No label defined (Q4948815)

Let \(M\) be a compact manifold with boundary (possibly empty). The \textsl{structure set} \(\mathcal S(M, \partial M)\) is formed by all the equivalence classes of triples \((N, \partial N, f)\), where \(N\) is a compact manifold with boundary and \(f : N\to M\) is a homotopy equivalence such that \(f|_{\partial N} : \partial N \to \partial M\) is a homeomorphism. Two triples \((N_1, \partial N_1, f_1)\) and \((N_2, \partial N_2, f_2)\) are equivalent if there is a homeomorphism \(g : N_1 \to N_2\) such that \(f_2 \circ g\) is homotopic (relatively to the boundary) to \(f_1\). For a topological space \(X\), the homotopy functors \(\mathcal S_n(X)\) fit in the surgery sequence [see for example \textit{A. Ranicki}, The total surgery obstruction, in: Algebraic Topology (Proceed. Sympos. Univ. Aarhus, 1978) Lect. Notes Math. 763, Springer-Verlag, New York, 275-316 (1979; Zbl 0428.57012)]: \[ \to \mathcal S_n(X)\to H_n(X; \mathbb L_0)\to L_n(\pi_1(X))\to \mathcal S_{n-1}(X)\to. \] There is a bijection between \(\mathcal S(X \times D^n, \partial (X \times D^n))\) and \(\mathcal S_{n + \dim X + 1}(X)\), provided \(n + \dim X \geq 5\). Here \(L_n(\pi)\) denotes the Wall surgery obstruction groups of the group \(\pi\), and \(\mathbb L_0\) is a spectrum whose homotopy groups are the surgery groups of the trivial group. The map from \(H_n(X; \mathbb L_0)\) to \(L_n(\pi_1(X))\) is known as the assembly map. The author studies \(L\)-theory and surgery problem for a closed oriented irreducible \(3\)-manifold \(M\) with nonzero first Betti number. The main theorem of the paper states that for such a \(3\)-manifold \(M\), the cardinality of the structure set \(\mathcal S(M \times D^n, \partial (M \times D^n))\) equals \(1\) for any \(n \geq 3\). The same result for the case of nonempty boundary was proved by the author [Math. Ann. 318, 609-620 (2000; Zbl 0959.57030)]. A first consequence of the theorem is that the integral Novikov conjecture in \(L\)-theory (i.e., the assembly map from \(H_n(M; \mathbb L_0)\) to \(L_n(\pi_1(M))\) is split injective) is true for the fundamental groups of the considered class of \(3\)-manifolds. A second consequence states that if \(\Phi\) is a decomposition of \(\pi_1(M)\) after splitting the \(3\)-manifold \(M\) (as in the main theorem) along some incompressible surface, then the Cappell obstruction groups \(\text{Unil}_{n + 4}(\Phi)\) vanish for any \(n \geq 3\). For the definition of the groups \(\text{Unil}_{*}( -)\) in \(L\)-theory see [\textit{S. E. Cappell}, Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 80, 1117-1122 (1974; Zbl 0322.57020)].