4--manifolds as covers of the 4--sphere branched over non-singular surfaces (Q1811525)

The realizability of manifolds as branched coverings of spheres has a long and rich history in manifold topology. \textit{J. W. Alexander} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 26, 370-373 (1920)] proved that any orientable closed \(m\)-dimensional PL manifold is a branched covering of the \(m\)-sphere \(S^m\), although his argument placed no restrictions on the degree of the covering. For \(m=2\), it is clear that every closed orientable surface of genus \(g\) is a \(2\)-sheeted branched covering of \(S^2\), branched over \(2g+2\) points. For \(m=3\), a celebrated (independent) result of \textit{H. M. Hilden} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 80, 1243-1244 (1974; Zbl 0298.55001)], \textit{U. Hirsch} [Math. Z. 140, 203-230 (1974; Zbl 0279.57004], and \textit{H. M. Montesinos} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 80, 845-846 (1974; Zbl 0292.57003)] is that every closed orientable \(3\)-manifold is a simple \(3\)-fold branched covering of \(S^3\), branched over a link in \(S^3\). For \(m=4\), the second author [Topology 34, No. 3, 497-508 (1995; Zbl 0869.57002)] showed that every closed orientable PL \(4\)-manifold is a simple \(4\)-fold cover of \(S^4\), with the branch set an immersed PL surface with a finite number of nodal singularities. In that paper, the question of finding an embedded locally flat branch surface was left open. In this paper, the authors show that any closed orientable PL \(4\)-manifold can be realized as a \(5\)-fold branched covering of \(S^4\), branched over a PL embedded locally flat surface. The method of proof is to begin by realizing any such manifold as a \(4\)-fold covering branched over an immersed surface as above, and then to show that there is a cobordism between that covering with a trivial fifth sheet added and a \(5\)-fold covering branched over a locally flat surface. The question of whether any such manifold can be obtained as a covering branched over a locally flat surface using only four sheets remains open.