Symplectic topology and extremal rays (Q1308686)

The topology of the symplectomorphism group is studied by combining two methods: the Gromov theory of pseudoholomorphic curves in symplectic manifolds and the Mori theory of the birational geometry of algebraic 3- folds. The first part of the paper develops on Kähler manifolds a symplectic version of the Mori theory of extremal rays. The core result: For algebraic surfaces Mori extremal rays are symplectic and deformed symplectic extremals. In the second part further details are obtained about the examples of Fano surfaces (nonsingular algebraic varieties with positive first Chern class) and about Barlow surfaces. The paper is composed in a clear and transparent style.