Existence of diffeomorphic but not 1-isotopic ribbon surfaces

A ribbon surface is a ribbon surface carried as a 22-dimensional sub-22-handlebody of a 44-dimensional handlebody. A 1-isotopy is a (1,2)(1,2)-deformation between ribbon surfaces, allowing embedded 11-deformations of the surface together with ambient 22-deformations of the handlebody. The ribbon-surface conjecture. There exist ribbon surfaces that are diffeomorphic but not 11-isotopic. This would show that diffeomorphism of ribbon surfaces can differ from the equivalence relation generated by the prescribed surface and ambient handlebody deformations; the source provides no resolution.

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Primary source

Anna Beliakova, Marco De Renzi and Quentin Faes, “Quantum Invariants of Ribbon Surfaces in 4-Dimensional 2-Handlebodies”, arXiv:2512.15395 (2025).

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