Commutator length of symplectomorphisms

MaRDI QIDQ1424240zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Michael Entov

Publication date 11 March 2004

Published in Commentarii Mathematici Helvetici (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0112012

zbMATH Keywords

commutator lengthcommutator subgroupFloer homologyHamiltonian symplectomorphismsymplectic manifold

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Symplectic manifolds (general theory) (53D05) Symplectic aspects of Floer homology and cohomology (53D40)

Abstract: Each element of the commutator subgroup of a group can be represented as a product of commutators. The minimal number of factors in such a product is called the commutator length of the element. The commutator length of a group is defined as the supremum of commutator lengths of elements of its commutator subgroup. We show that for certain closed symplectic manifolds, including complex projective spaces and Grassmannians, the universal cover of the group of Hamiltonian symplectomorphisms of the manifold has infinite commutator length. In particular, we present explicit examples of elements in that group that have arbitrarily large commutator length -- the estimate on their commutator length depends on the multiplicative structure of the quantum cohomology of the symplectic manifold. By a different method we also show that in the case when the first Chern class of the manifold is zero the universal covers of the group of Hamiltonian symplectomorphisms and of the identity component of the group of all symplectomorphisms both have infinite commutator length.

Review text

Each element \(x\) of the commutator subgroup \([G,G]\subset G\) of a group \(G\) can be represented as a product of commutators. The minimal number \(\text{cl}(x)\) of factors is called the commutator length of \(x\) and the commutator length \(\text{cl}(G)\) of \(G\) is defined as the supremum of all \(\text{cl}(x)\). Let \((M,\omega)\) be a closed connected symplectic manifold. A function \(H: S^1\times M\to \mathbb{R}\) (called Hamiltonian) determines a time-dependent Hamiltonian vector field \(X(t,x)\), \(t\in S^1\), \(x\in M\) such that \(dH(t,.)= \omega(X(t,.),.)\). The flow of this field preserves the symplectic form. A symplectomorphism of \(M\) that can be represented as the time-1 map of a Hamiltonian vector field is called a Hamiltonian symplectomorphism. All Hamiltonian symplectomorphisms form a subgroup \(\text{Ham}(M,\omega)\subset \text{Symp}_0(M,\omega)\) of the identity component of the group of symplectomorphisms. Main results: For certain particular cases (including complex projective spaces and Grassmann\-ians) the universal cover of \(\text{Ham}(M,\omega)\) has infinite commutator length and the estimate of the commutator length depends on the multiplicative structure of the quantum cohomology of \((M,\omega)\)). Moreover, in the case \(c_1(M)= 0\) both the universal covers of \(\text{Ham}(M,\omega)\) and \(\text{Symp}_0(M,\omega)\) have infinite commutator length. Rather advanced tools are employed (e.g., the rational Novikov ring, Floer cohomology, spectral numbers, Hofer metric, \(K\)-area, moduli spaces) and many references are involved.

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Cited in

(11)

• Commutators of \(C^{\infty }\)-diffeomorphisms preserving a submanifold
• A field theory for symplectic fibrations over surfaces
• Continuity conditions for finite-dimensional locally bounded representations of connected locally compact groups
• Homogeneous quasimorphisms, \(C^0\)-topology and Lagrangian intersection
• Quasimorphisms on contactomorphism groups and contact rigidity
• Calabi quasi-morphisms for some non-monotone symplectic manifolds
• Proof of the main conjecture on \(g\)-areas
• The g-areas and the commutator length
• Quasi-morphismes et invariant de Calabi
• Hamiltonian Floer theory on surfaces: linking, positively transverse foliations and spectral invariants
• Finite-dimensional quasirepresentations of connected Lie groups and Mishchenko's conjecture

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