Multiplicity and ellipticity of closed characteristics on compact star-shaped hypersurfaces in \(\mathbb R^{2n}\) (Q2403761)

The authors generalize some theories developed by \textit{I. Ekeland} and \textit{H. Hofer} [Commun. Math. Phys. 113, 419--469 (1987; Zbl 0641.58038)] for closed geodesics on compact convex hypersurfaces in \(\mathbb R^{2n}\) to star-shaped hypersufaces. Then it is used to prove that under some pinching condition, if a compact star-shaped hypersurface in \(\mathbb R^4\) carries exactly two geometrically distinct closed characteristics, then both of them must be elliptic. They also prove that the theory by \textit{Y. Long} and \textit{C. Zhu} [Ann. Math. (2) 155, No. 2, 317--368 (2002; Zbl 1028.53003)] still holds for dynamically convex star-shaped hypersurfaces. Combining this with some other results they obtain that there exist at least \(n\) closed characteristics on every dynamically convex star-shaped hypersurface in \(\mathbb R^6\) or \(\mathbb R^8\). Closed characteristics \((\tau, y)\) on a compact hypersurface \(\Sigma\) are solutions of the problem \[ \dot{y} =JN_{\Sigma}(y), \qquad y(\tau) =y(0), \] where \(J\) is the standard symplectic matrix , and \(N_{\Sigma} (y)\) is the outward normal vector of \(\Sigma\) such that \( N_{\Sigma} (y)\cdot y=1\). The authors indicate some overlap of their multiplicity results with those of \textit{V. L. Ginzburg} and \textit{B. Z. Gürel} [``Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory and closed Reeb orbits'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1601.03092}].