Text only print
Full screen print
Colloquium
Seminar information archive ～06/25｜Next seminar｜Future seminars 06/26～
| Organizer(s) | AIDA Shigeki, OSHIMA Yoshiki, SHIHO Atsushi (chair), TAKADA Ryo |
|---|---|
| URL | https://www.ms.u-tokyo.ac.jp/seminar/colloquium_e/index_e.html |
2006/06/23
17:00-18:00 Room #123 (Graduate School of Math. Sci. Bldg.)
Robert Gompf (University of Texas at Austin)
25 years of exotic mathbbR4s
Robert Gompf (University of Texas at Austin)
25 years of exotic mathbbR4s
[ Abstract ]
A quarter century ago, 4-manifold theory was revolutionized by the Fields-Medal winning breakthroughs of Freedman and Donaldson, with Freedman showing that topological 4-manifolds behave like their higher dimensional counterparts, but Donaldson showing that smooth 4-manifolds behave in a completely different way. The interplay between these theories produces results unique to dimension 4: A fixed topological 4-manifold often admits infinitely many distinct smooth structures, for which no classification scheme is yet available. The quintessential example is that in contrast with other dimensions, Euclidean 4-space admits exotic smooth structures. That is, there are "exotic R^4s" homeomorphic to R4 but not diffeomorphic to it. We will survey what has been learned about these strange creatures in the last quarter century, and exhibit an explicit example.
A quarter century ago, 4-manifold theory was revolutionized by the Fields-Medal winning breakthroughs of Freedman and Donaldson, with Freedman showing that topological 4-manifolds behave like their higher dimensional counterparts, but Donaldson showing that smooth 4-manifolds behave in a completely different way. The interplay between these theories produces results unique to dimension 4: A fixed topological 4-manifold often admits infinitely many distinct smooth structures, for which no classification scheme is yet available. The quintessential example is that in contrast with other dimensions, Euclidean 4-space admits exotic smooth structures. That is, there are "exotic R^4s" homeomorphic to R4 but not diffeomorphic to it. We will survey what has been learned about these strange creatures in the last quarter century, and exhibit an explicit example.
