Closed Reeb orbits on the sphere and symplectically degenerate maxima (Q356533): Difference between revisions

By assuming the existence of one symplectically degenerated maximum (SDM) Reeb orbit, the authors show that the Reeb flow has infinitely many periodic orbits. They use this result to give a different proof of a theorem in [\textit{D. Cristofaro-Gardiner} and \textit{M. Hutchings}, ``From one Reeb orbit to two'', Preprint, \url{arXiv: 1102.3723}] asserting that every Reeb flow on the standard contact 3-sphere has at least three periodic orbits. They adapted the tools formely used for proving the Hamiltonian Conley conjecture into the contact setting. \noindent{Theorem 1} (Main Theorem): Let \(\alpha\) be a contact form on \(S^{3}\) such that \(\operatorname{ker}(\alpha)\) is the standard contact structure. Then the Reeb flow of \(\alpha\) has at least two closed orbits. \noindent{Theorem 2}: Let \((M^{2n-1},\operatorname{ker}(\alpha))\) be a contact manifold admitting a strong symplectic filling \((W,\omega)\) such that \(\omega\) is aspherical and \(c_{1}(TM)=0\). Assume that \(H_{_1}(M,\mathbb{Z})\) is torsion-free and that the Reeb flow of \(\alpha\) has an isolated simple closed Reeb orbit which is a symplectically degenerated maximum (SDM) with respect to some symplectic trivialization of \(\operatorname{ker}(\alpha|_{x})\). Then the Reeb flow of \(\alpha\) has infinitely many periodic orbits. The authors call attention for the hypothesis of being SDM. They say that it plays a central role in the proof and also that it is their believe that a different approach would be required to tackle the question without it. Furthermore, they observe that a Riemannian or Finsler manifold has also infinitely many closed geodesics whenever it has one prime closed SDM geodesic. In particular, they provide the most Floer-theoretical proof of the existence of infinitely many closed geodesics on \(S^{2}\). Theorem 2 remains true when the SDM orbit is replaced by a symplectically degenerate minimum (SDMin) The main tools used in the paper are the contact homology groups \(HC_{*}(x)\) and \(HF_{*}(\phi_{x})\) associated to a closed Reeb orbit \(x=y^{k}\) of \(\alpha\), where \(y\) is a simple closed Reeb orbit, a Poincaré return map \(\phi_{x}\) of \(x\), and some equivariant versions of them. Theorem 1 follows as a consequence of Theorem 2 and a technical result established in: \noindent{Theorem 3:} Let \(x=y^{k}\) be an isolated closed Reeb orbit. Then we have \(HC_{*+n-3}(x)=HF^{\mathbb{Z}_{k}}_{*}(x)\). Here, \(HF^{\mathbb{Z}_{k}}_{*}(x)\) is defined as the \(\mathbb{Z}_{k}\)-equivariant Floer homology.