Alphabeta Math
ExampleConstruction: Literature-sourcedVerification: AI-generatedPipeline-generatedverified 2026-10-22 (gpt-6.1-sol)
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

The unknot zero-trace and a dualizable cancellation diagram

Example

Assume countable choice. Let U be the standard unknot. Its zero-trace is diffeomorphic to S2×D2 and embeds in the standard S4 as a tubular neighborhood of an unknotted S2. It also has the following dualizable-link description: take a dotted unknot R and two zero-framed meridian circles B,G at distinct points of R, with their normal spanning disks disjoint. Then B∪R and G∪R are meridional pairs, lk⁡(B,G)=0, and cancelling either meridional 1–2 pair leaves the zero-framed unknot trace.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: Countable choice, the standard unknot U, and the framed link described in the Example.

[A1]

Countable choice, written ACω, is The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω).

[F1]

Smooth zero-trace of a knot: X0(U) is obtained by attaching a single zero-framed 2-handle to B4 along U.

[F2]

Dualizable framed handle link: a dotted R represents a 1-handle, and the meridional sublinks and zero mutual linking are the dualizability conditions.

[F3]

Handle cancellation: a 1-handle and 2-handle with one transverse attaching/belt-sphere intersection cancel, transporting remaining attaching data.

[F4]

A knot is smoothly slice exactly when its zero-trace embeds in S4: a smooth slice disk for U gives a smooth embedding of X0(U) in S4.

[F5]

Handle slide of one k handle over another and Handle slides preserve the relative diffeomorphism type: a framed band sum with a signed framed parallel is an allowed 2-handle slide and preserves the diffeomorphism type, carrying the other attaching data along.

Proof

technique · direct
1.1A1F4givenconstruct

The standard spanning disk for U in B4 is a smooth proper slice disk. By [F4], its zero-trace embeds smoothly in S4.

1.2F1constructalgebra

Write the standard 0-handle as the rounded product D2×D2, with U=∂D2×{0}. Its product attaching region is ∂D2×D2. A section pushoff ∂D2×{z} for z∈∂D2 bounds D2×{z} in the other boundary face, so the product framing is the zero framing of [F1]. Attaching the second product D2×D2 by this framing glues the two first-factor disks along their boundaries without twisting the second factor. After rounding, the result is (D2∪S1D2)×D2≅S2×D2.

1.3F1F2givenconstruct

Each of B and G bounds its chosen normal disk meeting the core R once, so both indicated sublinks are a knot and its meridian. The disks are disjoint, so B and G have zero linking number. Their framings are zero by the stated preferred-longitude pushoffs. Thus (B,G,R) satisfies [F2].

2.1step 1.2construct

In the round model S4⊂R5, take the standard equatorial sphere S2={(x1,x2,x3,0,0):x12+x22+x32=1}. The constant vectors e4,e5 are tangent to S4 at every point of this sphere and orthogonal to its tangent plane, so they form its normal frame. Explicitly, for small v=(v1,v2)∈D2, the map (x,v)↦(1−∥v∥2 x,v1,v2) is a product tubular embedding. Its image is an unknotted-sphere neighborhood diffeomorphic to S2×D2, hence gives the stated embedding of X0(U).

3.1A1F1F2F3F5step 1.3construct∎

Put R in its standard planar position, with spanning disk DR, and carry the two small normal meridians along it. Along an arc of R between their base points, the normal circles sweep a product annulus. Replace its B boundary by a close zero-framed parallel Bf toward G, so the annulus misses the retained B. The annulus meets DR in its inward longitudinal arc. Take a narrow strip about that arc joining its two boundary circles. Slide G over the oppositely oriented Bf along this strip, with the product framing, as permitted by [F5]. The new circle bounds the disk obtained by cutting the annulus open along the strip; push its boundary slightly to round the band seams. This disk misses DR∪B∪R, and its disk framing is the slide framing: the two old zero framings are the product annulus framings at its ends, and the product strip adds no twist. Thus it and its framed boundary can be kept outside a sufficiently thin cancellation neighborhood. Now [F3] cancels (R,B) using the single geometric intersection, leaving this disk-bounding zero-framed unknot on the 4-ball. By [F1] the remaining attachment is X0(U). Interchanging B,G gives the other cancellation. This explicitly transports the remaining attaching data; the original normal disk meeting R is not used as a disk disjoint from the cancellation region.

Diagram

\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=2.5cm,>=stealth]
  \node (x) {$B^4\cup_R h^1\cup_B h^2_0\cup_G h^2_0$};
  \node (g) [below left of=x] {$B^4\cup_U h^2_0$};
  \node (b) [below right of=x] {$B^4\cup_U h^2_0$};
  \draw[->] (x) -- node[left,align=center] {slide $G$ over $B$;\\cancel $(R,B)$} (g);
  \draw[->] (x) -- node[right,align=center] {slide $B$ over $G$;\\cancel $(R,G)$} (b);
\end{tikzpicture}

The sketch shows handle incidence only: dotted R denotes the 1-handle and subscript 0 denotes zero framing. Each slide produces the disk-bounding remaining circle before the indicated single-intersection cancellation; the proof is independent of the sketch.

Depends on

Used by

Nothing in the library uses this result yet.

Dependency tree · two levels

34 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources