arXiv subjects

Kai Cieliebak

Publications and source records attributed to Kai Cieliebak.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Resonances and string point invertibility for compact rank one symmetric spaces

We calculate the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) algebra structure of Rabinowitz loop homology for compact rank one symmetric spaces. As a consequence, we prove that such a space satisfies a natural homological condition called string point invertibility if and only if its Euler characteristic is equal to the characteristic of the coefficient field for loop homology. This implies certain cases of Viterbo's conjecture on a uniform bound on the spectral norm of exact Lagrangian submanifolds in cotangent disk bundles. Furthermore, we prove that whenever a compact rank one symmetric space is string point invertible, the critical levels of its loop homology classes with respect to an arbitrary Riemannian metric satisfy a resonance condition with respect to degrees and a density condition for closed geodesics. This generalizes results of Hingston and Rademacher for spheres to a broader class of compact rank one symmetric spaces.

math.SG↗

arXiv2026

Computable functions as Reeb flows

We prove that, given any contact $3$-manifold and any computable function $f: \mathbb{N} \dashrightarrow \mathbb{N}$, there exists a defining contact form and a Poincaré section of its Reeb flow whose partially defined return map computes $f$.

math.SG↗

arXiv2026

Chern-Simons theory and string topology

We construct chain-level $S^1$-equivariant string topology for each simply connected closed manifold. This amounts to constructing a Maurer-Cartan element for the canonical involutive Lie bialgebra (IBL) structure on the dual cyclic bar complex of its de Rham cohomology which is unique up to ${\rm IBL}_\infty$ gauge equivalence. The construction involves integrals over configuration spaces associated to trivalent ribbon graphs, which can be seen as a version of perturbative Chern-Simons theory in arbitrary dimension.

math.AT↗

arXiv2026

String topology operations under Chen's iterated integrals and homotopy transfer

We develop the analytical foundations for integrals over configuration spaces used to relate chain-level $S^1$-equivariant string topology to perturbative Chern-Simons theory. As an application, we prove that the composition of Chen's iterated integral with homotopy transfer intertwines the involutive Lie bialgebra structures on homology.

math.DG↗

arXiv2025

Nondegeneracy and integral count of frozen planet orbits in helium

We study a family of action functionals whose critical points interpolate between frozen planet orbits for the helium atom with mean interaction between the electrons and the free fall. The rather surprising first result of this paper asserts that for the whole family, critical points are always nondegenerate. This implies that the frozen planet orbit with mean interaction is nondegenerate and gives a new proof of its uniqueness. As an application, we show that the integral count of frozen planet orbits with instantaneous interaction equals one. For this, we prove orientability of the determinant line bundle over the space of selfadjoint Fredholm operators with spectrum bounded from below, and use it to define an integer valued Euler characteristic for Fredholm sections whose linearization belongs to this class.

math.CA↗

arXiv2025

A variational approach to frozen planet orbits in helium

We present variational characterizations of frozen planet orbits for the helium atom in the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian picture. They are based on a Levi-Civita regularization with different time reparametrizations for the two electrons and lead to nonlocal functionals. Within this variational setup, we deform the helium problem to one where the two electrons interact only by their mean values and use this to deduce the existence of frozen planet orbits.

math.CA↗

arXiv2025

Reduced symplectic homology and string topology

We introduce a common domain of definition for the loop product and the loop coproduct, reduced loop homology, on which they combine to a unital infinitesimal anti-symmetric bialgebra structure. In particular, a relation conjectured by Sullivan holds with an extra term. The structure depends on choices governed by secondary continuation maps. These results on string topology are proved in the more general context of reduced symplectic homology for a suitable class of Weinstein manifolds.

math.SG↗

arXiv2025

Poincaré duality for loop spaces

We show that Rabinowitz Floer homology and cohomology carry the structure of a graded Frobenius algebra for both closed and open strings. We prove a Poincaré duality theorem between homology and cohomology that preserves this structure. This lifts to a duality theorem between graded open-closed TQFTs. We use in a systematic way the formalism of Tate vector spaces. Specializing to the case of cotangent bundles, we define Rabinowitz loop homology and cohomology and explain from a unified perspective pairs of dual results that have been observed over the years in the context of the search for closed geodesics. These concern critical levels, relations to the based loop space, manifolds all of whose geodesics are closed, Bott index iteration, and level-potency. Moreover, the graded Frobenius algebra structure gives meaning and proof to a relation conjectured by Sullivan between the loop product and coproduct.

math.SG↗

arXiv2025

The two-boost problem and Lagrangian Rabinowitz Floer homology

The two-boost problem in space mission design asks whether two points of phase space can be connected with the help of two boosts of given energy. We provide a positive answer for a class of systems related to the restricted three-body problem by defining and computing its Lagrangian Rabinowitz Floer homology. The main technical work goes into dealing with the noncompactness of the corresponding energy hypersurfaces.

math.SG↗

arXiv2024

Topological Frobenius algebras

We define the notions of unital/counital/biunital infinitesimal anti-symmetric bialgebras and coFrobenius bialgebras and discuss their algebraic properties. We also define the notion of a graded 2D open-closed TQFT. These structures arise in Rabinowitz Floer homology, loop space homology, quantum homology, and the homology of finite dimensional manifolds. The underlying vector spaces, which are typically infinite dimensional, belong to a class of topological vector spaces known as Tate vector spaces.

