Stable Norms of Surfaces: Local Structure of the Unit Ball at Rational Directions

Let (M, g) be a closed orientable surface, equipped with a smooth Finsler metric. The metric induces a norm on the real homology of M, called a stable norm. We show this norm is neither strictly convex, nor smooth. Submitted: December 1996, final version: June 1997     

Quasi-morphismes et invariant de Calabi

In this paper, we give two elementary constructions of homogeneous quasi-morphisms defined on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of certain closed connected symplectic manifolds (or on its universal cover). The first quasi-morphism, denoted by CalS, is defined on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of a closed oriented surface S of genus greater than 1. This construction is motivated by a question of M. Entov and L. Polterovich [M. Entov, L. Polterovich, Calabi quasimorphism and quantum homology, Int. Math. Res. Not. 30 (2003) 1635-1676]. If U⊂S is a disk or an annulus, the restriction of CalS to the subgroup of diffeomorphisms which are the time one map of a Hamiltonian isotopy in U equals Calabi's homomorphism. The second quasi-morphism is defined on the universal cover of the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of a symplectic manifold for which the cohomology class of the symplectic form is a multiple of the first Chern class.     

Induced Hamiltonian maps on the symplectic quotient

Let (M,ω) be a symplectic manifold and G a compact Lie group that acts on M. Assume that the action of G on M is Hamiltonian. Then a G-equivariant Hamiltonian map on M induces a map on the symplectic quotient of M by G. Consider an autonomous Hamiltonian H with compact support on M, with no non-constant closed trajectory in time less than 1 and time-1 map fH. If the map fH descends to the symplectic quotient to a map Φ(fH) and the symplectic manifold M is exact and Ham(M,ω) has no short loops, we prove that the Hofer norm of the induced map Φ(fH) is bounded above by the Hofer norm of fH.     

The t-singular homology of orbifolds

For an orbifold M we define a new homology group, called t-singular homology group t-Hq(M) by using singular simplicies intersecting ‘transversely’ with ΣM. The rightness of this homology group is ensured by the facts that the 1-dimensional homology group t-H₁(M) is isomorphic to the abelianization of the orbifold fundamental group π₁(M,x₀). If M is a manifold, t-Hq(M) coincides with the usual singular homology group. We prove that it is a ‘b-homotopy’ invariant of orbifolds and develop many algebraic tools for the calculations. Consequently we calculate the t-singular homology groups of several orbifolds.     

On Polar Foliations and the Fundamental Group

In this work we investigate the relation between the fundamental group of a complete Riemannian manifold M and the quotient between the Weyl group and reflection group of a polar action on M, as well as the relation between the fundamental group of M and the quotient between the lifted Weyl group and lifted reflection group. As applications we give alternative proofs of two results. The first one, due to the author and T?ben, implies that a polar action does not admit exceptional orbits, if M is simply connected. The second result, due to Lytchak, implies that the orbits are closed and embedded if M is simply connected. All results are proved in the more general case of polar foliations.     

Loop coproducts in string topology and triviality of higher genus TQFT operations

Cohen and Godin constructed a positive boundary topological quantum field theory (TQFT) structure on the homology of free loop spaces of oriented closed smooth manifolds by associating certain operations called string operations to orientable surfaces with parametrized boundaries. We show that all TQFT string operations associated to surfaces of genus at least one vanish identically. This is a simple consequence of properties of the loop coproduct which will be discussed in detail. One interesting property is that the loop coproduct is nontrivial only on the degree d homology group of the connected component of LM consisting of contractible loops, where d=dimM, with values in the degree 0 homology group of constant loops. Thus the loop coproduct behaves in a dramatically simpler way than the loop product.     

The convenient setting for non-quasianalytic Denjoy-Carleman differentiable mappings

For Denjoy-Carleman differentiable function classes CM where the weight sequence M=(Mk) is logarithmically convex, stable under derivations, and non-quasianalytic of moderate growth, we prove the following: A mapping is CM if it maps CM-curves to CM-curves. The category of CM-mappings is cartesian closed in the sense that CM(E,CM(F,G))≅CM(E×F,G) for convenient vector spaces. Applications to manifolds of mappings are given: The group of CM-diffeomorphisms is a CM-Lie group but not better.     

