Pseudo-isotopies et isotopies en dimension quatre dans la catégorie topologique. (Pseudo-isotopies and isotopies of dimension four in the topological category) (Q1094707)

If M is a 1-connected smooth manifold of dimension \(\geq 5\), \textit{J. Cerf} [La stratification naturelle de l'espace des fonctions différentiables, Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 39, 5-173 (1970; Zbl 0213.252)] has proved that a pseudoisotopy on \(M\times I\) is isotopic to an isotopy. By the work of \textit{R. C. Kirby} and \textit{L. C. Siebenmann} [Foundational essays on topological manifolds, smoothings and triangulations (1977; Zbl 0361.57004)] the same holds in the topological category. In dimension 4 the most basic obstruction to extending Cerf's result is the failure of the Whitney trick in the smooth category. The author shows how one can overcome these difficulties for topological 4-manifolds by using the results of \textit{M. Freedman} [J. Differ. Geom. 17, 357-453 (1982; Zbl 0528.57011)]. The main result is that a topological pseudoisotopy of a closed topological 1-connected 4-manifold is isotopic to a topological isotopy (Corollary 1). As an application he proves that homotopic homeomorphisms of closed 1-connected 4-manifolds are topologically isotopic (Corollary 2). Note that this application can be improved, since the reviewer had proved that two diffeomorphisms of 1-connected closed smooth 4-manifolds are pseudoisotopic if and only if they induce the same map on homology (the same methods give the corresponding topological result) [the reviewer, Lect. Notes Math. 763, 643-663 (1979; Zbl 0421.57009)]. (The results of Perron and the improved application were later on re-proved by \textit{F. Quinn} [J. Differ. Geom. 24, 343-372 (1986; Zbl 0617.57007)].)