Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-topology-and-groups-and-algebraic-topology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/b/6/i/solution
Past exam of the topology and Groups and Algebraic Topology course of the University of Oxford 2009 B 6 i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Remove the ball interiors. Each remaining piece inherits an orientation of a manifold and hence a boundary orientation. Choose the orientation on the second piece, reversing its original choice if necessary, so that the gluing map identifies these boundary orientations oppositely. Its two possible orientation signs are accommodated by this choice.
Near a glued point, the two half-space collar charts combine to give a full Euclidean chart. The opposite induced boundary orientations make the two interior orientations agree in this chart. Away from the seam, keep the orientations already chosen on the two pieces. These fit together globally, so the connected sum is orientable. This does not require that an arbitrarily chosen gluing preserve both initially specified orientations unchanged.
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