Smale conjecture

Abstract: Author(s): Bamler, Richard H; Kleiner, Bruce | Abstract: We verify a conjecture of Perelman, which states that there exists a canonical Ricci flow through singularities starting from an arbitrary compact Riemannian 3-manifold. Our main result is a uniqueness theorem for such flows, which, together with an earlier existence theorem of Lott and the second named author, implies Perelman's conjecture. We also show that this flow through singularities depends continuously on its initial condition and that it may be obtained as a limit of Ricci flows with surgery. Our results have applications to the study of diffeomorphism groups of three manifolds --- in particular to the Generalized Smale Conjecture --- which will appear in a subsequent paper.

Abstract: Author(s): Bamler, Richard H; Kleiner, Bruce | Abstract: We complete the proof of the Generalized Smale Conjecture, apart from the case of $RP^3$, and give a new proof of Gabai's theorem for hyperbolic 3-manifolds. We use an approach based on Ricci flow through singularities, which applies uniformly to spherical space forms other than $S^3$ and $RP^3$ and hyperbolic manifolds, to prove that the moduli space of metrics of constant sectional curvature is contractible. As a corollary, for such a 3-manifold $X$, the inclusion $\text{Isom} (X,g)\to \text{Diff}(X)$ is a homotopy equivalence for any Riemannian metric $g$ of constant sectional curvature.

Abstract: Let M be a closed orientable Seifert fibered 3-manifold with a hyperbolic base 2-orbifold, or equivalently, admitting a geometry modeled on H^2 \times R or the universal cover of SL(2,R) Our main result is that the connected component of the identity map in the diffeomorphism group Diff(M) is either contractible or homotopy equivalent to the circle, according as the center of the fundamental group of M is trivial or infinite cyclic Apart from the remaining case of non-Haken infranilmanifolds, this completes the homeomorphism classifications of Diff(M) and of the space of Seifert fiberings of M for all compact orientable aspherical 3-manifolds We also prove that when the base orbifold of M is hyperbolic with underlying manifold the 2-sphere with three cone points, the inclusion from the isometry group Isom(M) to Diff(M) is a homotopy equivalence

Abstract: This paper studies the rational homotopy groups of the group $\mathrm{Diff}(S^4)$ of self-diffeomorphisms of $S^4$ with the $C^\infty$-topology. We present a method to prove that there are many `exotic' non-trivial elements in $\pi_*\mathrm{Diff}(S^4)\otimes \mathbb{Q}$ parametrized by trivalent graphs. As a corollary of the main result, the 4-dimensional Smale conjecture is disproved. The proof utilizes Kontsevich's characteristic classes for smooth disk bundles and a version of clasper surgery for families. In fact, these are analogues of Chern--Simons perturbation theory in 3-dimension and clasper theory due to Goussarov and Habiro.