Odd symplectic flag manifolds

We define the odd symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds, which are smooth projective varieties equipped with an action of the odd symplectic group, analogous to the usual symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds. Contrary to the latter, which are the flag manifolds of the symplectic group, the varieties we introduce are not homogeneous. We argue nevertheless that in many respects the odd symplectic Grassmannians and flag manifolds behave like homogeneous varieties; in support of this claim, we compute the automorphism group of the odd symplectic Grassmannians and we prove a Borel-Weil-type theorem for the odd symplectic group.     

On twisted contact groupoids and on integration of twisted Jacobi manifolds

We introduce the concept of twisted contact groupoids, as an extension either of contact groupoids or of twisted symplectic ones, and we discuss the integration of twisted Jacobi manifolds by twisted contact groupoids. We also investigate the very close relationships which link homogeneous twisted Poisson manifolds with twisted Jacobi manifolds and homogeneous twisted symplectic groupoids with twisted contact ones. Some examples for each structure are presented.     

A quantum cup-length estimate for symplectic fixed points

A new lower bound for the number of fixed points of Hamiltonian automorphisms of closed symplectic manifolds (M,ω) is established. The new estimate extends the previously known estimates to the class of weakly monotone symplectic manifolds. We prove for arbitrary closed symplectic manifolds with rational symplectic class that the cup-length estimate holds true if the Hofer energy of the Hamiltonian automorphism is sufficiently small. For arbitrary energy and on weakly monotone symplectic manifolds we define an analogon to the cup-length based on the quantum cohomology ring of (M,ω) providing a quantum cup-length estimate. Oblatum 12-IX-1997     

Toric symplectic ball packing

We define and solve the toric version of the symplectic ball packing problem, in the sense of listing all 2n-dimensional symplectic-toric manifolds which admit a perfect packing by balls embedded in a symplectic and torus equivariant fashion.In order to do this we first describe a problem in geometric-combinatorics which is equivalent to the toric symplectic ball packing problem. Then we solve this problem using arguments from Convex Geometry and Delzant theory.Applications to symplectic blowing-up are also presented, and some further questions are raised in the last section.     

Calabi-Yau cones from contact reduction

We consider a generalization of Einstein–Sasaki manifolds, which we characterize in terms both of spinors and differential forms, that in the real analytic case corresponds to contact manifolds whose symplectic cone is Calabi-Yau. We construct solvable examples in seven dimensions. Then, we consider circle actions that preserve the structure and determine conditions for the contact reduction to carry an induced structure of the same type. We apply this construction to obtain a new hypo-contact structure on S ² × T ³.     

On multifractal of Cantor dust

We consider quasi-self-similar measures with respect to all real numbers on a Cantor dust. We define a local index function on the real numbers for each quasi-self-similar measure at each point in a Cantor dust, The value of the local index function at the real number zero for all the quasi-self-similar measures at each point is the weak local dimension of the point. We also define transformed measures of a quasi-self-similar measure which are closely related to the local index function. We compute the local dimensions of transformed measures of a quasi-self-similar measure to find the multifractal spectrum of the quasi-self-similar measure, Furthermore we give an essential example for the theorem of local dimension of transformed measure. In fact, our result is an ultimate generalization of that of a self- similar measure on a self-similar Cantor set. Furthermore the results also explain the recent results about weak local dimensions on a Cantor dust.     

Zeroth Poisson Homology,Foliated Cohomology and Perfect Poisson Manifolds

We prove that, for compact regular Poisson manifolds, the zeroth homology group is isomorphic to the top foliated cohomology group, and we give some applications. In particular, we show that, for regular unimodular Poisson manifolds, top Poisson and foliated cohomology groups are isomorphic. Inspired by the symplectic setting, we define what a perfect Poisson manifold is. We use these Poisson homology computations to provide families of perfect Poisson manifolds.     

Contact structures on product five-manifolds and fibre sums along circles

Two constructions of contact manifolds are presented: (i) products of S ¹ with manifolds admitting a suitable decomposition into two exact symplectic pieces and (ii) fibre connected sums along isotropic circles. Baykur has found a decomposition as required for (i) for all closed, oriented 4-manifolds. As a corollary, we can show that all closed, oriented 5-manifolds that are Cartesian products of lower-dimensional manifolds carry a contact structure. For symplectic 4-manifolds we exhibit an alternative construction of such a decomposition; this gives us control over the homotopy type of the corresponding contact structure. In particular, we prove that \mathbb CP²×S¹{{\mathbb {CP}}^2\times S^1} admits a contact structure in every homotopy class of almost contact structures. The existence of contact structures is also established for a large class of 5-manifolds with fundamental group \mathbbZ₂{{\mathbb{Z}}_2} .     

Sur une généralisation de la notion de V-variété

We consider a topological space which is locally isomorphic to the quotient of R^k by the action of a discrete group and we call it quasifold of dimension k. Quasifolds generalize manifolds and orbifolds and represent the natural framework for performing symplectic reduction with respect to the induced action of any Lie subgroup, compact or not, of a torus. We define quasitori, Hamiltonian actions of quasitori and the moment mapping for symplectic quasifolds, and we show that every simple convex polytope, rational or not, is the image of the moment mapping for the action of a quasitorus on a quasifold.     

Symplectic fillability of toric contact manifolds

According to Lerman, compact connected toric contact 3-manifolds with a non-free toric action whose moment cone spans an angle greater than \(\pi \) are overtwisted, thus non-fillable. In contrast, we show that all compact connected toric contact manifolds in dimension greater than three are weakly symplectically fillable and many of them are strongly symplectically fillable. The proof is based on Lerman’s classification of toric contact manifolds and on our observation that the only contact manifolds in higher dimensions that admit free toric action are the cosphere bundle of \(T^d, d\ge 3\,(T^d\times S^{d-1})\) and \(T^2\times L_k,\,k\in \mathbb {N}\), with the unique contact structure.     

