Hurwitz-type bound, knot surgery, and smooth \(\mathbb S^1\)-four-manifolds (Q2636963)

Chen constructs smooth \(4\)-manifolds that admit no \(S^1\) action, but admit \(\mathbb{Z}_n\) actions with large \(n\). A family with fixed intersection pairing, and fixed non-vanishing Seiberg-Witten invariant is presented. The paper calls on a wide range of mathematical results, from the resolution of the geometrization conjecture in \(3\)-dimensions, the orbifold theorem in \(3\)-dimensions, Taubes' work relating Seiberg-Witten theory to Gromov-Witten theory, and many other big results. Chen does a good job summarizing other results related to group actions on smooth \(4\)-manifolds, so this paper gives a nice introduction to this area of research, while presenting an interesting new result.