More Cappell–Shaneson spheres are standard

Abstract

Akbulut has recently shown that an infinite family of Cappell-Shaneson homotopy 4-spheres is diffeomorphic to the standard 4-sphere. In the present paper, a strictly larger family is shown to be standard by a simpler method. This new approach uses no Kirby calculus except through the relatively simple 1979 paper of Akbulut and Kirby showing that the simplest example with untwisted framing is standard. Instead, hidden symmetries of the original Cappell-Shaneson construction are exploited. In the course of the proof, we give an example showing that Gluck twists can sometimes be undone using symmetries of fishtail neighborhoods.