Exotic smooth structures and symplectic forms on closed manifolds

In this paper we discuss relations between symplectic forms and smooth structures on closed manifolds. Our main motivation is the problem if there exist symplectic structures on exotic tori. This is a symplectic generalization of a problem posed by Benson and Gordon. We give a short proof of the (known) positive answer to the original question of Benson and Gordon that there are no Kähler structures on exotic tori. We survey also other related results which give an evidence for the conjecture that there are no symplectic structures on exotic tori.     

The geometry of a bi-Lagrangian manifold

This is a survey on bi-Lagrangian manifolds, which are symplectic manifolds endowed with two transversal Lagrangian foliations. We also study the non-integrable case (i.e., a symplectic manifold endowed with two transversal Lagrangian distributions). We show that many different geometric structures can be attached to these manifolds and we carefully analyze the associated connections. Moreover, we introduce the problem of the intersection of the two leaves, one of each foliation, through a point and show a lot of significative examples.     

On monodromies of a degeneration of irreducible symplectic Kähler manifolds

We study the monodromy operators on the Betti cohomologies associated to a good degeneration of irreducible symplectic manifold and we show that the unipotency of the monodromy operator on the middle cohomology is at least the half of the dimension. This implies that the “mildest” singular fiber of a good degeneration with non-trivial monodromy of irreducible symplectic manifolds is quite different from the generic degeneration of abelian varieties or Calabi–Yau manifolds.     

Symplectic and contact properties of the Mañé critical value of the universal cover

We discuss several symplectic aspects related to the Mañé critical value c _u of the universal cover of a Tonelli Hamiltonian. In particular we show that the critical energy level is never of virtual contact type for manifolds of dimension greater than or equal to three. We also show the symplectic invariance of the finiteness of the Peierls barrier and the Aubry set of the universal cover. We also provide an example where c _u coincides with the infimum of Mather’s α function but the Aubry set of the universal cover is empty and the Peierls barrier is finite. A second example exhibits all the ergodic invariant minimizing measures with zero homotopy, showing, quite surprinsingly, that the union of their supports is not a graph, in contrast with Mather’s celebrated graph theorem.     

Lengths of Contact Isotopies and Extensions of the Hofer Metric

Using the Hofer metric, we construct, under a certain condition, a bi-invariant distance on the identity component in the group of strictly contact diffeomorphisms of a compact regular contact manifold. We also show that the Hofer metric on Ham(M) has a right-invariant (but not left invariant) extension to the identity component in the groups of symplectic diffeomorphisms of certain symplectic manifolds.Mathematics Subject classification (2000): 53C12, 53C15.     

Remarks on symplectic twistor spaces

We consider some classical fibre bundles furnished with almost complex structures of twistor type, deduce their integrability in some cases and study self-holomorphic sections of the general twistor space, with which we define a new moduli space of complex structures. We also recall the theory of flag manifolds to study the Siegel domain and other domains alike, which are the fibres of various symplectic twistor spaces. We prove that they are all Stein. In the context of a Riemann surface, with its canonical symplectic-metric connection and local structure equations, the moduli space is studied again.     

Riemannian Manifold in Which the Skew-Symmetric Curvature Operator has Pointwise Constant Eigenvalues

We study manifolds where the natural skew-symmetric curvature operator has pointwise constant eigenvalues. We give a local classification (up to isometry) of such manifolds in dimension 4. In dimension 3, we describe such manifolds up to a classification of three - dimensional Riemannian manifolds with principal Ricci curvatures r₁ = r₂ = 0, r₃- arbitrary. We give examples of such manifolds in all dimensions which do not have constant sectional curvature; these manifolds are not pointwise Osserman manifolds in general.     

Examples of non-Kähler Hamiltonian circle manifolds with the strong Lefschetz property

In this paper we construct six-dimensional compact non-Kähler Hamiltonian circle manifolds which satisfy the strong Lefschetz property themselves but nevertheless have a non-Lefschetz symplectic quotient. This provides the first known counterexamples to the question whether the strong Lefschetz property descends to the symplectic quotient. We also give examples of Hamiltonian strong Lefschetz circle manifolds which have a non-Lefschetz fixed point submanifold. In addition, we establish a sufficient and necessary condition for a finitely presentable group to be the fundamental group of a strong Lefschetz manifold. We then use it to show the existence of Lefschetz four-manifolds with non-Lefschetz finite covering spaces.     

Penrose-type inequalities with a Euclidean background

The Riemannian Penrose inequality (RPI) bounds from below the ADM mass of asymptotically flat manifolds of nonnegative scalar curvature in terms of the total area of all outermost compact minimal surfaces. The general form of the RPI is currently known for manifolds of dimension up to seven. In the present work, we prove a Penrose-like inequality that is valid in all dimensions, for conformally flat manifolds. Our inequality treats the area contributions of the minimal surfaces in a more favorable way than the RPI, at the expense of using the smaller Euclidean area (rather than the intrinsic area). We give an example in which our estimate is sharper than the RPI when many minimal surfaces are present. We do not require the minimal surfaces to be outermost. We also generalize the technique to allow for metrics conformal to a scalar-flat (not necessarily Euclidean) background and prove a Penrose-type inequality without an assumption on the sign of scalar curvature. Finally, we derive a new lower bound for the ADM mass of a conformally flat, asymptotically flat manifold containing any number of zero area singularities.