Quasipositive links and Stein surfaces (Q2048410)

\textit{L. Rudolph} [Topology 22, 191--202 (1983; Zbl 0505.57003)] introduced the notion of quasipositive braids and links in \(\mathbb{S}^3\) and showed that each such link arises as the transverse intersection of the unit sphere \(\mathbb{S}^3\subset\mathbb{C}^2\) with a smooth algebraic curve \(f^{-1}(0)\subset \mathbb{C}^2 \), where \(f\) is a nonconstant complex polynomial. More generally, Rudolph also conjectured that the analogous statement, where a smooth algebraic curve is replaced by a smooth complex curve, should be true. \textit{M. Boileau} and \textit{S. Orevkov} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I, Math. 332, No. 9, 825--830 (2001; Zbl 1020.32020)] confirmed this conjecture using Gromov's celebrated theory of pseudoholomorphic curves. In the paper under review, the author investigates the following natural analog where \(\mathbb{C}^2\) is replaced with an arbitrary Stein surface, a complex surface \(X\) that admits a proper holomorphic embedding as a closed subset in some \(\mathbb{C}^n\). In this setting, the role of \(\mathbb{S}^3\subset\mathbb{C}^2\) is played by a hypersurface \(Y \subset X\) of constant radius in \(\mathbb{C}^n\). The region in \(X\) bounded by \(Y\) is a Stein domain. Any such level set \(Y\subset X\) has a natural contact structure \(\xi\) given by complex tangent lines. The author defines the notion of quasipositive braids and links with respect to open book decompositions of \( Y\) compatible with \(\xi\). In the main theorem the author establishes an analog of Rudolph's conjecture in this general setting. He also proves a partial converse to his main theorem.