We study the minimal number C(M,ξ) of contact charts that one needs to cover a closed connected contact manifold (M,ξ). Our basic result is C(M,ξ) \le \dim M + 1.
We compute C(M,ξ) for all closed connected contact 3-manifolds:
C (M,ξ) = 2 if M = S^3 and ξis tight,
3 if M = S^3 and ξis overtwisted or if M = #_k (S^2 \times S^1),
4 otherwise.
We also show that on every sphere S^{2n+1} there exists a contact structure with C(S^{2n+1},ξ) \ge 3.
We study the number of Darboux charts needed to cover a closed connected symplectic manifold $(M,ω)$, and effectively estimate this number from below and from above in terms of the Lusternik--Schnirelmann category of $M$ and the Gromov width of $(M,ω)$.
In this paper we compute the minimal number of Darboux chart needed to cover a Hermitian symmetric space of compact type in terms of the degree of their embeddings in $\mathbb{C} P^N$. The proof is based on the recent work of Y. B. Rudyak and F. Schlenk [18] and on the symplectic geometry tool developed by the first author in collaboration with A. Loi and F. Zuddas [12]. As application we compute this number for a large class of Hermitian symmetric spaces of compact type.
In this note we define three invariants of contact structures in terms of open books supporting the contact structures. These invariants are the support genus (which is the minimal genus of a page of a supporting open book for the contact structure), the binding number (which is the minimal number of binding components of a supporting open book for the contact structure with minimal genus pages) and the norm (which is minus the maximal Euler characteristic of a page of a supporting open book).
We classify positive tight contact structures, up to isotopy fixing the boundary, on the manifolds $N=M(D^{2}; r_1, r_2)$ with minimal convex boundary of slope $s$ and Giroux torsion 0 along $\partial N$, where $r_1,r_2\in (0,1)\cap\mathbb{Q}$, in the following cases: (1) $s\in(-\infty, 0)\cup[2, +\infty)$; (2) $s\in[0, 1)$ and $r_1,r_2\in [1/2,1)$; (3) $s\in[1, 2)$ and $r_1,r_2\in(0,1/2)$; (4) $s=\infty$ and $r_1=r_2=1/2$. We also classify positive tight contact structures, up to isotopy fixing the boundary, on $M(D^2;1/2,1/2)$ with minimal convex boundary of arbitrary slope and Giroux torsio…
In this article, we prove that every contactomorphism of any standard contact lens space of dimension $2n-1$ that is contact-isotopic to identity has at least $2n$ translated points. This sharp lower bound refines a result of Granja-Karshon-Pabiniak-Sandon and answers a conjecture of Sandon positively.
This paper investigates the symplectic and contact topology associated to circular spherical divisors. We classify, up to toric equivalence, all concave circular spherical divisors $ D $ that can be embedded symplectically into a closed symplectic 4-manifold and show they are all realized as symplectic log Calabi-Yau pairs if their complements are minimal. We then determine the Stein fillability and rational homology type of all minimal symplectic fillings for the boundary torus bundles of such $D$. When $ D $ is anticanonical and convex, we give explicit betti number bounds for Stein fillings…
We construct a positive allowable Lefschetz fibration over the disk on any minimal weak symplectic filling of the canonical contact structure on a lens space. Using this construction we prove that any minimal symplectic filling of the canonical contact structure on a lens space is obtained by a sequence of rational blowdowns from the minimal resolution of the corresponding complex two-dimensional cyclic quotient singularity.
In this paper, we investigate a relation between rational blowdown surgery and minimal symplectic fillings of a given Seifert 3-manifold with a canonical contact structure. Consequently, we determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a minimal symplectic filling of a Seifert 3-manifold satisfying certain conditions to be obtained by a sequence of rational blowdowns from the minimal resolution of the corresponding weighted homogeneous surface singularity. Furthermore, as an application of the main results, we prove that every minimal symplectic filling of a large family of Seifert 3-mani…
In this note, we define a new invariant of a Legendrian knot in a contact manifold using an open book decomposition supporting the contact structure. We define the support genus sg(L) of a Legendrian knot L in a contact 3-manifold (M, ξ) as the minimal genus of a page of an open book of M supporting the contact structure ξsuch that L sits on a page and the framing given by the contact structure and by the page agree. We show any null-homologous loose knot in an overtwisted contact structure has support genus zero. To prove this, we observe any topological knot or link in any 3-manifold M sits …
Let A be an affine variety inside a complex N dimensional vector space which has an isolated singularity at the origin. The intersection of A with a very small sphere turns out to be a contact manifold called the link of A. Any contact manifold contactomorphic to the link of A is said to be Milnor fillable by A. If the first Chern class of our link is torsion then we can assign an invariant of our singularity called the minimal discrepancy, which is an important invariant in birational geometry. We define an invariant of the link up to contactomorphism using Conley-Zehnder indices of Reeb orbi…
Let $φ$ be any flow on $T^n$ obtained as the suspension of a diffeomorphism of $T^{n-1}$ and let $\mathcal A$ be any compact invariant set of $φ$. We realize $(\mathcal A, φ|_{\mathcal A})$ up to reparametrization as an invariant set of the Reeb flow of a contact form on $\mathbb R^{2n+1}$ equal to the standard contact form outside a compact set and defining the standard contact structure on all of $\mathbb R^{2n+1}$. This generalizes the construction of Geiges, Röttgen and Zehmisch.