The rigidity of Clifford torusS^1 \left( {\sqrt {\frac{1}{n}} } \right) \times S^{n - 1} \left( {\sqrt {\frac{{n - 1}}{n}} } \right)

In this paper, we prove that ifM is ann-dimensional closed minimal hypersurface with two distinct principal curvatures of a unit sphereS ⁿ⁺¹ (1), thenS=n andM is a Clifford torus ifn≤S≤n+[2n ²(n+4)/3(n(n+4)+4)], whereS is the squared norm of the second fundamental form ofM.     

One-basedness and groups of the form G/G 00

We initiate a geometric stability study of groups of the form G/G ⁰⁰, where G is a 1-dimensional definably compact, definably connected, definable group in a real closed field M. We consider an enriched structure M?? with a predicate for G ⁰⁰ and check 1-basedness or non-1-basedness for G/G ⁰⁰, where G is an additive truncation of M, a multiplicative truncation of M, SO ₂(M) or one of its truncations; such groups G/G ⁰⁰ are now interpretable in M??. We prove that the only 1-based groups are those where G is a sufficiently ??big?? multiplicative truncation, and we relate the results obtained to valuation theory. In the last section we extend our results to ind-hyperdefinable groups constructed from those above.     

Rank 72 high minimum norm lattices

Given a polarization of an even unimodular lattice and integer k?1, we define a family of unimodular lattices L(M,N,k). Of special interest are certain L(M,N,3) of rank 72. Their minimum norms lie in {4,6,8}. Norms 4 and 6 do occur. Consequently, 6 becomes the highest known minimum norm for rank 72 even unimodular lattices. We discuss how norm 8 might occur for such a L(M,N,3). Our method constructs such L(M,N,k) in dimensions 96, 120 and 128 with minimum norms 8.     

Homogeneous almost normal Riemannian manifolds

In this article, we introduce a newclass of compact homogeneous Riemannian manifolds (M = G/H, µ) almost normal with respect to a transitive Lie group G of isometries for which by definition there exists a G-left-invariant and an H-right-invariant inner product ν such that the canonical projection p: (G, ν) → (G/H, µ) is a Riemannian submersion and the norm | · | of the product ν is at least the bi-invariant Chebyshev normon G defined by the space (M,µ).We prove the following results: Every homogeneous Riemannian manifold is almost normal homogeneous. Every homogeneous almost normal Riemannian manifold is naturally reductive and generalized normal homogeneous. For a homogeneous G-normal Riemannian manifold with simple Lie group G, the unit ball of the norm | · | is a Löwner-John ellipsoid with respect to the unit ball of the Chebyshev norm; an analogous assertion holds for the restrictions of these norms to a Cartan subgroup of the Lie group G. Some unsolved problems are posed.     

6-dimensional manifolds with effective T4-actions

Suppose the four dimensional torus T⁴ acts effectively on a 6-manifold M so that the orbit space M¹ is a closed 2-disk, and there exist no exceptional orbits, and the isotropy groups span T⁴. Then the fundamental group of M is a finite abelian group with at most two generators. In this paper, we obtain a homology classification of manifolds of this type under an additional hypothesis that one of the two generators is trivial. We then use this result to obtain a complete classification of simply connected 6-manifolds supporting effective T⁴-actions.     

Torsion in the matching complex and chessboard complex

Topological properties of the matching complex were first studied by Bouc in connection with Quillen complexes, and topological properties of the chessboard complex were first studied by Garst in connection with Tits coset complexes. Björner, Lovász, Vre?ica and ?ivaljevi? established bounds on the connectivity of these complexes and conjectured that these bounds are sharp. In this paper we show that the conjecture is true by establishing the nonvanishing of integral homology in the degrees given by these bounds. Moreover, we show that for sufficiently large n, the bottom nonvanishing homology of the matching complex Mn is an elementary 3-group, improving a result of Bouc, and that the bottom nonvanishing homology of the chessboard complex Mn,n is a 3-group of exponent at most 9. When , the bottom nonvanishing homology of Mn,n is shown to be Z₃. Our proofs rely on computer calculations, long exact sequences, representation theory, and tableau combinatorics.     

