Characterizing Dehn surgeries on links via trisections

Abstract

We summarize and expand known connections between the study of Dehn surgery on links and the study of trisections of closed, smooth 4-manifolds. In addition, we describe how the potential counterexamples to the Generalized Property R Conjecture given by Gompf, Scharlemann, and Thompson yield genus four trisections of the standard four-sphere that are unlikely to be standard. Finally, we give an analog of the Casson- Gordon Rectangle Condition for trisections that can be used to obstruct reducibility of a given trisection.