In low-dimensional topology, a branch of mathematics, the E8 manifold is the unique compact, simply connected topological 4-manifold with intersection form the E8 lattice.

History

The E_8 manifold was discovered by Michael Freedman in 1982. Rokhlin's theorem shows that it has no smooth structure (as does Donaldson's theorem), and in fact, combined with the work of Andrew Casson on the Casson invariant, this shows that the E_8 manifold is not even triangulable as a simplicial complex.

Construction

The manifold can be constructed by first plumbing together disc bundles of Euler number 2 over the sphere, according to the Dynkin diagram for E_8. This results in P_{E_8}, a 4-manifold whose boundary is homeomorphic to the Poincaré homology sphere. Freedman's theorem on fake 4-balls then says we can cap off this homology sphere with a fake 4-ball to obtain the E_8 manifold.