Instanton Floer homology with Lagrangian boundary conditions (Q2426849)

Motivated by the authors' programme to prove the Atiyah-Floer conjecture [\textit{M. Atiyah}, New invariants of 3-and 4-dimensional manifolds. The mathematical heritage of Hermann Weyl, Proc. Symp., Durham/NC 1987, Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 48, 285-299 (1988; Zbl 0667.57018)], the paper under review is to construct an instanton Floer homology group \(HF(Y ,{\mathcal L})\) for a compact oriented 3-manifold \(Y\) with boundary \(\Sigma:=\partial Y\) and a gauge invariant, monotone, irreducible infinite-dimensional Lagrangian submanifold \({\mathcal L}\) of the moduli space \({\mathcal A}(\Sigma)\) of flat \(SU(2)\)-connections over the boundary \(\Sigma\). The action of the gauge group \({\mathcal G}(\Sigma)=C^\infty(\Sigma, G)\) on \({\mathcal A}(\Sigma)\) is Hamiltonian, and the corresponding moment map is the curvature. The moduli space \(M_\Sigma:={\mathcal A}_{\text{ flat}}(\Sigma)/{\mathcal G}(\Sigma)\) of flat connections is a (singular) symplectic manifold. A gauge invariant, monotone, irreducible infinite-dimensional Lagrangian submanifold \({\mathcal L}\) of the moduli space \({\mathcal A}(\Sigma)\) descends to a (singular) Lagrangian submanifold \(L:={\mathcal L}/{\mathcal G}(\Sigma)\subset M_\Sigma\). On the space \({\mathcal A}(Y,{\mathcal L}):=\{A\in{\mathcal A}(Y)\mid A|_\Sigma\in{\mathcal L}\}\) of connections on \(Y\) with boundary values in \({\mathcal L}\) there is a gauge invariant Chern-Simon functional \({\mathcal CS}_{\mathcal L}\) with values in \({\mathbb R}/4\pi^2{\mathbb Z}\), whose differential is the usual Chern-Simons \(1\)-form. The critical points are the flat connections in \({\mathcal A}(Y,{\mathcal L})\). The gradient flow lines of \({\mathcal CS}_{\mathcal L}\) with respect to the \(L^2\) inner product are smooth maps \({\mathbb R}\to{\mathcal A}(Y):s\to A(s)\) satisfying the equation: \(\partial_sA+ \ast F_A=0\) and \(A(s)|_\Sigma\in{\mathcal L}\) for any \(s\in{\mathbb R}\). As in \textit{A. Floer}'s original work [Commun. Math. Phys. 118, No.~2, 215--240 (1988; Zbl 0684.53027)], the instanton Floer homology group \(HF(Y ,{\mathcal L})\) is obtained by using the solutions of the equation to construct a boundary operator on the chain complex generated by the gauge equivalence classes of the nontrivial flat connections in \({\mathcal A}_{\text{flat}}(Y,{\mathcal L})\). For a disjoint union \(H\) of handlebodies with \(\partial H=\overline\Sigma\), if \(Y\bigcup_\Sigma H\) is an integral homology 3-sphere then the subset \({\mathcal L}_H\subset{\mathcal L}_H\subset{\mathcal A}(\Sigma)\) of all flat connections on \(\Sigma\) that extend to flat connections on \(Y\) is a gauge invariant, monotone, irreducible infinite-dimensional Lagrangian submanifold of \({\mathcal A}(\Sigma)\). In this case the authors expect that the homology \(HF(Y ,{\mathcal L})\) is naturally isomorphic to the instanton Floer homology group \(HF(Y\bigcup_\Sigma H)\) of a homology 3-sphere \(Y\bigcup_\Sigma H\) constructed in [loc. cit.]. Given a Heegaard splitting \(M=H_0\bigcup_\Sigma\overline H_1\) of a homology \(3\)-sphere into two handlebodies \(H_i\) with \(\partial H_i=\Sigma\), the \(3\)-manifold \(Y:=[0, 1]\times\Sigma\) has two boundary components \(\partial Y=\overline\Sigma\sqcup\overline H_1\), and attaching the disjoint union of the handlebodies \(H:= H_0\sqcup \widetilde{H}_1\) yields the homology 3-sphere \(Y\bigcup_{\overline\Sigma\sqcup\Sigma}H\cong M\). The Lagrangian submanifold is \({\mathcal L}_{H_0}\times{\mathcal L}_{H_1}\cong{\mathcal L}_H\subset{\mathcal A}(\overline\Sigma\sqcup\Sigma)\). In this case the expectation is that \(HF([0, 1]\times\Sigma, {\mathcal L}_{H_0}\times{\mathcal L}_{H_1})\cong FH(M)\) and that the symplectic Floer homology of the pair of Lagrangian submanifolds \(L_{H_0}\), \(L_{H_1}\) of the singular symplectic manifold \(M_\Sigma\) is also isomorphic to \(HF([0, 1]\times\Sigma, {\mathcal L}_{H_0}\times{\mathcal L}_{H_1})\). The construction of this detailed paper is based on the foundational analysis by \textit{K. Wehrheim} in [Commun. Contemp. Math. 6, No.~4, 601--635 (2004; Zbl 1083.53086), Commun. Math. Phys. 254, No.~1, 45--89 (2005; Zbl 1083.53029), ibid. 258, No.~2, 275--315 (2005; Zbl 1088.53013)]. Though the exposition is to follow the work of \textit{A. Floer} [loc. cit.] and \textit{S. K. Donaldson} [Floer homology groups in Yang-Mills theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2002; Zbl 0998.53057)], some new phenomena and difficulties occur and are explained and overcome in details. They are also helpful for understanding Floer's and Donaldson's papers. In addition, this paper is readable and a very good reference for people who wish to become acquainted with this field.