Spin structures and codimension two embeddings of $3$-manifolds up to regular homotopy

Abstract

We clarify the structure of the set of regular homotopy classes containing embeddings of a 3-manifold into $5$-space inside the set of all regular homotopy classes of immersions with trivial normal bundles. As a consequence, we show that for a large class of $3$-manifolds $M^3$, the following phenomenon occurs: there exists a codimension two immersion of the $3$-sphere whose double points cannot be eliminated by regular homotopy, but can be eliminated after taking the connected sum with a codimension two embedding of $M^3$. This involves introducing and studying an equivalence relation on the set of spin structures on $M^3$. Their associated $\mu$-invariants also play an important role.