Strong Heegaard diagrams and strong L–spaces

My research is in low-dimensional topology, the study of the shapes of 3- and 4-dimensional spaces (manifolds) and of curves and surfaces contained therein. Classifying smooth 4-dimensional manifolds, in particular, has been a deep challenge for topologists for many decades; unlike in higher dimensions, there is not enough "wiggle room" to turn topological problems into purely algebraic ones. Many of my projects reveal new complications in the topology of 4-manifolds, particularly related to emb