Three manifolds as geometric branched coverings of the three sphere (Q1959075)

It is well known that every closed orientable \(3\)-manifold is obtained as a three-fold irregular simple branched cover of the \(3\)-sphere \(S^3\) with branch set a knot or a link, due to \textit{H. M. Hilden} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 80, 1243--1244 (1974; Zbl 0298.55001)], \textit{J. M. Montesinos} [ibid., 845--846 (1974; Zbl 0292.57003)], \textit{U. Hirsch} [Math. Z. 140, 203--230 (1974; Zbl 0279.57004)]. The purpose of the paper under review is to give a geometric version of this classical fact in some sense. \textit{H. M. Hilden, M. T. Lozano, J. M. Montesinos} and \textit{W. C. Whitten} [Invent. Math. 87, 441--456 (1987; Zbl 0613.57007)] showed that the orbifold group \(U\) of the Borromean rings with singular angle ninety degrees is universal. This means that every connected orientable \(3\)-manifold \(M\) occurs as a quotient space \(\mathbb{H}^3/G\), where \(G\) is a finite index subgroup of \(U\). In the current paper, a new proof of the universality of \(U\), based on local moves for a branch set, is given. As a byproduct, the doubled Borromean rings and doubled Whitehead links are shown to be \(2\)-universal. The main result precisely says that for a given closed orientable \(3\)-manifold \(M\), there are subgroups \(G\) and \(G_1\) of \(U\) such that \([G_1:G]=3\), \([U: G]<\infty\), \(M=\mathbb{H}^3/G\) and \(S^3=\mathbb{H}^3/G_1\), and that the map induced by the inclusion of groups \(\mathbb{H}^3/G\to \mathbb{H}^3/G_1\) is a \(3\)-fold simple branched cover of \(S^3\) by \(M\).