Symplectic geometry on moduli spaces of <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>-holomorphic curves

Let (M, ω) be a symplectic manifold, and Σ a compact Riemann surface. We define a 2-form \({\omega_{\mathcal{S}_{i}(\Sigma)}}\) on the space \({\mathcal{S}_{i}(\Sigma)}\) of immersed symplectic surfaces in M, and show that the form is closed and non-degenerate, up to reparametrizations. Then we give conditions on a compatible almost complex structure J on (M, ω) that ensure that the restriction of \({\omega_{\mathcal{S}_{i}(\Sigma)}}\) to the moduli space of simple immersed J-holomorphic Σ-curves in a homology class \({A \in {H}_2(M,\,\mathbb{Z})}\) is a symplectic form, and show applications and examples. In particular, we deduce sufficient conditions for the existence of J-holomorphic Σ-curves in a given homology class for a generic J.     

Orders and actions of branched coverings of hyperbolic links

Let M, M^′ be compact oriented 3-manifolds and L^′ a link in M^′ whose exterior has positive Gromov norm. We prove that the topological types of M and (M^′,L^′) determine the degree of a strongly cyclic covering branched over L^′. Moreover, if M^′ is a homology sphere then these topological types determine also the covering up to conjugacy.     

One-Parameter Fixed-Point Theory and Gradient Flows of Closed 1-Forms

We use the one-parameter fixed-point theory of Geoghegan and Nicas to get information about the closed orbit structure of transverse gradient flows of closed 1-forms on a closed manifold M. We define a noncommutative zeta function in an object related to the first Hochschild homology group of the Novikov ring associated to the 1-form and relate it to the torsion of a natural chain homotopy equivalence between the Novikov complex and a completed simplicial chain complex of the universal cover of M.     

Laminated decompositions involving a given submanifold

Let M denote a connected (n+1)-manifold (without boundary). We study laminated decompositions of M, by which we mean upper semicontinous decompositions G of M into closed, connected n-manifolds. In particular, given M with a lamination G and N, a locally flat, closed, n-dimensional submanifold, we determine conditions under which M admits another lamination G_N with N?G_N. For n ≠ 3 a sufficient condition is that i: N → M be a homotopy equivalence. For n > 3 we give examples to show that i: N → M being a homology equivalence is not sufficient. We also show how to replace the assumption of local flatness of N with a weaker cellularity criterion (n ? 4) known as the inessential loops condition. We then give examples illustrating the abundance of pathology if M is not assumed to have a preexisting lamination.     

Minimum L ∞ accelerations in Riemannian manifolds

Riemannian cubics are curves in Riemannian manifolds M that are critical points for the L ² norm of covariant acceleration, and are already rather well studied as elementary curves for interpolation problems in engineering. In the present paper the L ² norm is replaced by the L ^∞ norm, which may be more appropriate for some applications. However it is more difficult to derive the analogue of the Euler-Lagrange equation for the L ^∞ norm, requiring techniques from optimal control, and the resulting necessary conditions take a different form. These necessary conditions are examined when M is a sphere or a bi-invariant Lie group, and some examples are given.     

On Aubry sets and Mather’s action functional

We study Lagrangian systems on a closed manifoldM. We link the differentiability of Mather’sβ-function with the topological complexity of the complement of the Aubry set. As a consequence, whenM is a closed, orientable surface, the differentiability of theβ-function at a given homology class is forced by the irrationality of the homology class. This allows us to prove the two-dimensional case of a conjecture by Mañé.     

Kähler structure on moduli spaces of principal bundles

Let M be a moduli space of stable principal G-bundles over a compact Kähler manifold (X,ωX), where G is a reductive linear algebraic group defined over C. Using the existence and uniqueness of a Hermite-Einstein connection on any stable G-bundle P over X, we have a Hermitian form on the harmonic representatives of H¹(X,ad(P)), where ad(P) is the adjoint vector bundle. Using this Hermitian form a Hermitian structure on M is constructed; we call this the Petersson-Weil form. The Petersson-Weil form is a Kähler form, a fact which is a consequence of a fiber integral formula that we prove here. The curvature of the Petersson-Weil Kähler form is computed. Some further properties of this Kähler form are investigated.