Robust four-manifolds and robust embeddings (Q600670)

A link in the 3-sphere is homotopically trivial, according to \textit{J. W. Milnor} [Ann. Math. (2) 59, 177--195 (1954; Zbl 0055.16901)], if its components bound disjoint maps of disks in the 4-ball. This paper is concerned with the question of what spaces, when used in place of disks in an analogous definition, give rise to the same class of homotopically trivial links. The author proves that there are 4-manifolds for which this property depends on their embedding in the 4-ball. The author introduces the notions of robust 4-manifolds and robust embeddings as follows. Suppose \(M\) is a codimension-zero submanifold of the 4-ball, \(i:M\hookrightarrow D^4\), with a specified curve \(\gamma\subset\partial M\) forming a knot in the 3-sphere:\(i(\gamma)\subset S^3=\partial D^4\). The pair \((M,\gamma)\) is called robust if, given any \(n\geq 2\) and disjoint embeddings \(i_1,\dots,i_n\) of \((M,\gamma)\) into \((D^4,S^3)\), the link formed by the curves \(i_1(\gamma),\dots,i_n(\gamma)\) in the 3-sphere is homotopically trivial. An embedding \(i:(M'\gamma)\hookrightarrow (D^4,S^3)\) is robust if, given any \(n\geq 2\) and disjoint embeddings \(i_1,\dots,i_n\) of \((M'\gamma)\) into \((D^4,S^3)\), each isotopic to the original embedding \(i\), the link formed by the curves \(i_1(\gamma),\dots,i_n(\gamma)\) in the 3-sphere is homotopically trivial. The main result of the paper is the following theorem. Theorem 1. There exist submanifolds \(i;(M,\gamma)\hookrightarrow (D^4,S^3)\) such that {\parindent7mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] there are disjoint embeddings of copies \((M_i,\gamma_i)\) of \((M,\gamma)\) into \((D^4,S^3)\) forming a homotopically essential link \((\gamma_1,\dots,\gamma_n)\) in the 3-sphere, and \item[(ii)] given any disjoint embeddings of \((M,\gamma)\) into \((D^4,S^3)\), each one isotopic to the original embedding \(i\), the link \((\gamma_1,\dots,\gamma_n)\) formed by their attaching curves in the 3-sphere is homotopically trivial. \end{itemize}} In the terms of robust 4-manifolds and robust embeddings, Theorem 1 states that there exist pairs \((M,\gamma)\) that are not robust but admit robust embeddings; these are the first examples of this phenomenon. In the introduction the author remarks: ``This work is motivated by the A-B slice problem, a reformulation of the 4-dimensional topological surgery conjecture. As a corollary, this provides a new, secondary obstruction in the A-B slice problem for certain class of decompositions of \(D^4\).''