Exotic R4

In mathematics, an exotic${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ is a differentiable manifold that is homeomorphic (i.e. shape preserving) but not diffeomorphic (i.e. non smooth) to the Euclidean space ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}.}$ The first examples were found in 1982 by Michael Freedman and others, by using the contrast between Freedman's theorems about topological 4-manifolds, and Simon Donaldson's theorems about smooth 4-manifolds. ^{[1] [2]} There is a continuum of non-diffeomorphic differentiable structures ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4},}$ as was shown first by Clifford Taubes. ^[3]

Prior to this construction, non-diffeomorphic smooth structures on spheres – exotic spheres  –were already known to exist, although the question of the existence of such structures for the particular case of the 4-sphere remained open (and remains open as of 2024). For any positive integer n other than 4, there are no exotic smooth structures ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n};}$ in other words, if n ≠ 4 then any smooth manifold homeomorphic to ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ is diffeomorphic to ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}.}$ ^[4]

Small exotic R⁴s

An exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ is called small if it can be smoothly embedded as an open subset of the standard ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}.}$

Small exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ can be constructed by starting with a non-trivial smooth 5-dimensional h-cobordism (which exists by Donaldson's proof that the h-cobordism theorem fails in this dimension) and using Freedman's theorem that the topological h-cobordism theorem holds in this dimension.

Large exotic R⁴s

An exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ is called large if it cannot be smoothly embedded as an open subset of the standard ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}.}$

Examples of large exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ can be constructed using the fact that compact 4-manifolds can often be split as a topological sum (by Freedman's work), but cannot be split as a smooth sum (by Donaldson's work).

Michael HartleyFreedmanandLaurence R. Taylor ( 1986 ) showed that there is a maximal exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4},}$ into which all other ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$ can be smoothly embedded as open subsets.

Related exotic structures

Casson handles are homeomorphic to ${\displaystyle \mathbb {D} ^{2}\times \mathbb {R} ^{2}}$ by Freedman's theorem (where ${\displaystyle \mathbb {D} ^{2}}$ is the closed unit disc) but it follows from Donaldson's theorem that they are not all diffeomorphic to ${\displaystyle \mathbb {D} ^{2}\times \mathbb {R} ^{2}.}$ In other words, some Casson handles are exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {D} ^{2}\times \mathbb {R} ^{2}.}$

It is not known (as of 2022) whether or not there are any exotic 4-spheres; such an exotic 4-sphere would be a counterexample to the smooth generalized Poincaré conjecture in dimension 4. Some plausible candidates are given by Gluck twists.

See also

• Akbulut cork - tool used to construct exotic ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{4}}$'s from classes in ${\displaystyle H^{3}(S^{3},\mathbb {R} )}$ ^[5]
• Atlas (topology)

Notes

1. Kirby (1989), p. 95
2. Freedman and Quinn (1990), p. 122
3. Taubes (1987), Theorem 1.1
4. Stallings (1962), in particular Corollary 5.2
5. Asselmeyer-Maluga, Torsten; Król, Jerzy (2014-08-28). "Abelian gerbes, generalized geometries and foliations of small exotic R^4". arXiv: 0904.1276 [hep-th].

References

• Freedman, Michael H.; Quinn, Frank (1990). Topology of 4-manifolds . Princeton Mathematical Series. Vol. 39. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-08577-3.
• Freedman, Michael H.; Taylor, Laurence R. (1986). "A universal smoothing of four-space". Journal of Differential Geometry. 24 (1): 69–78. doi: 10.4310/jdg/1214440258 . ISSN   0022-040X. MR   0857376.
• Kirby, Robion C. (1989). The topology of 4-manifolds. Lecture Notes in Mathematics. Vol. 1374. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN   3-540-51148-2.
• Scorpan, Alexandru (2005). The wild world of 4-manifolds. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. ISBN   978-0-8218-3749-8.
• Stallings, John (1962). "The piecewise-linear structure of Euclidean space". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society . 58 (3): 481–488. Bibcode:1962PCPS...58..481S. doi:10.1017/s0305004100036756. S2CID   120418488. MR 0149457
• Gompf, Robert E.; Stipsicz, András I. (1999). 4-manifolds and Kirby calculus. Graduate Studies in Mathematics. Vol. 20. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. ISBN   0-8218-0994-6.
• Taubes, Clifford Henry (1987). "Gauge theory on asymptotically periodic 4-manifolds". Journal of Differential Geometry. 25 (3): 363–430. doi: 10.4310/jdg/1214440981 . MR   0882829. PE   1214440981.