math.SG↗

arXiv2024

Rabinowitz Floer homology as a Tate vector space

We show that the category of linearly topologized vector spaces over discrete fields constitutes the correct framework for algebraic structures on Floer homologies with field coefficients. Our case in point is the Poincaré duality theorem for Rabinowitz Floer homology. We prove that Rabinowitz Floer homology is a locally linearly compact vector space in the sense of Lefschetz, or, equivalently, a Tate vector space in the sense of Beilinson-Feigin-Mazur. Poincaré duality and the graded Frobenius algebra structure on Rabinowitz Floer homology then hold in the topological sense. Along the way, we develop in a largely self-contained manner the theory of linearly topologized vector spaces, with special emphasis on duality and completed tensor products, complementing results of Beilinson-Drinfeld, Beilinson, Rojas, Positselski, and Esposito-Penkov.

math.SG↗

arXiv2024

A note on gradient-like vector fields

This note proposes a new notion of a gradient-like vector field and discusses its implications for the theory of Stein and Weinstein structures.

math.SG↗

arXiv2024

A variational characterization of Einstein-Brillouin-Keller quantization

In this paper we explain how to construct the EBK spectrum from the marked action spectrum and derive a minimax formula for concave toric domains. In the special case of the billiard on the disk we show that while the action spectrum is algebraic the EBK spectrum has infinite transcendence degree under the assumption that Schanuel's conjecture is true.

math.SG↗

arXiv2024

Multiplicative structures on cones and duality

We initiate the study of multiplicative structures on cones and show that cones of Floer continuation maps fit naturally in this framework. We apply this to give a new description of the multiplicative structure on Rabinowitz Floer homology and cohomology, and to give a new proof of the Poincaré duality theorem which relates the two. The underlying algebraic structure admits two incarnations, both new, which we study and compare: on the one hand the structure of $A_2^+$-algebra on the space $\mathcal{A}$ of Floer chains, and on the other hand the structure of $A_2$-algebra involving $\mathcal{A}$, its dual $\mathcal{A}^\vee$ and a continuation map from $\mathcal{A}^\vee$ to $\mathcal{A}$.

math.SG↗

arXiv2023

Chain-level equivariant string topology: algebra versus analysis

We prove that on 2-connected closed oriented manifolds, the analytic and algebraic constructions of an IBL$_\infty$ structure associated to a closed oriented manifold coincide. The corresponding structure is invariant under orientation preserving homotopy equivalences and induces on homology the involutive Lie bialgebra structure of Chas and Sullivan.

math.AT↗

arXiv2023

Loop coproduct in Morse and Floer homology

By a well-known theorem of Viterbo, the symplectic homology of the cotangent bundle of a closed manifold is isomorphic to the homology of its loop space. In this paper we extend the scope of this isomorphism in several directions. First, we give a direct definition of {\em Rabinowitz loop homology} in terms of Morse theory on the loop space and prove that its product agrees with the pair-of-pants product on Rabinowitz Floer homology. The proof uses compactified moduli spaces of punctured annuli. Second, we prove that, when restricted to {\em positive} Floer homology, resp.~loop space homology relative to the constant loops, the Viterbo isomorphism intertwines various constructions of secondary pair-of-pants coproducts with the loop homology coproduct. Third, we introduce {\em reduced loop homology}, which is a common domain of definition for a canonical reduction of the loop product and for extensions of the loop homology coproduct which together define the structure of a commutative cocommutative unital infinitesimal anti-symmetric bialgebra. Along the way, we show that the Abbondandolo-Schwarz quasi-isomorphism going from the Floer complex of quadratic Hamiltonians to the Morse complex of the energy functional can be turned into a filtered chain isomorphism by using linear Hamiltonians and the square root of the energy functional.

math.SG↗

arXiv2023

On Langmuir's periodic orbit

Niels Bohr successfully predicted in 1913 the energy levels for the hydrogen atom by applying certain quantization rules to classically obtained periodic orbits. Many physicists tried to apply similar methods to other atoms. In his well-known 1921 paper, I.~Langmuir established numerically the existence of a periodic orbit in the helium atom considered as a classical three body problem. In this paper we give an analytic proof of the existence of Langmuir's periodic orbit.

math.SG↗

arXiv2022

Floer theory of Anosov flows in dimension three

A smooth Anosov flow on a closed oriented three manifold $M$ gives rise to a Liouville structure on the four manifold $[-1,1]\times M$ which is not Weinstein, by a construction of Mitsumatsu and Hozoori. We call it the associated Anosov Liouville domain. It is well defined up to homotopy and only depends on the homotopy class of the original Anosov flow; its symplectic invariants are then invariants of the flow. We study the symplectic geometry of Anosov Liouville domains, via the wrapped Fukaya category, which we expect to be a powerful invariant of Anosov flows. The Lagrangian cylinders over the simple closed orbits span a natural $A_\infty$-subcategory, the orbit category of the flow. We show that it does not satisfy Abouzaid's generation criterion; it is moreover "very large", in the sense that is not split-generated by any strict sub-family. This is in contrast with the Weinstein case, where critical points of a Morse function play the role of the orbits. For the domain corresponding to the suspension of a linear Anosov diffeomorphism on the torus, we show that there are no closed exact Lagrangians which are either orientable, projective planes or Klein bottles. By contrast, in the case of the geodesic flow on a hyperbolic surface of genus $g \geq 2$ (corresponding to the McDuff example), we construct an exact Lagrangian torus for each embedded closed geodesic, thus obtaining at least $3g-3$ tori which are not Hamiltonian isotopic to each other. For these two prototypical cases of Anosov flows, we explicitly compute the symplectic cohomology of the associated domains, as well as the wrapped Floer cohomology of the Lagrangian cylinders, and several pair-of-pants products.

math.SG↗