Whitehead torsion of inertial h-cobordisms

TL;DR

This paper investigates the Whitehead torsions associated with inertial h-cobordisms, classifying various types within the Whitehead group and providing examples to demonstrate their differences.

Contribution

It introduces a classification of Whitehead torsions for inertial h-cobordisms and shows that these classifications are generally distinct through examples.

Findings

Different types of Whitehead torsions form a nested sequence.

Examples show that these subsets are all distinct in general.

The study enhances understanding of the structure of Whitehead torsions in this context.

Abstract

We study the Whitehead torsions of inertial h-cobordisms, and identify various types representing a nested sequence of subsets of the Whitehead group. A number of examples are given to show that these subsets are all different in general.