Some lower bounds for the Kirby-Thompson invariant

Abstract

Kirby and Thompson introduced a non-negative integer-valued invariant, called the Kirby-Thompson invariant, of a $4$-manifold using trisections. In this paper, we give some lower bounds for the Kirby-Thompson invariant of certain $4$-manifolds. As an application, we determine the Kirby-Thompson invariant of the spin of $L(2,1)$, which is the first example of a $4$-manifold with non-trivial Kirby-Thompson invariant. We also show that there exist $4$-manifolds with arbitrarily large Kirby-Thompson invariant.

20 pages, 6 figures