The group of disjoint 2-spheres in 4-space

DOI10.4007/ANNALS.2019.190.3.1zbMATH Open1429.57022arXiv1708.00358OpenAlexW2982470533MaRDI QIDQ2334865FDOQ2334865

Authors: Rob Schneiderman, Peter Teichner 

Publication date: 8 November 2019

Published in: Annals of Mathematics. Second Series (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We compute the group of link homotopy classes of link maps of two 2-spheres into 4-space. It turns out to be free abelian, generated by geometric constructions applied to the Fenn-Rolfsen link map and detected by two self-intersection invariants introduced by Paul Kirk in this setting. As a corollary, we show that any link map with one topologically embedded component is link homotopic to the unlink. Our proof introduces a new basic link homotopy, which we call a Whitney homotopy, that shrinks an embedded Whitney sphere constructed from four copies of a Whitney disk. Freedman's disk embedding theorem is applied to get the necessary embedded Whitney disks, after constructing sufficiently many accessory spheres as algebraic duals for immersed Whitney disks. To construct these accessory spheres and immersed Whitney disks we use the algebra of metabolic forms over the group ring Z[Z], and introduce a number of new 4-dimensional constructions, including maneuvers involving the boundary arcs of Whitney disks.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.00358

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zbMATH Keywords

link homotopy2-sphereslink mapWhitney disks

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General low-dimensional topology (57M99) Higher-dimensional knots and links (57K45)

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Cited In (6)

• The relative Whitney trick and its applications
• On braids and links up to link-homotopy
• Pulling apart 2-spheres in 4-manifolds
• Detecting Whitney disks for link maps in the four-sphere
• Homotopy versus isotopy: spheres with duals in 4-manifolds
• Spheres May Link Homotopically in 4-Space

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