We give a self-contained introduction to the theory of shadows as a tool to study smooth 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds. The goal of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand, it is intended to be a shortcut to a basic use of the theory of shadows, on the other hand it gives a sketchy overview of some of the most recent results on shadows. No original result is proved here and most of the details of the proofs are left out.
@article{bwmeta1.element.bwnjournal-article-doi-10_4064-fm188-0-12,
author = {Francesco Costantino},
title = {A short introduction to shadows of 4-manifolds},
journal = {Fundamenta Mathematicae},
volume = {185},
year = {2005},
pages = {271-291},
zbl = {1138.57302},
language = {en},
url = {http://dml.mathdoc.fr/item/bwmeta1.element.bwnjournal-article-doi-10_4064-fm188-0-12}
}
Francesco Costantino. A short introduction to shadows of 4-manifolds. Fundamenta Mathematicae, Tome 185 (2005) pp. 271-291. http://gdmltest.u-ga.fr/item/bwmeta1.element.bwnjournal-article-doi-10_4064-fm188-0-12/