Homogeneous matchbox manifolds

We prove that a homogeneous matchbox manifold of any finite dimension is homeomorphic to a McCord solenoid, thereby proving a strong version of a conjecture of Fokkink and Oversteegen. The proof uses techniques from the theory of foliations that involve making important connections between homogeneity and equicontinuity. The results provide a framework for the study of equicontinuous minimal sets of foliations that have the structure of a matchbox manifold.Comment: This is a major revision of the original article. Theorem 1.4 has been broadened, in that the assumption of no holonomy is no longer required, only that the holonomy action is equicontinuous. Appendices A and B have been removed, and the fundamental results from these Appendices are now contained in the preprint, arXiv:1107.1910v

Embedding solenoids in foliations

In this paper we find smooth embeddings of solenoids in smooth foliations. We show that if a smooth foliation F of a manifold M contains a compact leaf L with H^1(L;R)= 0 and if the foliation is a product foliation in some saturated open neighbourhood U of L, then there exists a foliation F' on M which is C^1-close to F, and F' has an uncountable set of solenoidal minimal sets contained in U that are pair wise non-homeomorphic. If H^1(L;R) is not 0, then it is known that any sufficiently small perturbation of F contains a saturated product neighbourhood. Thus, our result can be thought of as an instability result complementing the stability results of Reeb, Thurston and Langevin and Rosenberg