arXiv subjects

Chris Wendl

Publications and source records attributed to Chris Wendl.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

On Non-Separating Contact Hypersurfaces in Symplectic 4-Manifolds

We show that certain classes of contact 3-manifolds do not admit non-separating contact type embeddings into any closed symplectic 4-manifolds, e.g. this is the case for all contact manifolds that are (partially) planar or have Giroux torsion. The latter implies that manifolds with Giroux torsion do not admit contact type embeddings into any closed symplectic 4-manifolds. Similarly, there are symplectic 4-manifolds that can admit smoothly embedded non-separating hypersurfaces, but not of contact type: we observe that this is the case for all symplectic ruled surfaces.

math.SG↗

arXiv2009

Strongly Fillable Contact Manifolds and J-holomorphic Foliations

We prove that every strong symplectic filling of a planar contact manifold admits a symplectic Lefschetz fibration over the disk, and every strong filling of the 3-torus similarly admits a Lefschetz fibration over the annulus. It follows that strongly fillable planar contact structures are also Stein fillable, and all strong fillings of the 3-torus are equivalent up to symplectic deformation and blowup. These constructions result from a compactness theorem for punctured J-holomorphic curves that foliate a convex symplectic manifold. We use it also to show that the compactly supported symplectomorphism group on the cotangent bundle of the 2-torus is contractible, and to define an obstruction to strong fillability that yields a non-gauge-theoretic proof of Gay's recent nonfillability result for contact manifolds with positive Giroux torsion.

math.SG↗

arXiv2009

Open book decompositions and stable Hamiltonian structures

We show that every open book decomposition of a contact 3-manifold can be represented (up to isotopy) by a smooth R-invariant family of pseudoholomorphic curves on its symplectization with respect to a suitable stable Hamiltonian structure. In the planar case, this family survives small perturbations, and thus gives a concrete construction of a stable finite energy foliation that has been used in various applications to planar contact manifolds, including the Weinstein conjecture and equivalence of strong and Stein fillability.

math.SG↗

arXiv2008

Finite Energy Foliations on Overtwisted Contact Manifolds

We develop a method for preserving pseudoholomorphic curves in contact 3-manifolds under surgery along transverse links. This makes use of a geometrically natural boundary value problem for holomorphic curves in a 3-manifold with stable Hamiltonian structure, where the boundary conditions are defined by 1-parameter families of totally real surfaces. The technique is applied here to construct a finite energy foliation for every closed overtwisted contact 3-manifold.

math.SG↗

arXiv2008

Compactness for Embedded Pseudoholomorphic Curves in 3-manifolds

We prove a compactness theorem for holomorphic curves in 4-dimensional symplectizations that have embedded projections to the underlying 3-manifold. It strengthens the cylindrical case of the SFT compactness theorem by using intersection theory to show that degenerations of such sequences never give rise to multiple covers or nodes, so transversality is easily achieved. This has application to the theory of stable finite energy foliations, and also suggests a new approach to defining SFT-type invariants for contact 3-manifolds, or more generally, 3-manifolds with stable Hamiltonian structures.

math.SG↗