliations play an important role in the study of codimension one foliations. In \cite{KR2}, the authors introduced the notion of flow box decomposition of a 3-manifold $M$. This is a decomposition of $M$ that reflects both the structure of a given codimension one foliation and that of a given transverse flow. In this paper, flow box decompositions are used to extend some classical foliation results to foliations that are not $C^2$. Enhancements of well-known results of Calegari on smoothing leaves, Dippolito on Denjoy blowup of leaves, and Tischler on approximations by fibrations are obtained. The methods developed are not intrinsically 3-dimensional techniques, and should generalize to prove corresponding results for codimension one foliations in $n$-dimensional manifolds.

math.GT

Taut foliations

We describe notions of tautness that arise in the study of $C^0$ foliations, $C^{1,0}$ or smoother foliations, and in geometry. We give examples to show that these notions are different, and discuss how these differences impact some classical foliation results. We construct examples of smoothly taut $C^{\infty,0}$ foliations that can be $C^0$ approximated by both weakly symplectically fillable, universally tight contact structures and by overtwisted contact structures.

math.GT

Vestoids, Part II: The basaltic nature and HED meteorite analogs for eight Vp-type asteroids and their associations with (4) Vesta

Improving constraints on the abundance of basaltic asteroids in the main asteroid belt is necessary for better understanding the thermal and collisional environment in the early solar system, for more rigorously identifying the genetic family for (4) Vesta, for determining the effectiveness of Yarkovsky/YORP in dispersing asteroid families, and for better quantifying the population of basaltic asteroids in the outer main belt (a greater than 2.5 AU) that are likely unrelated to (4) Vesta. NIR spectral observations in this work were obtained for the Vp-type asteroids (2011) Veteraniya, (5875) Kuga, (8149) Ruff, (9147) Kourakuen, (9553) Colas, (15237) 1988 RL6, (31414) Rotaryusa, and (32940) 1995 UW4 during August and September 2014 utilizing the SpeX spectrograph at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Spectral band parameter (band centers, Band Area Ratios) and mineralogical analysis (pyroxene chemistry) for each average asteroid NIR reflectance spectrum suggests a howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorite analog for each asteroid. (5875) Kuga is most closely associated with the eucrite meteorites, (31414) Rotaryusa is most closely associated with the diogenites, and the remaining other six asteroids are most closely associated with the howardite meteorites. Along with orbital locations in the inner main belt and in the vicinity of (4) Vesta, the existing evidence suggests that these eight Vp-type asteroids are also likely Vestoids.

astro-ph.EP

$C^0$ Approximations of foliations

Suppose that $\mathcal F$ is a transversely oriented, codimension one foliation of a connected, closed, oriented 3-manifold. Suppose also that $\mathcal F$ has continuous tangent plane field and is {\sl taut}; that is, closed smooth transversals to $\mathcal F$ pass through every point of $M$. We show that if $\mathcal F$ is not the product foliation $S^1\times S^2$, then $\mathcal F$ can be $C^0$ approximated by weakly symplectically fillable, universally tight, contact structures. This extends work of Eliashberg-Thurston on approximations of taut, transversely oriented $C^2$ foliations to the class of foliations that often arise in branched surface constructions of foliations. This allows applications of contact topology and Floer theory beyond the category of $C^2$ foliated spaces.

math.GT

More chips off of Asteroid (4) Vesta: characterization of eight Vestoids and their HED meteorite analogs

This work reports high quality NIR spectra, and their respective interpretations, for eight Vp type asteroids, as defined by Carvano et al. (2010), that were observed at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on January 14, 2013 UT. They include (3867) Shiretoko, (5235) Jean-Loup, (5560) Amytis, (6331) 1992 FZ1, (6976) Kanatsu, (17469) 1991 BT, (29796) 1999 CW77, and (30872) 1992 EM17. All eight asteroids exhibit the broad 0.9 and 1.9 micron mineral absorption features indicative of pyroxene on each asteroid's surface. Data reduction and analysis via multiple techniques produced consistent results for the derived spectral absorption band centers and average pyroxene surface chemistries for all eight asteroids (Reddy et al., 2012; Lindsay et al., 2013,2014; Gaffey et al., 2002; Burbine et al., 2009). (3867) Shiretoko is most consistent with the eucrite meteorites while the remaining seven asteroids are most consistent with the howardite meteorites. The existing evidence suggests that all eight of these Vp type asteroids are genetic Vestoids that probably originated from Vesta's surface.

astro-ph.EP

Approximating $C^{1,0}$-foliations

We extend the Eliashberg-Thurston theorem on approximations of taut oriented $C^2$-foliations of 3-manifolds by both positive and negative contact structures to a large class of taut oriented $C^{1,0}$-foliations, where by $C^{1,0}$ foliation, we mean a foliation with continuous tangent plane field. These $C^{1,0}$-foliations can therefore be approximated by weakly symplectically fillable, universally tight, contact structures. This allows applications of $C^2$-foliation theory to contact topology and Floer theory to be generalized and extended to constructions of $C^{1,0}$-foliations.

math.GT

Taut foliations in surface bundles with multiple boundary components

Let $M$ be a fibered 3-manifold with multiple boundary components. We show that the fiber structure of $M$ transforms to closely related transversely oriented taut foliations realizing all rational multislopes in some open neighborhood of the multislope of the fiber. Each such foliation extends to a taut foliation in the closed 3-manifold obtained by Dehn filling along its boundary multislope. The existence of these foliations implies that certain contact structures are weakly symplectically fillable.

math.GT

Taut foliations in knot complements

We show that for any nontrivial knot in $S^3$, there is an open interval containing zero such that a Dehn surgery on any slope in this interval yields a 3-manifold with taut foliations. This generalizes a theorem of Gabai on zero frame surgery.

math.GT

Fractional Dehn twists in knot theory and contact topology

Fractional Dehn twists give a measure of the difference between the relative isotopy class of a homeomorphism of a bordered surface and the Thurston representative of its free isotopy class. We show how to estimate and compute these invariants. We discuss the the relationship of our work to stabilization problems in classical knot theory, general open book decompositions, and contact topology. We include an elementary characterization of overtwistedness for contact structures described by open book decompositions.

math.GT