\(S^1\)-equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology (Q340994)

A symplectic manifold \((M,\lambda)\) is said to be an exact convex symplectic manifold, if there exists an exhaustion \(M=\cup_k M_k\) such that each \(M_k\) is compact, \(\partial M_k\) is smooth and \(\lambda|_{\partial M_k}\) is a contact form. In [\textit{K. Cieliebak} and \textit{U. A. Frauenfelder}, Pac. J. Math. 239, No. 2, 251--316 (2009; Zbl 1221.53112)], by using the Rabinowitz action functional \[ \mathcal A^F(v,\eta)=-\int_{S^1}v^\ast \lambda-\eta\int_{S^1}F(v,t)dt, \] where \(v\in\mathcal L=C^\infty(S^1,M)\), \(\eta\in\mathbb R\) and \(F:M\to\mathbb R\) is the defining function of \(\Sigma\), the Rabinowitz Floer homology group \(\mathrm{RFH}(\Sigma,M)\) is defined and shown that if \(\Sigma\) is a Hamiltonian displacement, i.e., if there exists a compactly supported Hamiltonian diffeomorphism that disjoins \(\Sigma\) from itself, then \(\mathrm{RFH}(\Sigma,M)=0\). \(\mathcal A^F\) is invariant under the circle action obtained by rotation of the loop \(v\). Starting from this fact, the equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology \(\mathrm{RFH}^{S^1}(\Sigma,M)\) is defined and show it vanishes if \(\Sigma\) is Hamiltonian displacement (Theorem A). The definition of the Rabinowitz-Floer homology is reviewed in \S2. Denoting \(v(t)=\phi^{\eta t}_F\) and assuming that every periodic orbit of the Reeb flow \(\phi^t_R\) is non-degenerate, its chain group is generated from critical points of an auxiliary Morse function \(h:\mathrm{Crit}\mathcal A^F\to\mathbb R\), and the boundary is defined by taking a family of almost complex structures \(\lambda\)-compatible, convex at infinity and satisfying some estimates \(((4),(5))\). The boundary operator depends on \(F\). But the resulting homology is shown to be independent on \(F\) and denoted by RFH\((\Sigma,M)\). Then, showing \(\mathrm{RFH}(\Sigma_0,M)\cong\mathrm{RFH}(\Sigma_1,M)\), if \(\Sigma_0\) and \(\Sigma_1\) are isotopic through a family of contact hypersurfaces, the Rabinowitz-Floer homology is defined. The equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology is defined modifying this definition. For this purpose, the \(S^1\)-action \(\mathbb T\) on \(\mathcal L\times\mathbb R\times S^{2N-1}\) is defined by \[ \tau\cdot (v(\cdot),\eta,z)=(v(\cdot,-\tau),\eta,\tau/z). \] Denote the quotient space by this action, by \(\mathcal L\times\mathbb R\times_{\mathbb T}S^{2n=1}\). The Rabinowitz action functional \(\mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T}:\mathcal L\times\mathbb R\times_{\mathbb T}S^{2N-1}\to\mathbb R\) is defined by \[ \mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T}([v,\eta,z])=-\int_{S^1}v^\ast\lambda-\eta\int_{S^1}F(v(t))dt. \] Since \(\mathrm{Crit}\mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T}=\mathrm{Crit}\mathcal A^F\times_{\mathbb T}S^{2N-1}\), a \(\mathbb T\)-invariant metric of \(\mathrm{Crit}\mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T}\) is obtained and choosing a Morse function \(h_N:\mathrm{Crit}\mathcal F:\mathbb T\to\mathbb R\), the chain group \(\mathrm{FC}(\mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T},h_n)\) is defined (\S3.2.1). Estimates of a family \(J_N\) of almost complex structures and the definition of the boundary operator are similarly modified (\S3.2.2 and 3). The homology groups obtained by these chain groups and the boundary operator are denoted by \(\mathrm{FH}(\mathcal A^{F,N:\mathbb T},h_N,J_N)\). The equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology \(\mathrm{RFH}^{S^1}(\Sigma, M)\) is defined as the direct limit of \(\mathrm{FH}(\mathcal A^{F,N;\mathbb T},h_N,J_N)\), with respect to \(N\) (\S3.2.4). It is shown that the group does not depend on the choices of \(h_N\) and \(J_N\). The authors remark that there are different definitions of the equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology (e.g. [\textit{F. Bourgeois} and \textit{A. Oancea}, J. Topol. Anal. 5, No. 4, 361--407 (2013; Zbl 1405.53121)], [\textit{K. Cielieback} and \textit{A. Oancea}, ``Symplectic homology and the Eilenberg-Steenrod axiom'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1511.00485}]), and clarify their relations in a problem (\S3). Theorem A is proved in \S4 and \S5 by a leafwise intersection argument following \textit{P. Albers} and \textit{U. Frauenfelder} [J. Topol. Anal. 2, No. 1, 77--98 (2010; Zbl 1196.53050)]. It is done via the analysis of the perturbed equivariant Rabinowitz action functional which is the core of this paper (\S4). The authors say that there is a more algebraic proof of Theorem A by \textit{F. Bourgeois} and \textit{A. Oancea} [``\(S^1\)-equivariant symplectic homology and linearized contact homology'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1212.3731}], which is reviewed in \S6, the last Section.