Invariants of real symplectic 4-manifolds and lower bounds in real enumerative geometry (Q2571052)

This outstanding work opens a new direction in the enumerative geometry: the author discovers an enumerative invariant of real rational pseudo-holomorphic curves on real rational symplectic four-folds, which is a real analogue of the Gromov-Witten invariants. Namely, given a real rational symplectic four-fold \(X\) with a generic tame real almost complex structure \(J\), an ample class \(d\in H_2(X)\), and a generic equivariant configuration \(x\) of \(c_1(X)\cdot d-1\) points in \(X\), the set of real rational pseudo-holomorphic curves in \(X\), realizing the class \(d\) and passing through the configuration \(x\), is finite; counting these curves \(C\) with weights \((-1)^{s(C)}\), where \(s(C)\) is the number of real isolated nodes of \(C\) (i.e., locally given by \(x^2+y^2=0\)), one obtains the number \(\chi\). The main theorem states that \(\chi\) does not depend neither on the choice of \(J\), nor on the choice of \(x\), but only on \(X\), \(d\), the number of real points in \(x\), and their distribution among the connected components of \(X({\mathbb R})\). In particular, this theorem covers the case of real generic del Pezzo surfaces and rational algebraic curves in them. The absolute value of \(\chi\) provides a uniform lower bound for the number of real rational pseudo-holomorphic curves in \(X\) homologous to \(d\) and passing through any generic equivariant configuration of \(c_1(X)\cdot d-1\) points, whereas an upper bound is given by the corresponding Gromov-Witten invariant. The author shows that it is non-trivial, i.e., does not vanish identically, and establishes relations between invariants, corresponding to configurations, containing different amounts of real points. Reviewer's remark. \textit{G. Mikhalkin} [C. R., Math., Acad. Sci. Paris 336, No. 8, 629--634 (2003; Zbl 1027.14026)], \textit{I. Itenberg, V. Kharlamov}, and the reviewer [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2003, No.49, 2639--2653 (2003; Zbl 1083.14523)] have shown that the new invariant is always positive for totally real configurations in real toric del Pezzo surfaces, which, in particular, implies that for any such surface \(X\), and ample class \(d\in H_2(X)\), through any generic configuration of \(c_1(X)\cdot d-1\) generic real points in \(X\) one can trace a real rational curve.