Surfaces in smooth 4-manifolds

Apparaît dans la collection : Giroux 60 - Convexity in contact and symplectic topology

After reviewing methods for constructing exotic smooth structures on closed four-manifolds, we examine the ‘genus-function’ on the second homology, and ask/answer some questions related to this function. We extend the notion to manifolds with boundary, where the surfaces are bounded by knots or links in the boundary. We examine the relevance of these notions for the Smooth Four-dimensional Poincare Conjecture.