Totally geodesic surfaces with arbitrarily many compressions (Q631329)

Let \(M\) be a compact, orientable, irreducible \(3\)-manifold with torus boundary \(\partial M\). A slope on \(\partial M\) is an isotopy class of essential unoriented simple closed curves on \(\partial M\). For a given slope \(\alpha\), \(M(\alpha)\) denotes a \(3\)-manifold obtained from \(M\) by \(\alpha\)-Dehn filling. Suppose that \(F\) is a closed, orientable, embedded, incompressible surface in \(M\) with no incompressible annulus joining \(F\) and \(\partial M\). Then \textit{M. Culler, C. McA. Gordon, J. Luecke} and \textit{P. B. Shalen} [Ann. Math. (2) 125, 237--300 (1987; Zbl 0633.57006)] proved that if \(F\) compresses in \(M(\alpha)\) and \(M(\beta)\), then the distance \(\Delta(\alpha, \beta)\), i.e. the minimal geometric intersection number between \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\), is less than or equal to \(2\). Later \textit{Y.-Q. Wu} [Topology 31, No.~2, 271--279 (1992; Zbl 0872.57022)] improved this to \(\Delta(\alpha, \beta) \leq 1\) as conjectured in [loc.cit.]. Hence \(F\) remains incompressible in \(M(\gamma)\) for all but at most three slopes \(\gamma\). If we replace the assumption that ``\(F\) is embedded'' by ``\(F\) is immersed'', then \textit{C. J. Leininger} [Topology Appl. 118, No.~3, 309--328 (2002; Zbl 0998.57039)] showed that there is no bound for the distance between two such slopes. On the other hand, if the interior of \(M\) admits a complete hyperbolic metric, then there are at most finitely many slopes \(\gamma\) such that \(F\) compresses in \(M(\gamma)\) [\textit{A. Bart}, Topology 40, No.~1, 197--211 (2001; Zbl 0961.57016)]. In [Topology 43, No.~2, 319--342 (2004; Zbl 1047.57009)], \textit{Y.-Q. Wu} asked if there is a universal upper bound on the number of such slopes \(\gamma\), and gave a bound depending on the genus of \(F\) [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 9, No.~4, 2175--2189 (2009; Zbl 1180.57026)]. In the paper under review, the author answers the above question negatively. Let \(M_8\) be the exterior of the figure-eight knot in \(S^3\); its interior is the most familiar example of a hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold. Then the author proves that for any given integer \(n\), there exist \(n\) distinct slopes \(\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_n\) and infinitely many closed, orientable, immersed incompressible surfaces \(F\) in \(M_8\) with no incompressible annulus joining \(F\) and \(\partial M_8\) such that \(F\) compresses in \(M_8(\alpha_i)\) for all \(i = 1, \dots, n\). Moreover, one can choose such immersed surfaces so that they are pairwise noncommensurable totally geodesic surfaces. The proof is based on a construction of closed, immersed, totally geodesic surfaces in \(M_8\) given by \textit{C. J. Leininger} [loc. cit.] and a careful analysis of quadratic forms describing these totally geodesic surfaces.