We prove a localization theorem for exotic diffeomorphisms, showing that every diffeomorphism of a compact simply-connected 4-manifold that is isotopic to the identity after stabilizing with one copy of S²×S², is smoothly isotopic to a diffeomorphism that is supported on a contractible submanifold. For those that require more than one copy of S²×S², we prove that the diffeomorphism can be isotoped to one that is supported in a submanifold homotopy equivalent to a wedge of 2-spheres, with null-homotopic inclusion map. We investigate the implications of these results by applying them to known exotic diffeomorphisms.

We extend a construction of Jones to associate (n, n)-tangles with elements of Thompson's group F and prove that it is asymptotically faithful as \(n \to\infty\). Using this construction we show that the oriented Thompson group \(\vec F\) admits a lax group action on a category of Khovanov's chain complexes.

We construct a compact PL 5-manifold M (with boundary) which is homotopy equivalent to the wedge of eleven 2-spheres, V₁₁ S²,
which is ``spineless'', meaning M is not the regular neighborhood of any 2-complex PL embedded in M.
We formulate a related question about the existence of exotic smooth structures on 4-manifolds which is of interest in relation to the deformation conjecture for 2-complexes, also known as the generalized Andrews-Curtis conjecture. 

The universal pairing for manifolds was defined and shown to lack positivity in dimension 4 by Freedman et al. We prove an analogous result for 2-complexes, and also show that the universal pairing does not detect the difference between simple homotopy equivalence and 3-deformations. The question of whether these two equivalence relations are different for 2-complexes is the subject of the Andrews-Curtis conjecture. We also discuss the universal pairing for higher-dimensional complexes and show that it is not positive.

Perron and Quinn gave independent proofs in 1986 that every topological pseudo-isotopy of a simply-connected, compact topological 4-manifold is isotopic to the identity. Another result of Quinn is that every smooth pseudo-isotopy of a simply-connected, compact, smooth 4-manifold is smoothly stably isotopic to the identity. From this he deduced that π₄(TOP(4)/O(4))=0. A replacement criterion is used at a key juncture in Quinn's proofs, but the justification given for it is incorrect. We provide different arguments that bypass the replacement criterion, thus completing Quinn's proofs of both the topological and the stable smooth pseudo-isotopy theorems. We discuss the replacement criterion and state it as an open problem.

An invariant is introduced for negative definite plumbed 3-manifolds equipped with a spin^c-structure. It unifies and extends two theories with rather different origins and structures. One theory is lattice cohomology, motivated by the study of normal surface singularities, known to be isomorphic to the Heegaard Floer homology for certain classes of plumbed 3-manifolds. Another specialization  gives BPS q-series which satisfy some remarkable modularity properties and recover SU(2) quantum invariants of 3-manifolds at roots of unity. 
In particular, our work gives rise to a 2-variable refinement of the \(\widehat Z\)-invariant. 

Given a finite CW complex $K$, we use a version of the Goodwillie-Weiss tower to formulate an obstruction theory for embeddings of $K$ into a Euclidean space $\R^d$. For $2$-dimensional complexes in $\R^4$, a geometric analogue is also introduced, based on intersections of Whitney disks and more generally on the intersection theory of Whitney towers developed by Schneiderman and Teichner. The focus in this paper is on the first obstruction beyond the classical embedding obstruction of van Kampen. In this case  we show the two approaches lead to essentially the same obstruction. We also relate it to the Arnold class in the cohomology of configuration spaces. The obstructions are shown to be realized in a family of examples. Conjectures are formulated, relating higher versions of these homotopy-theoretic, geometric and cohomological theories.

The Blanchet link homology theory is an oriented model of Khovanov homology, functorial over the integers with respect to link cobordisms. We formulate a stable homotopy refinement of the Blanchet theory, based on a comparison of the Blanchet and Khovanov chain complexes associated to link diagrams. The construction of the stable homotopy type relies on the signed Burnside category approach of Sarkar-Scaduto-Stoffregen.

We introduce and study the notion of filling links in 3-manifolds: a link L is filling in M if for any 1-spine G of M which is disjoint from L, π₁(G) injects into π₁(M∖L). A weaker "k-filling" version concerns injectivity modulo k-th term of the lower central series. For each k>1 we construct a k-filling link in the 3-torus. The proof relies on an extension of the Stallings theorem which may be of independent interest. We discuss notions related to "filling" links in 3-manifolds, and formulate several open problems. The appendix by C. Leininger and A. Reid establishes the existence of a filling hyperbolic link in any closed orientable 3-manifold with π₁(M) of rank 2.

We establish a relation between the trace evaluation in SO(3) topological quantum field theory and evaluations of a topological Tutte polynomial. As an application, a generalization of the Tutte golden identity is proved for graphs on the torus.