\(C^0\) approximations of foliations (Q2405507)

Let \(\mathcal F\) be a transversely oriented foliation of a closed, oriented \(3\)-manifold \(M\). It is said that \(\mathcal F\) is taut if, through every point, there is a simple closed curve everywhere transverse to the leaves. On the other hand, a contact structure \(\xi\) on \(M\) is called weakly symplectically fillable if \(M\) is the boundary of a symplectic manifold \((W,\omega)\) with \(\omega|_\xi>0\). It is said that \(\xi\) is tight if the induced foliation on any embedded disk has no limit cycle. If the lift of \(\xi\) to the universal covering of \(M\) remains tight, then \(\xi\) is called universally tight. According to a theorem of \textit{Y. M. Eliashberg} and \textit{W. P. Thurston} [Confoliations. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (1998; Zbl 0893.53001)], if \(\mathcal F\) is \(C^2\) and \(M\neq S^1\times S^2\), then \(\mathcal F\) can be \(C^0\)-approximated by a pair of \(C^\infty\) contact structures, one positive and one negative. If moreover \(\mathcal F\) is taut, then they also proved that any contact structure sufficiently close to \(\mathcal F\) is weakly symplectically fillable and universally tight. In the paper under review, the authors extend this theorem to the case where \(\mathcal F\) is \(C^{1,0}\), meaning that it has a continuous tangent plane field. The proof uses a new ingredient to create a contracting holonomy, which is called generalized Denjoy blow-up