Graph-encoded 3-manifolds (Q1070585)

From each in a certain class of 4-regular edge-colored graphs the authors obtain a ball complex whose underlying space \(| G|\) is a 3- manifold and which has G as its 1-skeleton. The construction of this ball complex B(G) is dual to the one of crystallization theory originated by \textit{M. Pezzana} [Atti. Semin. Mat. Fis. Univ. Modena 23 (1974), 269-277 (1975; Zbl 0314.57005)] and \textit{M. Ferri} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 73, 271- 276 (1979; Zbl 0368.55003)]. A pseudo-complex K(G) is obtained from an edge-colored graph G. If \(| K(G)|\) is a manifold then K(G) and B(G) are dual cellular decomposition of the same manifold, \(| G| \equiv | K(G)|\). The proof that every 3-manifold can be represented by a \(| G|\) is somewhat simpler than the original based on K(G): it is a direct consequence of the triangulation theorem [\textit{E. E. Moise}, Geometric topology in dimensions 2 and 3 (1977; Zbl 0349.57001)]. The authors present new crystallizations for some of the most commonly studied 3-manifolds. They have fewer vertices and more symmetry than previously published ones. A computer program was used to obtain them from bigger 3-gems and another to get symmetric drawings by using the algorithm in [\textit{W. T. Tutte}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 13, 743-768 (1963; Zbl 0115.408)]. A 4-parametric family of 3-manifolds which includes the lens spaces and Poincaré's sphere is introduced. A table of the homologies of an initial segment of this family which exhibits its richness appears in the Appendix.