Solving four-dimensional surgery problems using controlled theory (Q950756)

The authors deal with the surgery problem defined by two maps \(f: M\to X\) and \(b:\nu_M\to\xi\) such that \(M\) is a closed topological \(n\)-manifold, \(\nu_M\) is the stable normal bundle of the embedding \(M\subset\mathbb{R}^{n+\ell}\) for large \(\ell\), \(\xi\) is an \(\ell\)-bundle over an \(n\)-dimensional Poincaré complex \(X\), \(f\) is a degree-1 map, \(b\) is a bundle map over \(f\), and \(b\) is an isomorphism on the fibers. There is a surgery obstruction \(\Theta(f, b)\) in the Wall group \(L_n(\pi_1(X))\) such that for \(n\geq 5\), \(\Theta(f, b)= 0\) if and only if \((f, b)\) is normally cobordant to \((g, c)\) where \(g\) is a simple homotopy equivalence. Using the controlled surgery sequence of Ranicki, Pedersen, and Quinn, the authors solve the surgery problem for \(n= 4\), in the case where the fundamental group \(\pi_1(X)\) is known to be good. A general corresponding result implies examples where the fundamental group \(\pi_1(X)\) is a free non-Abelian group, a surface group, or a special knot group.