Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-14/5/1/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 14 5 1 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Interpret the paired disks as the three one-handles of a genus-three handlebody. Attach two-handles on the two displayed curves. Orient the three disk-crossing generators as . Reading the signed crossings, starting at the upper-left portion of each attaching curve and changing the start point when needed, givesThe first says and the second . Thus the fundamental group presentation isHere . Cyclically changing the starting point, reversing an attaching curve, or changing generator orientations gives equivalent presentations. With , these relations make central; eliminating givesFor the topological identification, thicken the diagram's two nested bands and identify the three paired disk mouths. The complement of those bands is the product region of a pair of pants with a circle; its two compressing curves are exactly and . Equivalently, the standard cell decomposition of this product has three one-handles and the two commuting two-handle attachments shown. Thus this is a generalized Heegaard diagram of .
The Hopf fibration of has three disjoint regular fibers whose removal leaves . Its three fibers are the components of the torus link , as is also apparent from the full three-strand twist in the later link diagram. This identifies with that link exterior, using the diagram and product structure rather than just its fundamental group. In particular it is a link exterior in the three-sphere.
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