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T. Tam Nguyen Phan

Publications and source records attributed to T. Tam Nguyen Phan.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Eine Bemerkung zu einigen $2$-dimensionalen Komplexen, die im $\mathbb{R}^4$ fast-eingebettet werden können

We observe that many of the 2-complexes constructed by Freedman-Krushkal-Teichner in their paper on the incompleteness of the van Kampen embedding obstruction can actually be PL immersed in $\mathbb{R}^4$ in such a way that the images of the interiors of distinct cells are disjoint. In other words, they PL almost-embed in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with singularities occurring only as self intersections of some 2-cells. This note is written in (not necessarily modern) German.

math.GT↗

Fungible obstructions to embedding 2-complexes

We give examples of finite, simplicial $2$-complexes that do not PL embed in $\mathbb{R}^4$ and exhibit, for each such complex, a family of PL immersions into $\mathbb{R}^4$ that hide the obstruction to embedding in "higher and higher order Milnor invariants". In addition, we show that the embedding obstructions defined by Krushkal in [8] vanish for our examples. We also answer a question in a paper of Avramidi-Okun-Schreve.

math.GT↗

A remark on $\varepsilon$-maps in dimension 1

Let $f\colon \mathbb{S}^1\rightarrow G$ be a surjective map from the standard unit circle to a graph $G$ such that the pre-image of each point has diameter less than $\varepsilon$. If $\varepsilon$ is small enough, does $f$ split as a free factor in $π_1(G)$?

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Half dimensional collapse of ends of manifolds of nonpositive curvature

This paper accomplishes two things. First, we construct a geometric analog of the rational Tits building for general noncompact, complete, finite volume $n$-manifolds $M$ of bounded nonpositive curvature. Second, we prove that this analog has dimension less than $\lfloor n/2\rfloor$.

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Examples of noncompact nonpositively curved manifolds

We give a simple construction of new, complete, finite volume manifolds $M$ of bounded, nonpositive curvature. These manifolds have ends that look like a mixture of locally symmetric ends of different ranks and their fundamental groups are not duality groups.

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Flat cycles in the homology of Γ\SL(m,R)/SO(m)

In this paper we show that flat (m-1)-dimensional tori give nontrivial rational homology cycles in congruence covers of the locally symmetric space SL(m,Z) \SL(m,R)/SO(m). We also show that the dimension of the subspace of H_{m-1}(Γ\SL(m,R)/SO(m);Q) spanned by flat (m-1)-tori grows as one goes up in congruence covers.

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Non-aspherical ends and nonpositive curvature

We obtain restrictions on the topology of a closed connected manifold B that bounds a (possibly noncompact) manifold whose interior V admits a complete Riemannian metric of nonpositive sectional curvature. If G denotes the fundamental group of B, then a sample result is that B must be aspherical and incompressible if one of the following is true: (1) V has finite volume and G is virtually nilpotent, (2) G is virtually nilpotent and has no proper torsion-free quotients, (3) G is isomorphic to a uniform, irreducible lattice of real rank > 1.

math.DG↗

Fundamental groups of finite volume, bounded negatively curved 4-manifolds are not 3-manifold groups

We study noncompact, complete, finite volume, Riemannian 4-manifolds $M$ with sectional curvature $-1<K<0$. We prove that $π_1 M$ cannot be a 3-manifold group. A classical theorem of Gromov says that $M$ is homeomorphic to the interior of a compact manifold $\M$ with boundary $\partial\barM$. We show that for each $π_1$-injective boundary component $C$ of $\M$, the map $i_*$ induced by inclusion $i\colon C\rightarrow \M$ has infinite index image $i_*(π_1 C)$ in $π_1 \M$. We also prove that $M$ cannot be homotoped to be contained in $\partial\M$.

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Nil happens. What about Sol?

We construct complete, finite volume, 4-dimensional manifolds with sectional curvature $-1<K<0$ with cusp cross sections compact solvmanifolds.

math.DG↗

On finite volume, negatively curved manifolds

We study noncompact, complete, finite volume, negatively curved manifolds $M$. We construct $M$ with infinitely generated fundamental groups in all dimensions $n \geq 2$. We construct $M$ whose cusp cross sections are compact hyperbolic manifolds in all dimension $n\geq 3$. In contrast we show that if sectional curvature $-1<K(M)<0$, then cusp cross sections have zero simplicial volume. We construct negatively curved lattices that do not contain any parabolic isometries. We show that there are $M$ such that $\widetilde{M}$ does not satisfy the visibility axiom. We give a condition on the curvature growth versus the volume decay that guarantees topological finiteness. We raise a few questions on finite volume, negatively curved manifolds.

math.DG↗

Smooth (non)rigidity of cusp-decomposable manifolds

We define cusp-decomposable manifolds and prove smooth rigidity within this class of manifolds. These manifolds generally do not admit a nonpositively curved metric but can be decomposed into pieces that are diffeomorphic to finite volume, locally symmetric, negatively curved manifolds with cusps. We prove that the group of outer automorphisms of the fundamental group of such a manifold is an extension of an abelian group by a finite group. Elements of the abelian group are induced by diffeomorphisms that are analogous to Dehn twists in surface topology. We also prove that the outer automophism group can be realized by a group of diffeomorphisms of the manifold.

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Minimal orbifolds and (a)symmetry of piecewise locally symmetric manifolds

We show that if $g$ is a Riemannian metric on a closed piecewise locally symmetric manifold $M$, then the lift of $g$ to the universal cover $\widetilde{M}$ has a discrete isometry group. We also show that the index $[\Isom(\widetilde{M}): π_1(M)]$ is bounded by a constant independent of $g$.

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Gluing locally symmetric manifolds: asphericity and rigidity

We use the reflection group trick to glue manifolds with corners that are Borel-Serre compactifications of locally symmetric spaces of noncompact type and obtain aspherical manifolds. We call these \emph{piecewise locally symmetric} manifolds. This class of spaces provide new examples of aspherical manifolds whose fundamental groups have the structure of a complex of groups. These manifolds typically do not admit a locally $\CAT(0)$ metric. We prove that any self homotopy equivalence of such manifolds is homotopic to a homeomorphism. We compute the group of self homotopy equivalences of such a manifold and show that it can contain a normal free abelian subgroup, and thus can be infinite.

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Smooth (non)rigidity of piecewise rank one locally symmetric manifolds

We define \emph{piecewise rank 1} manifolds, which are aspherical manifolds that generally do not admit a nonpositively curved metric but can be decomposed into pieces that are diffeomorphic to finite volume, irreducible, locally symmetric, nonpositively curved manifolds with $π_1$-injective cusps. We prove smooth (self) rigidity for this class of manifolds in the case where the gluing preserves the cusps' homogeneous structure. We compute the group of self homotopy equivalences of such a manifold and show that it can contain a normal free abelian subgroup and thus, can be infinite. Elements of this abelian subgroup are twists along elements in the center of the fundamental group of a cusp.

math.GT↗