A note on Akbulut corks (Q1429381)

Let \(X_0\) and \(X_1\) be two smooth, closed, oriented, simply connected \(4\)-manifolds. If \(X_0\) and \(X_1\) are homeomorphic (but not necessarily diffeomorphic), then it is known that there is a compact, contractible smooth submanifold \(W\) of \(X_0\) such that \(W\) may be cut out from \(X_0\) and re-glued by an involution of its boundary to yield a manifold diffeomorphic to \(X_1\) [\textit{C. Curtis}, \textit{M. Freedman}, \textit{W. Hsiang} and \textit{R. Stong}, Invent. Math. 123, 343--348 (1996; Zbl 0843.57020)]. Examples illustrating this phenomenon were discovered prior to the proof of this theorem by \textit{S. Akbulut} [J. Differ. Geom. 33, 335--356 (1991; Zbl 0839.57015)], and the contractible piece is now referred to in general as an {Akbulut cork}. Akbulut's examples appear in an indexed family \(X_0(n)\) and \(X_1(n)\), with \(X_0(n)\) being a blown up elliptic surface \(E(n)\), and \(X_1(n)\) the connected sum of \(2n-1\) copies of the complex projective plane \({\mathbb C}P^2\) and \(10n\) copies of \({\mathbb C}P^2\) with its orientation reversed. The Akbulut cork in these examples is the same for each \(n\), and has a particularly simple description as a handlebody with one \(1\)-handle and one \(2\)-handle. Moreover, the involution \(\tau\) on \(\Sigma=\partial W\) is visible as the interchange of the two components in a Kirby calculus diagram of \(\Sigma\). In this paper, the author studies the Floer homology of \(\Sigma\), and shows in particular that the homomorphism induced by \(\tau\) on the Floer homology of \(\Sigma\) is a non-trivial involution. The core of the argument consists of an explicit analysis of the \(SU(2)\)-representation variety of \(\pi_1(\Sigma)\), together with a determination of the effect of the involution induced by \(\tau\) on that variety. As a consequence, it follows that the Floer chain complex has a non-trivial boundary operator. In addition, the author comments in detail on how the induced map \(\tau_\ast\) effects the Donaldson invariants of the manifolds, lending insight into how the reglueing of \(W\) changes the smooth structures.