Overview

The special semester 'Singularities and low dimensional topology' in the Spring of 2023 at the Erdős Center (Budapest) brought together algebraic geometers and topologists to discuss and explore the strong connection between surface singularities and topological properties of three- and four-dimensional manifolds. The semester featured a Winter School (with four lecture series) and several focused weeks. This volume contains the notes of the lecture series of the Winter School and some of the lecture notes from the focused weeks. Topics covered in this collection range from algebraic geometry of complex curves, lattice homology of curve and surface singularities to novel results in smooth four-dimensional topology and grid homology, and to Seiberg-Witten homotopy theory and 'spacification' of knot invariants. Some of these topics are already well-documented in the literature, and the lectures aim to provide a new perspective and fresh connections. Other topics are rather new and have been covered only in research papers. We hope that this volume will be useful not only for advanced graduate students and early-stage researchers, but also for the more experienced geometers and topologists who want to be informed about the latest developments in the field.