A characterization of partially dual graphs

In this paper, we extend the recently introduced concept of partially dual ribbon graphs to graphs. We then go on to characterize partial duality of graphs in terms of bijections between edge sets of corresponding graphs. This result generalizes a well known result of J. Edmonds in which natural duality of graphs is characterized in terms of edge correspondence, and gives a combinatorial characterization of partial duality.Comment: V2: the statement of the main result has been changed. To appear in JGT

Topological arbiters

This paper initiates the study of topological arbiters, a concept rooted in Poincare-Lefschetz duality. Given an n-dimensional manifold W, a topological arbiter associates a value 0 or 1 to codimension zero submanifolds of W, subject to natural topological and duality axioms. For example, there is a unique arbiter on $RP^2$, which reports the location of the essential 1-cycle. In contrast, we show that there exists an uncountable collection of topological arbiters in dimension 4. Families of arbiters, not induced by homology, are also shown to exist in higher dimensions. The technical ingredients underlying the four dimensional results are secondary obstructions to generalized link-slicing problems. For classical links in the 3-sphere the construction relies on the existence of nilpotent embedding obstructions in dimension 4, reflected in particular by the Milnor group. In higher dimensions novel arbiters are produced using nontrivial squares in stable homotopy theory. The concept of "topological arbiter" derives from percolation and from 4-dimensional surgery. It is not the purpose of this paper to advance either of these subjects, but rather to study the concept for its own sake. However in appendices we give both an application to percolation, and the current understanding of the relationship between arbiters and surgery. An appendix also introduces a more general notion of a multi-arbiter. Properties and applications are discussed, including a construction of non-homological multi-arbiters.Comment: v3: A minor reorganization of the pape

Milnor Invariants for Spatial Graphs

Link homotopy has been an active area of research for knot theorists since its introduction by Milnor in the 1950s. We introduce a new equivalence relation on spatial graphs called component homotopy, which reduces to link homotopy in the classical case. Unlike previous attempts at generalizing link homotopy to spatial graphs, our new relation allows analogues of some standard link homotopy results and invariants. In particular we can define a type of Milnor group for a spatial graph under component homotopy, and this group determines whether or not the spatial graph is splittable. More surprisingly, we will also show that whether the spatial graph is splittable up to component homotopy depends only on the link homotopy class of the links contained within it. Numerical invariants of the relation will also be produced.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure