Questions tagged [contact-geometry]

Contact manifolds, contact structures, contact forms, Reeb dynamics, Legendrian knots, contact homology, symplectic field theory

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4 votes
1 answer
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Does a $G$-structure on $M$ automatically descend to a contact $G$-structure on $\mathbb{P}T^*M$?

If $M$ is a real smooth manifold of dimension $n+1$, by $D\in\mathbb{P}T^*M$ I mean a tangent hyperplane at some point of $M$. I denote by $b$ the canonical projection of the $(2n+1)$-dimensional ...
Giovanni Moreno's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

The Lefschetz operator

Let $\omega=\sum_{i=1}^n dx_i\wedge dy_i\in\bigwedge^2(\mathbb{R}^{2n})^*$ be a standard symplectic form. The following result is due to Lefschetz: For $k\leq n$, the Lefschetz operator $L^{n-k}:\...
Piotr Hajlasz's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
1k views

Do contact and CR structures have corresponding $G$-structures?

For an $n$-dimensional manifold $M$, almost complex and almost symplectic structures on $M$ correspond to reductions on the structure group of the tangent bundle, introducing a $\operatorname{GL}(n/2,\...
E. Addison's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
869 views

On a corollary of a paper by Colin and Honda

The question is about the last sentence of the last corollary of Stabilizing the monodromy of an open book decomposition by Vicent Colin and Ko Honda. This question is also related to this other ...
Paul's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
614 views

Reeb flows on $S^3$ versus volume preserving flows

Is there an example of a smooth vector field $v$ on $S^3$ such that $v$ preserves a volume form and $v$ is not a Reeb vector field? Recall that $v$ is a Reeb vector field if there exists a contact $...
aglearner's user avatar
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7 votes
0 answers
444 views

Correct notion of chain homotopy for linearized homology of augmented DGAs?

$\require{AMScd}$ Preliminaries: Let $(A,\partial)$ be a differential graded $k$-algebra with an augmentation $\epsilon$. That is, $\epsilon$ is a DGA map $\epsilon:(A,\partial) \to k$ where $k$ is ...
Julian Chaidez's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
393 views

Non-Reeb vector fields on the three-sphere

Let $X$ be the Hopf vector field on the three-sphere. Is there a smooth nowhere zero function $f$ so that the modified vector field $fX$ is not the Reeb vector field of any contact form on the three-...
alvarezpaiva's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
246 views

Almost complex structures on a 4-ball that are not tamed

Recall that an almost complex structure $J$ on a manifold $M^{2n}$ is called tamed if there exists a symplectic form $\omega$ on $M^{2n}$ such that $\omega(v,Jv)>0$ for any non-zero tangent vector $...
aglearner's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
284 views

Why is tb < 0 for boundary of a convex surface?

Why is $tb(K)$ (Thurston-Bennequin invariant) of a Legendrian knot $K$ which is the boundary of a convex surface $\Sigma$ is negative in a contact 3 manifold?
kln's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
520 views

Osculating spaces and distributions on (real) Grassmannian manifold

Hello! Recenlty, doing my research, I came across a quite natural construction, and I would like to know more about it. Unfortunately, being not expert neither in Grassmannians nor in Contact Geometry,...
Giovanni Moreno's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Legendrian Tubular Neighborhood Theorem

Given a Lagrangian submanifold $L\subset(M,\omega)$ of a symplectic manifold, we have Alan Weinstein's celebrated Lagrangian tubular neighborhood theorem. I now look for the analog on Legendrian ...
Chris Gerig's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Boundary geometry of a contact manifold

Let $(M, \xi = \text{ker}\,\alpha)$ be a compact contact manifold with non-empty boundary. Vaguely asked, is there any natural geometric structure on the boundary $\partial M$ induced from the contact ...
Oldřich Spáčil's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
182 views

Stabilizing an open book with Anosov piece

It was proven by Colin and Honda in Stabilizing the monodromy of an open book decomposition that any diffeomorphism can be made pseudo-Anosov and right-veering after a series of positive ...
Paul's user avatar
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