An algorithm to determine the Heegaard genus of simple 3-manifolds with nonempty boundary (Q945642)

In this neat paper the author gives an algorithm to calculate the Heegaard genus of a compact connected orientable simple 3-manifold \(M\) with nonempty boundary. Furthermore, for any given positive integer \(n\), an algorithm is given to find (up to ambient isotopy) all Heegaard surfaces of genus at most \(n\) for such a 3-manifold \(M\). The proof depends on \textit{J. H. Rubinstein}'s work on almost normal surfaces [William H. Kazez (ed.), Geometric topology. 1993 Georgia international topology conference, August 2--13, 1993, Athens, GA, USA. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. AMS/IP Stud. Adv. Math. 2(pt.1), 1--20 (1997; Zbl 0889.57021)], and a key ingredient is the concept of a partially flat angled ideal triangulation of a 3-manifold, which is introduced in this paper. As a corollary, it is shown that there is also an algorithm to determine the tunnel number of a hyperbolic link \(L\) in the 3-sphere, and for any given positive integer \(n\) there is an algorithm to find all tunnel systems for \(L\) with at most \(n\) arcs (up to slide-equivalence).