Finding disjoint surfaces in 3-manifolds (Q2452190)

The paper is devoted to characterising compact, connected, orientable \(3\)-manifolds \(M\) with non-empty boundary without spherical components that admit a pair of properly embedded disjoint surfaces whose union does not disconnect \(M\). The first characterisation concerns properties of the fundamental group of \(M\): \(M\) admits such a pair of surfaces if and only if \(\pi_1(M)\) surjects onto the infinite dihedral group. The second characterisation is homological in nature: \(M\) admits such a pair of surfaces if and only if \(M\) is neither a \({\mathbb Z}_2\)-homology solid torus, nor a \({\mathbb Z}_2\)-homology cobordism between two tori. The proof of the necessity of the condition uses properties of pro-\(2\) completions of groups. In the special case where \(M\) is a link exterior, this second condition can be rephrased as follows: all links with at least three components admit a pair of properly embedded disjoint surfaces whose union does not separate, as do all two component links provided their linking number is even. An explicit construction of the two surfaces is provided for the exterior of the Whitehead link. This construction also clarifies the relationship between the existence of the surfaces and that of a double covering of \(M\) with special properties.