Unknot linearization conjecture for cyclic actions on the four-sphere

Let Zn\mathbb Z_n act smoothly on S4S^4, and suppose its fixed-point set is an unknotted two-sphere. Unknot linearization conjecture. The action is smoothly equivalent to a linear action. In dimension three, every cyclic action on S3S^3 is smoothly equivalent to a linear action, whereas in dimension four there are nonlinear actions whose fixed-point set is a nontrivial 22-knot. The knot type of the fixed-point set is the only known invariant of two-sphere-fixing cyclic actions on S4S^4, and the conjecture asserts that the unknotted case is linear.

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Primary source

Jeffrey Meier and Evan Scott, “An equivariant Laudenbach-Poénaru theorem”, arXiv:2501.10524 (2025).

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