Minimal Euler characteristics of 4-manifolds with 3-manifold groups (Q6051326)

For a group \(G\), the authors study the following three versions of minimal Euler characteristic for 4-manifolds with 3-manifold fundamental group \(G\): \begin{align*} \chi_4(G)&=\min\{\chi(X)\mid X\text{ is a closed orientable 4-manifold with fundamental group }G\},\\ p(G)&=\min\{\chi(X)-|\sigma(G)|\mid X\text{ is a closed orientable 4-manifold with fundamental group }G\},\\ q^*(G)&=\min\{\chi(X)\mid X\text{ is a closed 4-manifold with fundamental group }G\}. \end{align*} Let \(M\) be a compact 3-manifold with prime decomposition \[ M=(\#_{i=1}^mM_i)\#(\#_{j=1}^nN_j)\#(\#_{k=1}^pQ_k)\#(\#_{l=1}^qS_l) \] where each factor may or may not be orientable and belongs to one of the following \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] each \(M_i\) is a closed prime 3-manifold with infinite fundamental group and is not an \(S^2\)- or \(\mathbb{RP}^2\)-bundle over \(S^1\); \item[(ii)] each \(N_j\) is a closed prime 3-manifold with finite fundamental group; \item[(iii)] each \(Q_k\) is a prime 3-manifold with non-empty boundary; \item[(iv)] each \(S_l\) is an \(S^2\)- or \(\mathbb{RP}^2\)-bundle over \(S^1\). \end{itemize} Let \(M\) be as above and let \(\pi:=\pi_1(M)\). The authors then conjecture that \[ \chi_4(\pi)=p(\pi)=2-2(p+q)+\chi(\partial M). \] The authors prove their conjecture in the case where all factors of Type (i) above are orientable. This answers a question of \textit{J. Hillman} [Four-manifolds, geometries and knots. Coventry: Geometry \& Topology Publications (2002; Zbl 1087.57015)]. For \(\chi_4(\pi)\) they furthermore prove their conjecture when the only two-sided \(\mathbb{RP}^2\)'s in \(M\) come from prime factors of the form \(\mathbb{RP}^2\times S^1\). In the special case when \(\pi\) contains no 2-torsion, they also show that \(q^*(\pi)=\chi_4(\pi)\). The condition on 2-torsion is necessary as \(q^*(\mathbb Z/2)=1\) is realized by \(\mathbb{RP}^4\), while \(\chi_4(\mathbb Z/2)=2\).