1997/12/03 by John Hempel, Hempel, John · 3 citations
Mathematics · #FOS: Mathematics #Geometric Topology (math.GT) #Geometric and Algebraic Topology #Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology #Mathematical Dynamics and Fractals #math.GT
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.math/9712220
29 pages
arxiv created 1997/12/03 · openalex publication_date 1997/12/03 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A Heegaard diagram for a 3-manifold is regarded as a pair of simplexes in the complex of curves on a surface and a Heegaard splitting as a pair of subcomplexes generated by the equivalent diagrams. We relate geometric and combinatorial properties of these subcomplexes with topological properties of the manifold and/or the associated splitting. For example we show that for any splitting of a 3-manifold which is Seifert fibered or which contains an essential torus the subcomplexes are at a distance at most two apart in the simplicial distance on the curve complex; whereas there are splittings in which the subcomplexes are arbitrarily far apart. We also give obstructions, computable from a given diagram, to being Seifert fibered or to containing an essential torus.