Cohomology of symplectomorphism groups and critical values of Hamiltonians (Q1102587): Difference between revisions

A homotopy invariant is constructed for loops in the automorphism group of a compact, simply-connected, symplectic manifold. This invariant, which takes values in the quotient of \({\mathbb{R}}\) by the subgroup generated by integrals of the symplectic form over integer homology classes, is most simply defined as the average action integral around trajectories of the loop. For loops which are 1-parameter subgroups, Hamilton's principle of stationary action leads to a simple formula for the inariant in terms of any critical value of the hamiltonian. In a sequel to this paper (Connections of Berry and Hannay type for moving lagrangian submanifolds, preprint 1988), taking as a starting point the observation that the graphs of symplectomorphisms are lagrangian submanifolds in a product manifold, it is shown that the invariant described above is a special case of an invariant on loops in a space of lagrangian submanifolds in a symplectic manifold. The latter invariant is defined as the holonomy of a connection whose definition involves choosing a normalized measure on each lagrangian submanifold. The connection is flat only for certain ways of choosing these measures, and the curvature in the general case is closely related to that for the ``geometric phase'' introduced by \textit{M. V. Berry} [Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A 392, 45-57 (1984)].