Genus \(2\) Lefschetz fibrations with \(b^+_2=1\) and \(c_1^2=1,2\) (Q2216709)

Let \(X\) be a closed, oriented, and smooth 4-manifold. A \textit{Lefschetz fibration} is a smooth surjective map \(f: X \to \mathbb{S}^2\) which is a submersion everywhere except at finitely many critical points in \(X\) near which \(f\) can be written in orientation-preserving local complex coordinates of the form \(f(z_1, z_2) = z_1^2+z_2^2\). These fibrations are powerful tools in studying the geometry and topology of symplectic 4-manifolds. It was shown in [\textit{S. K. Donaldson}, J. Differ. Geom. 53, No. 2, 205--236 (1999; Zbl 1040.53094)] and [\textit{R. E. Gompf} and \textit{A. I. Stipsicz}, 4-manifolds and Kirby calculus. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (1999; Zbl 0933.57020)] that every closed symplectic manifold admits a Lefschetz pencil which can be blown up to obtain a Lefschetz fibration and conversely that the total space of a Lefschetz fibration admits a symplectic structure, respectively. A \textit{lantern relation} is a mapping class group relation between Dehn twists about curves in any surface containing a four times punctured sphere. A Lefschetz fibration on a 4-manifold, on the other hand, determines a factorization of the identity in the mapping class group of the fiber as a product of Dehn twists about the vanishing cycles. If this product includes one side of the lantern relation, then one can replace this product by the other side of the lantern relation, which consequently produces a Lefschetz fibration with one fewer vanishing cycle. This operation is called lantern substitution. In an earlier work of the first author [\textit{A. Akhmedov} and \textit{J.-Y. Park}, Math. Res. Lett. 21, No. 1, 1--17 (2014; Zbl 1303.57022)], lantern substitutions were used to construct exotic genus 2 Lefschetz fibrations with \(b_2^+=3\) and \(0 \leq c_1^2 \leq 4\). In the paper under review, the authors construct a family of genus 2 Lefschetz fibrations \(f: X \to \mathbb{S}^2\) with \(b_2^+=1\) and \(c_1^2=1\) from the twice symplectic fiber sum of Matsumoto's genus 2 Lefschetz fibrations [\textit{Y. Matsumoto}, in: Topology and Teichmüller spaces. Proceedings of the 37th Taniguchi symposium, Katinkulta, Finland, July, 24--28, 1995. Singapore: World Scientific. 123--148 (1996; Zbl 0921.57006)] by applying a single lantern substitution to its monodromy. The motivating idea behind constructing such a family is to eventually build (total spaces that are) exotic symplectic 4-manifolds with small topology. Furthermore, the authors show that these total spaces are minimal symplectic manifolds with symplectic Kodaira dimension 2 and that the fibrations admit \(-2\) sections. It is worthwhile noting that in the case that the fundamental group of the total space \(X\) is trivial, \(X\) is an exotic copy of \(\mathbb{CP}^2 \# 8\overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}\). The last result in this paper provides constructions of various small genus 2 Lefschetz fibrations over \(\mathbb{S}^2\), from the fiber sums of Matsumoto's [loc. cit.] and Xiao's [\textit{G. Xiao}, Surfaces fibrées en courbes de genre deux. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1985; Zbl 0579.14028)] genus 2 Lefschetz fibrations , with \(c_1^2=1, 2\) and \(\chi=1\) and presents some new constructions of exotic smooth structures on two small 4-manifolds \(\mathbb{CP}^2 \# 4\overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}\) and \(3\mathbb{CP}^2 \# 6\overline{\mathbb{CP}^2}\) with \(b_2^+=1, 3\), exoticity of which was first constructed by the first author and \textit{B. D. Park} in [Invent. Math. 181, No. 3, 577--603 (2010; Zbl 1206.57029)].