The group of disjoint 2-spheres in 4-space (Q2334865)

A link map is a continuous map which sends connected components of the source disjointly into the target. A link homotopy is a homotopy through link maps. The set of link homotopy classes of spherical link maps \(S^2 \coprod S^2 \to S^4\) is denoted by \(\mathrm{LM}_{2,2}^4\). For a link map \((f_1, f_2): S^2 \coprod S^2 \to S^4\), deforming it to a generic immersion and considering Wall's intersection invariant \(\lambda\) valued in the group ring \(\mathbb{Z}[\mathbb{Z}]\), we obtain link homotopy invariants \(\sigma_i (f_1, f_2)=\lambda (f_i, f_i)\) \((i=1,2)\), called the Kirk invariants by the authors. \newline The main results are as follows. For the commutative ring \(R=\mathbb{Z}[z_1, z_2]/(z_1z_2)\), \(\mathrm{LM}_{2,2}^4\) is a free \(R\)-module of rank one, freely generated by the Fenn-Rolfsen link map \(\mathrm{FR}\). Here, the link map \(\mathrm{FR}\) is the first example due to Fenn and Rolfsen of a link map which is not link homotopically trivial. If a link map \((f_1, f_2): S^2 \coprod S^2 \to S^4\) has vanishing Kirk invariants \(\sigma_1 (f_1, f_2)=0=\sigma_2 (f_1, f_2)\), then \((f_1, f_2)\) is link homotopically trivial. The Kirk invariants give a short exact sequence of abelian groups \(0 \to \mathrm{LM}_{2,2}^4 \to {z \cdot \mathbb{Z}[z]} \oplus {z \cdot \mathbb{Z} [z] }\to \mathbb{Z} \to 0\), where we use the addition map to \(\mathbb{Z}={z \cdot \mathbb{Z}[z]}/{z^2 \cdot \mathbb{Z}[z]}\). Further, they give the following corollaries. If a link map \((f_1, f_2): S^2 \coprod S^2 \to S^4\) satisfies that \(f_1\) is an embedding, then it is link homotopic to the trivial link. For the set \(\mathcal{L}\) of links in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) with two components such that both components are unknotted and the linking number is zero, there is a certain additive map under connected sum, \(\mathrm{JK}: \mathcal{L} \to \mathrm{LM}_{2,2}^4\), called the Jin-Kirk construction by the authors. It is known that for a link \(L\in \mathcal{L}\), the Kirk invariants of \(\mathrm{JK}(L)\) are Cochran's \(\beta^i\)-invariants of \(L\). They show that the map \(\mathrm{JK}: \mathcal{L} \to \mathrm{LM}_{2,2}^4\) is onto, and \(\mathrm{JK} (L)=0\) if and only if certain Milnor invariants of \(L\) vanish. \newline In the proof, the authors establish a 4-dimensional version of an elementary link homotopy in 3-dimensions. They introduce a new notion of a basic link homotopy, called a Whitney homotopy. For an immersion \(f\) of \(S^2\), a Whitney sphere is embedded in the complement of the image of \(f\), constructed from four copies of a Whitney disk. A Whitney homotopy is given by shrinking an embedded Whitney sphere to a point in the complement of \(f\) after applying the Whitney move. \newline In order to prove the main results, the authors consider a link map in standard position, and formulate the Standard Unlinking Theorem. For a link map \((f_1, f_2): S^2 \coprod S^2 \to S^4\), in order to shrink \(f_2\) in the complement of \(f_1\) by finitely many Whitney homotopies, they write \([f_2] \in \pi_2(S^4 \backslash f_1)\) as a \(\mathbb{Z}[\mathbb{Z}]\)-linear combination of disjoint Whitney spheres. They describe the 4-manifold \(S^4 \backslash f_1\) using Kirby calculus; in particular, they show that its intersection form is metabolic. They introduce the notion of an accessory sphere, which is an algebraic dual sphere of a Whitney sphere. And using the algebra of metabolic forms over the group ring \(\mathbb{Z}[\mathbb{Z}]\) and Freedman's disk embedding theorem, they prove a theorem called the Metabolic Unlinking Theorem, which gives necessary and sufficient conditions for a spherical link map to be homotopically trivial. Using this theorem, they prove the Standard Unlinking Theorem.