Characteristic foliations of spheres embedded in the standard overtwisted structure \((\mathbb{R}^3,\zeta_1)\) (Q1817948)
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English | Characteristic foliations of spheres embedded in the standard overtwisted structure \((\mathbb{R}^3,\zeta_1)\) |
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Characteristic foliations of spheres embedded in the standard overtwisted structure \((\mathbb{R}^3,\zeta_1)\) (English)
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20 January 2000
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Let \((M,\xi)\) be a 3-contact manifold, and \(S\hookrightarrow (M,\xi)\) a closed, oriented \(C^\infty\) surface embedded in \(M\). Then there is an oriented 1-foliation \({\mathcal F}= S_\xi\) induced by \(\xi\) on \(S\), which is called the characteristic foliation. The \((M,\xi)\) is called overtwisted if there exists a 2-disc \(D\) embedded in \(M\) such that \(\partial D\) is tangent to the distribution non-integrable \(\xi\). Let \((\mathbb{R}^3, \zeta_1)\) be the standard overtwisted contact structure given by: \(\cos\rho dz-\rho \sin\rho d \varphi=0\), where \(\rho,\varphi,z\) are cylindric coordinates. The aim of this paper is to show that any Morse-Smale foliation on the sphere with null Euler class, is up to isotopy, the characteristic foliation of a sphere of \((\mathbb{R}^3,\zeta_1)\). The fundamental result is the following Theorem. Every Morse-Smale 1-foliation on the sphere \(S^2\) with null Euler class, is the characteristic foliation of a sphere embedded in \((\mathbb{R}^3,\zeta_1)\). The method is constructive.
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contact structures
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Morse-Smale foliations
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