Gromov-Witten invariants of symplectic sums (Q1295905)

The authors consider the sum operation of symplectic manifolds \(X\) and \(Y\) defined by glueing along codimension \(2\) symplectic submanifolds \(V=W\). They define the relative Gromov-Witten invariants and associated invariants called Taubes-Witten for the symplectic pair \((X,V)\) and give a general formula for computing Gromov-Witten invariants of the symplectic sum of \(X\) and \(Y\) in terms of relative invariants of symplectic pairs \((X,V)\) and \((X,W)\), which is the main result of the paper. They also present two applications of the formula: a new proof of the Caporaso-Harris recursion formula for the number of curves in \(P^2\) and a new proof of the formula for the number of curves in the rational elliptic surface.