Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 16 5 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
True: every integer occurs. The simple-connectivity assumptions in parts 1 and 2 are local to those statements and are not imposed here. For a connected closed oriented four-manifold, Poincare duality givessince . This expression has no fixed sign or parity.
Use , from its three even-dimensional cells, and , by Euler characteristic of a product. The Euler characteristic of a connected sum in dimension four isIt follows either by Mayer–Vietoris sequence after deleting balls, or by the intermediate-degree cohomology splitting and the single top and bottom generators. Therefore a connected sum of projective planes and copies of hasGiven an integer , choose an integer and put . This produces a connected closed oriented four-manifold of Euler characteristic . When , use . ThusIf simple connectivity were added, the possible values would instead satisfy . This distinction is recorded in Euler characteristics of closed oriented four-manifolds.