paper

Higher order corks

arXiv:1902.02840

Abstract

It is shown that any finite list of smooth closed simply-connected 4-manifolds homeomorphic to a given one X can be obtained by removing a single compact contractible submanifold (or cork) from X, and then regluing it by powers of a boundary diffeomorphism. We then use this result to "separate" finite families of corks embedded in a fixed 4-manifold.

Final version, to appear in Inventiones Mathematicae. Note that many of our infinite order results have been removed due to errors

Higher order corks · wovepaper