arXiv · 2512.10503
Complexity of Hofer's geometry in higher dimensional manifolds
Abstract
This paper establishes robust obstructions to representing Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms as $k$-th powers ($k \geq 2$) or embedding them in flows for certain higher-dimensional symplectic manifolds $(M,\omega)$, including surface bundles. We prove that in the Hamiltonian group $(\mathrm{Ham}(M,\omega), d_H)$ equipped with the Hofer metric, there exist arbitrarily large balls that are disjoint from the set of $k$-th powers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the free group on two generators embeds into every asymptotic cone of $(\mathrm{Ham}(M,\omega), d_H)$, revealing the large-scale geometric complexity of the Hamiltonian group.
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Zhijing Wendy Wang. 2025-12-11. Complexity of Hofer's geometry in higher dimensional manifolds. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.10503
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