Self-replicating 3-manifolds

Abstract

In this paper we explore the topological properties of self-replicating, 3-dimensional manifolds, which are modeled by idempotents in the (2+1)-cobordism category. We give a classification theorem for all such idempotents. Additionally, we characterize biologically interesting ways in which self-replicating 3-manifolds can embed in $\mathbb{R}^3$.