On a systolic inequality for closed magnetic geodesics on surfaces (Q2093649)

Take a compact surface \(M\) with Riemannian metric. A \textit{magnetic charge} is a function \(f\) on \(M\); an \(f\)-\textit{magnetic geodesic} is a curve whose geodesic curvature is given at each of its points by the value of \(f\) at that point of the surface. The charge is \textit{Zoll} if the magnetic geodesics are simple closed curves fibering the unit tangent bundle. The \textit{magnetic length functional} \(\ell\) is the sum of the length of a closed curve with the integral of \(f\) over a (suitably chosen) disk bounding the curve. Writing the mean of \(f\), in the area form of the surface, as \(\left<h\right>\), the \textit{average curvature} is \[ K_f:=\left<f\right>^2+\frac{2\pi\xi_M}{\operatorname{area}_M}. \] The \textit{average length} is defined to be \[ \bar{\ell}:=\frac{2\pi}{\left<f\right>+\sqrt{K_f}}. \] The \textit{magnetic systolic-diastolic inequality} is the claim that \[ \inf_{\mathrm{prime}}\ell\le\bar{\ell}\le\sup_{\mathrm{prime}}\ell. \] with \(\inf,\sup\) taken over prime loops in the required homotopy class in the unit tangent bundle. The authors prove that every charge either \(C^2\)-close to a Zoll charge, or large enough, satisfies the magnetic systolic-diastolic inequality. The methods come from the study of contact 3-manifolds.