In this talk, we will develop the theory of generalized bridge trisections for smoothly embedded closed surfaces in smooth, closed four-manifolds. The main result is that any such surface can be isotoped to lie in bridge trisected position with respect to a given trisection of the ambient four-manifold. In the setting of knotted surfaces in the four-sphere, this gives a diagrammatic calculus that offers a promising new approach to four-dimensional knot theory. However, the theory extends to other ambient four-manifolds, and we will pay particular attention to the setting of complex curves in simple complex surfaces, where the theory produces surprisingly satisfying pictures and leads to interesting results about trisections of complex surfaces.
This talk is based on various joint works with Dave Gay, Peter Lambert-Cole, and Alex Zupan.[-]