The Engel-Lutz twist and overtwisted Engel structures (Q2224533)

If \(M\) is a \(4\)-dimensional smooth manifold, then a \(3\)-dimensional distribution \({\mathcal E}\subset TM\) such that it is everywhere non-integrable, or \([{\mathcal E},{\mathcal E}]=TM\), is said to be an even-contact structure, and a \(2\)-dimensional distribution \({\mathcal D}\subset TM\) such that it is everywhere maximally non-integrable, or \({\mathcal E}=[{\mathcal D},{\mathcal D}]\) is an even-contact structure, is said to be an Engel structure. The space of Engel structures on \(M\), endowed with the \(C^2\)-topology, is denoted by \(\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\). The subspace of overtwisted Engel structures is \(\mathfrak{Engel}_{\text{OT}}(M)\). If \({\mathcal E}\) is an even-contact structure on a \(4\)-manifold \(M\), then there is a uniquely defined line field \({\mathcal W}\subset{\mathcal E}\), called the kernel of the even contact structure, which is characterized by \([{\mathcal W},{\mathcal E}]\subset{\mathcal E}\). If \(\mathcal D\) is an Engel structure satisfying \({\mathcal E}=[{\mathcal D},{\mathcal D}]\), then the following flag of distributions \({\mathcal W}\subset{\mathcal D}\subset{\mathcal E}\subset TM\) is obtained. A complete flag \({\mathcal W}\subset{\mathcal D}\subset{\mathcal E}\subset TM\) on a \(4\)-manifold \(M\) endowed with bundle isomorphisms \(\det(\mathcal{E}/\mathcal{W})\cong TM/\mathcal{E}\) and \(\det(\mathcal{D})\cong\mathcal{E}/\mathcal{D}\) is said to be a formal Engel structure on \(M\). The space of formal Engel structures on \(M\), endowed with the \(C^0\)-topology, is denoted by \(\mathcal{F}\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\). The Engel analog of the classical Lutz twist is the Engel-Lutz twist. If the 4-ball \(\mathbb{D}^4\) is endowed with a specific overtwisted Engel structure \(\mathcal{D}_{\text{OT}}\), then the Engel manifold \(\Delta_{\text{OT}}=(\mathbb{D}^4,\mathcal{D}_{\text{OT}})\) is called an overtwisted disk. If an Engel embedding \(\Delta: \Delta_{\text{OT}}\to (M,\mathcal{D})\) exists, then \((M,\mathbb{D})\) is called an overtwisted Engel manifold. For a compact manifold \(K\), a \(K\)-family of Engel structures \(\mathcal{D}:K\to\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\) is said to be overtwisted if there is a locally trivial fibration of overtwisted discs \(\Delta_k\subset (M,\mathcal{D}(k))\), \(k\in K\). The family \(\Delta=(\Delta_k)_{k\in K}\) is said to be the certificate of overtwistedness of \(\mathcal{D}\). The main result of this paper states that if \(M\) is a smooth 4-manifold, possibly non-compact or with boundary, \(U\subset M\) is a closed subset such that \(M\backslash U\) is connected, \(K'\subset K\) are compact \(CW\)-complexes, \(\mathcal{D}_0:K\to\mathcal{F}\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\) is a family of formal Engel structures such that \(\mathcal{D}_0(k)\) is Engel at \(p\in\mathcal{O}p(U)\) or \(k\in\mathcal{O}p(K')\), and \(\mathcal{D}_0\) has a certificate of overtwistedness \((\Delta_k)_{k\in K}\) with \(\Delta_k\subset M\backslash U\), then there is a homotopy \(\mathcal{D}:K\times[0,1]\to\mathcal{F}\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\) such that (i) \(\mathcal{D}(\cdot,0)=\mathcal{D}_0\), (ii) \(\mathcal{D}(k,s)(p)=\mathcal{D}(0,k)(p)\) whenever \(k \in\mathcal{O}p(K')\) or \(p\in\mathcal{O}p(U)\cup\Delta_k\), (iii) \(\mathcal{D}(\cdot,1):K\to\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\), where \(\mathcal{O}p(A)\) denotes an arbitrarily small neighborhood of a set \(A\). Moreover, the authors show that the inclusion \(i:\mathfrak{Engel}_{\text{OT}}(M,\Delta)\to\mathcal{F}\mathfrak{Engel}(M,\Delta)\) is a homotopy equivalence, and the inclusion \(i:\mathfrak{Engel}_{\text{OT}}(M)\to\mathcal{F}\mathfrak{Engel}(M)\) induces a bijection between path components.