Immersed and virtually embedded \(\pi_1\)-injective surfaces in graph manifolds (Q5938058)

Let \(M^3\) be a closed 3-manifold; an immersion of a surface \(S\) in \(M^3\) is a virtual embedding if it can be lifted to an embedding of a finite cover of \(S\) in some finite cover of \(M^3\). The present paper takes into account the problem of the existence of immersed (resp. virtually embedded) \(\pi_1\)-injective surfaces of negative Euler characteristic into closed 3-manifolds. As far as graph manifolds \(M^3\) are concerned, the paper yields necessary and sufficient conditions for such immersions (resp. virtual embeddings), which involve the decomposition matrix associated to \(M^3\) (defined in [the author, Topology 36, No. 2, 355-378 (1997; Zbl 0872.57021)]). As a consequence, 3-manifolds are proved to exist, which have immersed \(\pi_1\)-injective surfaces of negative Euler characteristic, with the property that no such surface is virtually embedded. Note that any infinite surface subgroup of \(\pi_1(M^3)\) comes from a \(\pi_1\)-injective immersion of a surface in \(M^3\); moreover, [\textit{P. Scott}, J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 17, 555-565 (1978; Zbl 0412.57006)] implies that, if the subgroup is separable (i.e. the intersection of the finite index subgroups containing it), then the surface is separable. This fact enables one to translate into purely group-theoretical formulations the main results of the present paper. For example, any link of an isolated complex surface singularity is proved to have no non-abelian surface subgroups.