2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/76617We prove that the rational blowdown, a surgery on smooth 4-manifolds introduced by Fintushel and Stern, can be performed in the symplectic category. As a consequence, interesting families of smooth 4-manifolds, including the exotic $K3$ surfaces of Gompf and Mrowka, admit symplectic structures.12 pages; 4 figures; Latex2e documentDifferential GeometryGeometric Topology53C15;57R15text