Pull-apart obstruction conjecture for non-repeating Whitney towers

Let A:ΣXA:\Sigma\to X be a collection of immersed 22-spheres in a 44-manifold, and suppose that λn(A):=λn(W)\lambda_n(A):=\lambda_n(\mathcal{W}) is defined using an order nn non-repeating Whitney tower W\mathcal{W}, with values in Λn(π)/INTn(A)\Lambda_n(\pi)/\mathrm{INT}_n(A). Pull-apart obstruction conjecture. For every n=2,3,4,n=2,3,4,\ldots, AA can be pulled apart if and only if

λn(A):=λn(W)\lambda_n(A):=\lambda_n(\mathcal{W})

vanishes in Λn(π)/INTn(A)\Lambda_n(\pi)/\mathrm{INT}_n(A). This would refine the known necessary obstruction theory into a necessary and sufficient criterion; the required intersection relations are not yet fully formulated, and the claim is posed as a challenge for future work.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Rob Schneiderman and Peter Teichner, “Pulling Apart 2-spheres in 4-manifolds”, arXiv:1210.5534 (2015).

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