Homologous Non-isotopic Symplectic Tori in Homotopy Rational Elliptic Surfaces

Let E(1)_K denote the closed 4-manifold that is homotopy equivalent (hence homeomorphic) to the rational elliptic surface E(1) and is obtained by performing Fintushel-Stern knot surgery on E(1) using a knot K in S^3. We construct an infinite family of homologous non-isotopic symplectic tori representing a primitive homology class in E(1)_K when K is any nontrivial fibred knot in S^3. We also show how these tori can be non-isotopically embedded as homologous symplectic submanifolds in other symplectic 4-manifolds.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Constructing infinitely many smooth structures on small 4-manifolds

The purpose of this article is twofold. First we outline a general construction scheme for producing simply-connected minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with small Euler characteristics. Using this scheme, we illustrate how to obtain irreducible symplectic 4-manifolds homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to \CP#(2k+1)\CPb for $k = 1,...,4$, or to 3\CP# (2l+3)\CPb for $l =1,...,6$. Secondly, for each of these homeomorphism types, we show how to produce an infinite family of pairwise nondiffeomorphic nonsymplectic 4-manifolds belonging to it. In particular, we prove that there are infinitely many exotic irreducible nonsymplectic smooth structures on \CP#3\CPb, 3\CP#5\CPb and 3\CP#7\CPb.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure

Homologous non-isotopic symplectic tori in a K3-surface

For each member of an infinite family of homology classes in the K3-surface E(2), we construct infinitely many non-isotopic symplectic tori representing this homology class. This family has an infinite subset of primitive classes. We also explain how these tori can be non-isotopically embedded as homologous symplectic submanifolds in many other symplectic 4-manifolds including the elliptic surfaces E(n) for n>2.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures; v2: extended the main theorem, gave a second construction of symplectic tori, added a figure, added/updated references, minor changes in figure

Reverse engineering small 4-manifolds

We introduce a general procedure called `reverse engineering' that can be used to construct infinite families of smooth 4-manifolds in a given homeomorphism type. As one of the applications of this technique, we produce an infinite family of pairwise nondiffeomorphic 4-manifolds homeomorphic to CP^2#3(-CP^2).Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. This is the final version published in AGT, volume 7 (2007), pp. 2103-2116