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Is there a $1$-dimensional foliation of $S^3$ which is not a geodesible foliation? Is there a $1$-dimensional foliation of $S^2\times S^1$ which is not a geodesible foliation?

If the answer is affirmative, can one produce an example of a non-geodesible foliation of $S^3$ or $S^2\times S^1$ whose leaves are mapped to the singular foliation of $S^2$ associated to the Poincaré compactification of a planar quadratic vector field? (By "mapped" we mean the Hopf map $S^3\to S^2$ or the projection $S^2\times S^1\to S^2$.)

For detailed motivation please see the following post.

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If a 1-dimensional foliation of a 3-manifold contains a Reeb component, then it is not geodesible. This follows from a theorem of Sullivan, see Section 2.5, Obstruction 1. A Reeb component is a saturated annulus embedded in the manifold with induced foliation looking like:

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One can find a 1-dimensional foliation of any 3-manifold containing such a Reeb component. Foliate $T^2\times I = S^1 \times (S^1\times I)$ by foliating $S^1\times I$ by the Reeb foliation, and extending by the product with $S^1$ to $T^2 \times I$. Now, embed $T^2\times I$ in a manifold $M$ with this foliation, and extend it to a 1-dimensional foliation on the rest of $M$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you very much for your very helpful answer. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 10, 2019 at 19:40

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