Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 141 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the meridian of a knot and Seifert longitude of the unknot on its boundary torus. The unknot's knot exterior is a solid torus whose disk-bounding curve is . A genus-one Heegaard diagram is thereforeHere the horizontal coordinate is and the vertical coordinate is . The drawing uses a small translate of to avoid intersections on the edge of the square; opposite edges are identified. The algebraic intersection number of curves on an oriented surface has absolute value five.
Starting with , attach a three-dimensional two-handle along , using its surface framing, and cap the resulting sphere with a three-handle. This gives the solid torus on that side. Attach a two-handle along , again using the surface framing, and cap its sphere with a three-handle. The second solid torus has its disk-bounding curve identified with , so the resulting oriented lens space is precisely the specified Dehn filling.
