Classification and stable classification of manifolds: some examples (Q801335)

Let M and N be closed differentiable manifolds of dimension n. M and N are called stably diffeomorphic if there exists a positive integer r such that M{\#}rS is diffeomorphic with N{\#}rS where \(S=S^ k\times S^ k\) if \(n=2k\) and \(S=S^ k\times S^{k+1}\) if \(n=2k+1\). This paper studies the gap between stable diffeomorphisms and diffeomorphisms. Proposition: If M and N are of dimension 2k (k\(\geq 2)\) and normally bordant, then they are stably diffeomorphic. Example: For even \(n\geq 6\) there exist many fake tori which are stably diffeomorphic to the n-torus \(T^ n\) but not diffeomorphic. For \(n\geq 5\) all fake tori are homeomorphic. Theorem. For all \(n\geq 4\) with \(n\not\equiv 2 mod 4\) there exist stably diffeomorphic manifolds with trivial tangent bundle which are not diffeomorphic. For all \(n\geq 4\) with \(n\equiv 0 mod 4\) there exist stably diffeomorphic manifolds with equivalent intersection forms which are not diffeomorphic. In fact these manifolds are not even homotopy equivalent.