Complexity of geometric three-manifolds (Q1768249)

The notion of \textit{complexity} \(c(M)\) for closed orientable 3-manifolds was introduced by \textit{S. V. Matveev} in [Acta Appl. Math. 19, No. 2, 101--130 (1990; Zbl 0724.57012)]. The present paper faces the problem of complexity computation by introducing a sequence \((c_n)_{n=0}^{\infty}\) of functions with values in \(\mathbb N \cup \{\infty\}\) such that, for any given \(M\), the sequence \((c_n(M))_{n=0}^{\infty}\) is non-increasing and has constant value \(c(M)\) for \(n \gg 0\). Note that definition and calculation of \(c_n(M)\) are based on the theory of decomposition of irreducible manifolds into \textit{bricks}, developed by the authors in [Ill. J. Math. 46(3), 755--780 (2002; Zbl 1033.57011)]. The value of \(c_n\), for \(n\leq 9,\) is explicitly computed on all torus bundles over \(\mathbb S^1\), on all Seifert manifolds (except for certain very special ones fibered over the sphere, for which another complexity estimation is defined and computed) and on all hyperbolic Dehn fillings of \(M6^3_1\), i.e. the complement of the chain link \(6^3_1\) with three components. Hence, useful upper bounds on Matveev's complexity are obtained for all orientable irreducible geometric 3-manifolds. As a consequence, the authors refine the main result of \textit{B. Martelli} and \textit{C. Petronio} [Exp. Math. 10(2), 207--236 (2001; Zbl 1050.57018)], determining the exact list and the geometry of all closed orientable irreducible 3-manifolds up to complexity 9.