This is a revision of some expository lecture notes written originally for a 5-hour minicourse on the intersection theory of punctured holomorphic curves and its applications in 3-dimensional contact topology. The main lectures are aimed primarily at students and require only a minimal background in holomorphic curve theory, as the emphasis is on topological rather than analytical issues. Some of the gaps in the analysis are then filled in by the appendices, which include self-contained proofs of the similarity principle and positivity of intersections, and conclude with a "quick reference" fo…
In this paper we introduce the notion of contact angle for an immersed surface in three dimensional sphere. We deduce formulas for the Laplacian and for the Gaussian curvature, and we classify minimal surfaces in $S^3$ with constant contact angle. Also, we give an example of a minimal surface in $S^3$ with non constant contact angle.
We introduce the Kodaira dimension of contact 3-manifolds and establish some basic properties. In particular, contact 3-manifolds with distinct Kodaria dimensions behave differently when it comes to the geography of various kinds of fillings. On the other hand, we also prove that, given any contact 3-manifold, there is a lower bound of $2χ+3σ$ for all its minimal symplectic fillings. This is motivated by the bound of Stipsicz for Stein fillings. Finally, we discuss various aspects of exact self cobordisms of fillable 3-manifolds.
We prove a version of Sandon's conjecture on the number of translated points of contactomorphisms for the case of prequantization bundles over certain closed monotone symplectic toric manifolds. Namely we show that any contactomorphism of such a prequantization bundle lying in the identity component of the contactomorphism group possesses at least $N$ translated points, where $N$ is the minimal Chern number of the symplectic toric manifold. The proof relies on the theory of generating functions coupled with equivariant cohomology, whereby we adapt Givental's approach to the Arnold conjecture f…
We prove the existence of minimal symplectomorphisms and strictly ergodic contactomorphisms on manifolds which admit a locally free $\mathbb{S}^1$--action by symplectomorphisms and contactomorphisms, respectively. The proof adapts the conjugation method, introduced by Anosov and Katok, to the contact and symplectic setting.
We introduce scattering-symplectic manifolds, manifolds with a type of minimally degenerate Poisson structure that is not too restrictive so as to have a large class of examples, yet restrictive enough for standard Poisson invariants to be computable. This paper will demonstrate the potential of the scattering symplectic setting. In particular, we construct scattering-symplectic spheres and scattering symplectic gluings between strong convex symplectic fillings of a contact manifold. By giving an explicit computation of the Poisson cohomology of a scattering symplectic manifold, we also introd…
We show that positive $S^1$-equivariant symplectic homology is a contact invariant for a subclass of contact manifolds which are boundaries of Liouville domains. In nice cases, when the set of Conley-Zehnder indices of all good periodic Reeb orbits on the boundary of the Liouville domain is lacunary, the positive $S^1$-equivariant symplectic homology can be computed; it is generated by those orbits. We prove a "Viterbo functoriality" property: when one Liouville domain is embedded into an other one, there is a morphism (reversing arrows) between their positive $S^1$-equivariant symplectic homo…
We investigate the equivariant cohomology of the natural torus action on a K-contact manifold and its relation to the topology of the Reeb flow. Using the contact moment map, we show that the equivariant cohomology of this action is Cohen-Macaulay, which is a generalization of equivariant formality for torus actions without fixed points. As a consequence, a generic component of the contact moment map is a perfect Morse-Bott function for the basic cohomology of the orbit foliation F of the Reeb flow. Assuming that the closed Reeb orbits are isolated, we show that the basic cohomology of F is tr…
Motivated by the importance of symplectic isotropic realisations in the study of Poisson manifolds, this paper investigates the local and global theory of contact isotropic realisations of Jacobi manifolds, which are those of minimal dimension. These arise naturally when considering multiplicity-free actions in contact geometry, as shown in this paper. The main results concern a classification of these realisations up to a suitable notion of isomorphism, as well as establishing a relation between the existence of symplectic and contact isotropic realisations for Poisson manifolds. The main too…
If a contact form on a (2n+1)-dimensional closed contact manifold admits closed Reeb orbits, then its systolic ration is defined to be the quotient of (n+1)th power of the shortest period of Reeb orbits by the contact volume. We prove that every co-orientable contact structure on any closed contact manifold admits a contact form with arbitrarily large systolic ratio. This statement generalizes the recent result of Abbondandolo et al. in dimension three to higher dimensions. We extend the plug construction of Abbondandolo et. al. to any dimension, by means of generalizing the hamiltonian disc m…
A closed contact manifold is called Besse when all its Reeb orbits are closed, and Zoll when they have the same minimal period. In this paper, we provide a characterization of Besse contact forms for convex contact spheres and Riemannian unit tangent bundles in terms of $S^1$-equivariant spectral invariants. Furthermore, for restricted contact type hypersurfaces of symplectic Euclidean spaces, we give a sufficient condition for the Besse property via the Ekeland-Hofer capacities.
We show that any co-oriented closed contact manifold of dimension at least five admits a contact form such that the contact volume is arbitrarily small but the Reeb flow admits a global hypersurface of section with the property that the minimal period on the boundary of the hypersurface and the first return time in the interior of the hypersurface are bounded below. An immediate consequence of this statement is that every co-oriented contact structure on any closed manifold admits a contact form with arbitrarily large systolic ratio. This generalizes the result of Abbondandolo et al. in dimens…
A classical theorem due to Wadsley implies that, on a connected contact manifold all of whose Reeb orbits are closed, there is a common period for the Reeb orbits. In this paper we show that, for any Reeb flow on a closed connected 3-manifold, the following conditions are actually equivalent: (1) every Reeb orbit is closed; (2) all closed Reeb orbits have a common period; (3) the action spectrum has rank 1. We also show that, on a fixed closed connected 3-manifold, a contact form with an action spectrum of rank 1 is determined (up to pull-back by diffeomorphisms) by the set of minimal periods …
