Cataloguing PL 4-manifolds by gem-complexity

We describe an algorithm to subdivide automatically a given set of PL n-manifolds (via coloured triangulations or, equivalently, via crystallizations) into classes whose elements are PL-homeomorphic. The algorithm, implemented in the case n=4, succeeds to solve completely the PL-homeomorphism problem among the catalogue of all closed connected PL 4-manifolds up to gem-complexity 8 (i.e., which admit a coloured triangulation with at most 18 4-simplices). Possible interactions with the (not completely known) relationship among different classification in TOP and DIFF=PL categories are also investigated. As a first consequence of the above PL classification, the non-existence of exotic PL 4-manifolds up to gem-complexity 8 is proved. Further applications of the tool are described, related to possible PL-recognition of different triangulations of the K3-surface.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures. Improvements suggested by the refere

Simple crystallizations of 4-manifolds

Minimal crystallizations of simply connected PL 4-manifolds are very natural objects. Many of their topological features are reflected in their combinatorial structure which, in addition, is preserved under the connected sum operation. We present a minimal crystallization of the standard PL K3 surface. In combination with known results this yields minimal crystallizations of all simply connected PL 4-manifolds of "standard" type, that is, all connected sums of $\mathbb{CP}^2$, $S^2 \times S^2$, and the K3 surface. In particular, we obtain minimal crystallizations of a pair of homeomorphic but non-PL-homeomorphic 4-manifolds. In addition, we give an elementary proof that the minimal 8-vertex crystallization of $\mathbb{CP}^2$ is unique and its associated pseudotriangulation is related to the 9-vertex combinatorial triangulation of $\mathbb{CP}^2$ by the minimum of four edge contractions.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Minor update, replacement of Figure 7. To appear in Advances in Geometr

A note about complexity of lens spaces

Within crystallization theory, (Matveev's) complexity of a 3-manifold can be estimated by means of the combinatorial notion of GM-complexity. In this paper, we prove that the GM-complexity of any lens space L(p,q), with p greater than 2, is bounded by S(p,q)-3, where S(p,q) denotes the sum of all partial quotients in the expansion of q/p as a regular continued fraction. The above upper bound had been already established with regard to complexity; its sharpness was conjectured by Matveev himself and has been recently proved for some infinite families of lens spaces by Jaco, Rubinstein and Tillmann. As a consequence, infinite classes of 3-manifolds turn out to exist, where complexity and GM-complexity coincide. Moreover, we present and briefly analyze results arising from crystallization catalogues up to order 32, which prompt us to conjecture, for any lens space L(p,q) with p greater than 2, the following relation: k(L(p,q)) = 5 + 2 c(L(p,q)), where c(M) denotes the complexity of a 3-manifold M and k(M)+1 is half the minimum order of a crystallization of M.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; v2: we improved the paper (changes in Proposition 10; Corollary 9 and Proposition 11 added) taking into account Theorem 2.6 of arxiv:1310.1991v1 which makes use of our Prop. 6(b) (arxiv:1309.5728v1). Minor changes have been done, too, in particular to make references more essentia

Random Tensors and Quantum Gravity

We provide an informal introduction to tensor field theories and to their associated renormalization group. We focus more on the general motivations coming from quantum gravity than on the technical details. In particular we discuss how asymptotic freedom of such tensor field theories gives a concrete example of a natural "quantum relativity" postulate: physics in the deep ultraviolet regime becomes asymptotically more and more independent of any particular choice of Hilbert basis in the space of states of the universe.Comment: Section 6 is essentially reproduced from author's arXiv:1507.04190 for self-contained purpose of the revie

A census of genus two 3-manifolds up to 42 coloured tetrahedra

We improve and extend to the non-orientable case a recent result of Karabas, Malicki and Nedela concerning the classification of all orientable prime 3-manifolds of Heegaard genus two, triangulated with at most 42 coloured tetrahedra.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

Computing Matveev's complexity via crystallization theory: the boundary case

The notion of Gem-Matveev complexity has been introduced within crystallization theory, as a combinatorial method to estimate Matveev's complexity of closed 3-manifolds; it yielded upper bounds for interesting classes of such manifolds. In this paper we extend the definition to the case of non-empty boundary and prove that for each compact irreducible and boundary-irreducible 3-manifold it coincides with the modified Heegaard complexity introduced by Cattabriga, Mulazzani and Vesnin. Moreover, via Gem-Matveev complexity, we obtain an estimation of Matveev's complexity for all Seifert 3-manifolds with base $\mathbb D^2$ and two exceptional fibers and, therefore, for all torus knot complements.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figure

Triangulations

The earliest work in topology was often based on explicit combinatorial models – usually triangulations – for the spaces being studied. Although algebraic methods in topology gradually replaced combinatorial ones in the mid-1900s, the emergence of computers later revitalized the study of triangulations. By now there are several distinct mathematical communities actively doing work on different aspects of triangulations. The goal of this workshop was to bring the researchers from these various communities together to stimulate interaction and to benefit from the exchange of ideas and methods

Investigations of chiral effects in molecular spectroscopy

A consequence of the chiral weak interaction is that the enantiomers of a chiral molecule will differ in energy by the minute parity-violating energy difference (PVED). The enantiomers of a chiral iron complex were prepared and characterized with various spectroscopies, including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Measurements of the Mossbauer spectra show a small difference in the energy of the two enantiomers (~10-10 eV). This energy difference nears the expected order of magnitude of the parity-violating energy difference for a molecule in which the chiral center is a high Z atom. Sodium chlorate has been known to form chiral crystals from achiral aqueous solutions for over one hundred years. Typically, equal numbers of right- and left-handed crystals are produced in unstirred crystallizations. Data has been taken that show an excess of right-handed crystals are produced when crystallizations occur under the influence of a beta source. The beta particles are spin polarized due to the chiral weak interaction which is responsible for beta decay. Preliminary results indicate that the influence of positrons (which are spin polarized oppositely to beta particles) is in the opposite direction. Finally, measurements of mass resolved resonant and non-resonant multiphoton ionization of the chiral 2-butylamine entrained in a nozzle jet expansion into a linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer constructed in house were obtained using right- and left-circularly polarized laser light. In addition, ratios of ionization rates for linearly and circularly polarized light were measured