A sufficient condition for a branched surface to fully carry a lamination (Q2464926)

Branched surfaces are combinatorial objects which are very useful to study for example laminations. Gabai and Oertel proved that if a compact orientable 3-manifold admits an essential lamination, then its universal cover is homeomorphic to the Euclidean 3-space (see \textit{D. Gabai} and \textit{U. Oertel} [Ann. Math. (2) 130, No.~1, 41--73 (1989; Zbl 0685.57007)]). There is a characterization of the branched surfaces fully carrying an essential lamination (see for example the paper quoted above). More precisely, a lamination is essential if and only if it is fully carried by an essential branched surface. The following problem was posed by Gabai: When does a branched surface fully carry a lamination? This question is complex as shown by the following theorem due to Mosher: the problem of whether or not a general branched surface abstractly carries a lamination is algorithmically unsolvable. The author gives a sufficient condition for a branched surface in a closed 3-manifold to fully carry a lamination. This is a partial answer to the above question of Gabai. He proves that if \(S\) is an orientable branched surface without twisted curve in an oriented closed 3-manifold \(M\), then \(S\) fully carries a lamination. Furthermore, if \(S\) has no twisted curve homotopic to zero in \(M\), then the lift of \(S\) in the universal cover \(\widetilde M\) of \(M\) fully carries a lamination.