On Legendrian graphs (Q441075)

Let \(\xi_{std}\) denote the standard contact structure in \({\mathbb R}^3\). A Legendrian graph in \(({\mathbb R}^3,\xi_{std})\) is a graph embedded in \({\mathbb R}^3\) in such a way that all its edges are Legendrian curves that are nontangent to each other at the vertices. Legendrian graphs were used in [\textit{Y. Eliashberg} and \textit{M. Fraser}, J. Symplectic Geom. 7, No. 2, 77--127 (2009; Zbl 1179.57040)] to prove that in the tight contact structure the unknot is determined up to Legendrian isotopy by two invariants only. The authors of the paper under review study Legendrian graphs in a systematic way and extend some results on Legendrian knots to Legendrian graphs. First, the authors address the question of existence of Legendrian embeddings of spatial graphs in \(({\mathbb R}^3,\xi_{std})\) and give a positive answer to it. Moreover the authors extend some classical invariants of Legendrian knots, such as the Thurston-Bennequin number (tb) and the rotation number (rot), to Legendrian graphs. Let the trivial unknot be the one unknot that attains the maximal Thurston-Bennequin number in its topological class. It was known before [\textit{J. B. Etnyre} and \textit{K. Honda}, ibid. 1, No. 1, 63--120 (2001; Zbl 1037.57021)] that some links cannot be represented by Legendrian links of trivial unknots. In the given paper, the authors characterize the graphs that admit a Legendrian embedding in \(({\mathbb R}^3,\xi_{std})\) with all their cycles being trivial unknots (Theorem 1.2). The authors also address the question of which types of spatial graphs are classified up to Legendrian isotopy by the pair (tb, rot) and give a partial answer to it in purely combinatorial terms (Theorem 1.4). It follows that even for uncomplicated graphs the pair (tb, rot) of invariants is not sufficient to classify spatial graphs up to Legendrian isotopy. Some examples of topological planar graphs illustrating this fact are presented.