Dehn surgeryIn topology, a branch of mathematics, a Dehn surgery, named after Max Dehn, is a construction used to modify 3-manifolds. The process takes as input a 3-manifold together with a link. It is often conceptualized as two steps: drilling then filling. Given a 3-manifold and a link , the manifold drilled along is obtained by removing an open tubular neighborhood of from . If , the drilled manifold has torus boundary components .
Differentiable manifoldIn mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to apply calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts (atlas). One may then apply ideas from calculus while working within the individual charts, since each chart lies within a vector space to which the usual rules of calculus apply. If the charts are suitably compatible (namely, the transition from one chart to another is differentiable), then computations done in one chart are valid in any other differentiable chart.
Surgery theoryIn mathematics, specifically in geometric topology, surgery theory is a collection of techniques used to produce one finite-dimensional manifold from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Milnor called this technique surgery, while Andrew Wallace called it spherical modification. The "surgery" on a differentiable manifold M of dimension , could be described as removing an imbedded sphere of dimension p from M. Originally developed for differentiable (or, smooth) manifolds, surgery techniques also apply to piecewise linear (PL-) and topological manifolds.
Spherical 3-manifoldIn mathematics, a spherical 3-manifold M is a 3-manifold of the form where is a finite subgroup of SO(4) acting freely by rotations on the 3-sphere . All such manifolds are prime, orientable, and closed. Spherical 3-manifolds are sometimes called elliptic 3-manifolds or Clifford-Klein manifolds. A spherical 3-manifold has a finite fundamental group isomorphic to Γ itself. The elliptization conjecture, proved by Grigori Perelman, states that conversely all compact 3-manifolds with finite fundamental group are spherical manifolds.
Prime manifoldIn topology, a branch of mathematics, a prime manifold is an n-manifold that cannot be expressed as a non-trivial connected sum of two n-manifolds. Non-trivial means that neither of the two is an n-sphere. A similar notion is that of an irreducible n-manifold, which is one in which any embedded (n − 1)-sphere bounds an embedded n-ball. Implicit in this definition is the use of a suitable , such as the category of differentiable manifolds or the category of piecewise-linear manifolds.
Topological manifoldIn topology, a branch of mathematics, a topological manifold is a topological space that locally resembles real n-dimensional Euclidean space. Topological manifolds are an important class of topological spaces, with applications throughout mathematics. All manifolds are topological manifolds by definition. Other types of manifolds are formed by adding structure to a topological manifold (e.g. differentiable manifolds are topological manifolds equipped with a differential structure).
Thurston elliptization conjectureWilliam Thurston's elliptization conjecture states that a closed 3-manifold with finite fundamental group is spherical, i.e. has a Riemannian metric of constant positive sectional curvature. A 3-manifold with a Riemannian metric of constant positive sectional curvature is covered by the 3-sphere, moreover the group of covering transformations are isometries of the 3-sphere. If the original 3-manifold had in fact a trivial fundamental group, then it is homeomorphic to the 3-sphere (via the covering map).
Ricci curvatureIn differential geometry, the Ricci curvature tensor, named after Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, is a geometric object which is determined by a choice of Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian metric on a manifold. It can be considered, broadly, as a measure of the degree to which the geometry of a given metric tensor differs locally from that of ordinary Euclidean space or pseudo-Euclidean space. The Ricci tensor can be characterized by measurement of how a shape is deformed as one moves along geodesics in the space.
Knot (mathematics)In mathematics, a knot is an embedding of the circle S^1 into three-dimensional Euclidean space, R3 (also known as E3). Often two knots are considered equivalent if they are ambient isotopic, that is, if there exists a continuous deformation of R3 which takes one knot to the other. A crucial difference between the standard mathematical and conventional notions of a knot is that mathematical knots are closed — there are no ends to tie or untie on a mathematical knot.
Hyperbolic 3-manifoldIn mathematics, more precisely in topology and differential geometry, a hyperbolic 3-manifold is a manifold of dimension 3 equipped with a hyperbolic metric, that is a Riemannian metric which has all its sectional curvatures equal to −1. It is generally required that this metric be also complete: in this case the manifold can be realised as a quotient of the 3-dimensional hyperbolic space by a discrete group of isometries (a Kleinian group).