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arXiv · 0903.3509

Stabilization, amalgamation, and curves of intersection of Heegaard splittings

Ryan Derby-Talbot
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Abstract

We address a special case of the Stabilization Problem for Heegaard splittings, establishing an upper bound on the number of stabilizations required to make a Heegaard splitting of a Haken 3-manifold isotopic to an amalgamation along an essential surface. As a consequence we show that for any positive integer $n$ there are 3-manifolds containing an essential torus and a Heegaard splitting such that the torus and splitting surface must intersect in at least $n$ simple closed curves. These give the first examples of lower bounds on the minimum number of curves of intersection between an essential surface and a Heegaard surface that are greater than one.

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Ryan Derby-Talbot. 2009-03-20. Stabilization, amalgamation, and curves of intersection of Heegaard splittings. https://doi.org/10.2140/agt.2009.9.811

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