Strong L-spaces and left-orderability (Q390209)

A rational homology 3-sphere \(Y\) is an L-space if \(\text{rank }\widehat{HF}(Y) = |H_{1}(Y)|\), where \(\widehat{HF}(Y)\) denotes the Heegaard Floer homology group of \(Y\). By considering similar chain-level conditions, the authors introduce a notion of strong L-space: A rational homology 3-sphere \(Y\) is a strong L-space if \(Y\) admits a Heegaard diagram \(\mathcal{H}\) such that \(\text{rank }\widehat{CF}(\mathcal{H}) =|H_{1}(Y)|\), where \(\widehat{CF}(\mathcal{H})\) denotes the Heegaard Floer chain complex associated to the Heegaard diagram \(\mathcal{H}\). By using a special feature of the presentation of \(\pi_{1}(Y)\) coming from such a Heegaard diagram \(\mathcal{H}\), the authors prove that the fundamental group of a strong L-space is not left-orderable. This gives supporting evidence to the conjecture that an irreducible 3-manifold \(Y\) is an L-space if and only if \(\pi_{1}(Y)\) is not left-orderable. They also observe that being a strong L-space is more restrictive than being an L-space, by showing that \(S^{3}\) is the unique strong L-space that is an integral homology sphere.