Symplectic geometry of integrable Hamiltonian systems (Q1394737)

This book, an expanded version of the lectures delivered by the authors at the ''Centre de Recerca Matemàtica'' Barcelona in July 2001, is designed for a modern introduction to symplectic and contact geometry to graduate students. It can also be useful to research mathematicians interested in integrable systems. The text includes up to date references, and has three parts. The first part, by Michèle Audin, contains an introduction to Lagrangian and special Lagrangian submanifolds in symplectic and Calabi-Yau manifolds. The author's aim is mainly to present as many examples as possible and to explain why one knows so many Lagrangian and so few special Lagrangian submanifolds and immersions. Mirror symmetry is briefly discussed. The second part, by Ana Cannas da Silva, provides an elementary introduction to toric manifolds (i.e. smooth toric varieties). This part splits into two sections: the first concentrates on the symplectic viewpoint, while the second one focuses on the algebraic viewpoint with links to symplectic geometry. The author emphasizes the geometry of the momentum map whose image, the so-called momentum polytope, determines the symplectic toric manifolds. The existence part (or surjectivity) in Delzant's classification theorem of symplectic toric manifolds is proven by using the technique of symplectic reduction. In these first two parts, there are exercises designed to complement the exposition or extend the reader's understanding. Integrable Hamiltonian systems on punctured cotangent bundles are a starting point for the study of contact toric manifolds. The last part, by Eugene Lerman, is devoted to the topological study of these manifolds. Completely integrable geodesic flows with homogeneous integrals are presented in order to introduce various ideas essential for the classification of contact and symplectic toric manifolds. More specifically, contact momentum maps, slices for group actions, sheaves and Čech cohomology, orbifolds and Morse theory on orbifolds are discussed. This part also contains an appendix on hypersurfaces of contact type.