On the symplectic volume of the moduli space of spherical and Euclidean polygons (Q2386868)

Let \(V\) be a Riemannian 3-manifold \(r_0\) its injectivity radius. Let \(r=(r_1,\dots,r_n)\) be a sequence of non-negative numbers \(r_i\geq r_0\). Denote by \({\mathcal{P}}_r^{V}\) the configuration space of all polygons in \(V\) with sides of lengths \(r_i\). The author studies the moduli space \({\mathcal P}_r^{V}/\text{Iso}(V)\) in the cases \(V={\mathbb R}^3\) and \(V=S^3\) with their standard metrics. These moduli spaces carry natural symplectic structures and the question is which polygons have maximal symplectic volume. This is investigated with the help of Witten's formula and the author proves that regular \(n\)-gons maximize the volume inside the class of \(n\)-gons with fixed perimeter. Under certain assumptions the regular \(n\)-gons are the unique \(n\)-gons maximizing the volume.