No label defined (Q3973939)

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0727.00012.] The current topological literature contains many applications of the theory of sutured 3-manifolds. A sutured manifold \((M,\gamma)\) is a compact oriented 3-manifold \(M\) together with a partition of \(\partial M=R_ +\cup_ \gamma R_ -\) as the union of two surfaces \(R_ +\) and \(R_ -\) along their common boundary, a collection of simple closed curves \(\gamma\), called the sutures. \(R_ +\) is oriented so that its normal vector points outward and \(R_ -\) so that it points inward. The paper is an elementary survey of the theory of 3-manifolds and the theory of sutured 3-manifolds.