The Powell conjecture and reducing sphere complexes

DOI10.1112/JLMS.12272MaRDI QIDQ5108152zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Alexander Zupan

Publication date 29 April 2020

Published in Journal of the London Mathematical Society (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.07664

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

2-dimensional topology (including mapping class groups of surfaces, Teichmüller theory, curve complexes, etc.) (57K20) General topology of 3-manifolds (57K30)

Abstract: The Powell Conjecture offers a finite generating set for the genus $g$ Goeritz group, the group of automorphisms of $S^3$ that preserve a genus $g$ Heegaard surface $Sigm{a}_g$, generalizing a classical result of Goeritz in the case $g=2$. We study the relationship between the Powell Conjecture and the reducing sphere complex $mathcalR(Sigm{a}_g)$, the subcomplex of the curve complex $mathcalC(Sigm{a}_g)$ spanned by the reducing curves for the Heegaard splitting. We prove that the Powell Conjecture is true if and only if $mathcalR(Sigm{a}_g)$ is connected. Additionally, we show that reducing curves that meet in at most six points are connected by a path in $mathcalR(Sigm{a}_g)$; however, we also demonstrate that even among reducing curves meeting in four points, the distance in $mathcalR(Sigm{a}_g)$ between such curves can be arbitrarily large. We conclude with a discussion of the geometry of $mathcalR(Sigm{a}_g)$.

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Cited in

(9)

• Disk surgery and the primitive disk complexes of the 3-sphere
• Genus two Goeritz equivalence in \(S^3\)
• Note on primitive disk complexes
• Réduction de 3-complexes galoisiens. Complexes spheriques
• One Powell generator is redundant
• Genus three Goeritz groups of connected sums of two lens spaces
• Reducing spheres of genus-2 Heegaard splitting of S^3
• The primitive curve complex for a handlebody
• The Powell conjecture for the genus-three Heegaard splitting of the 3-sphere

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