Augmentations and rulings of Legendrian knots (Q508086)

A Legendrian knot \(\Lambda\) in \({\mathbb R}^3\) with the standard contact structure is an embedding of \(S^1\) in \({\mathbb R}^3\) which is everywhere tangent to the contact planes. The Chekanov-Eliashberg differential graded algebra over \({\mathbb Z}/2\) is an invariant associated to a Legendrian diagram of \(\Lambda\). It lifts to another differential graded algebra, denoted \(({\mathcal A}, \partial)\), over the ring \({\mathbb Z}[t,t^{-1}]\). The normal rulings of front diagrams form another invariant of Legendrian knots. Through the work in [\textit{D. Fuchs}, J. Geom. Phys. 47, No. 1, 43--65 (2003; Zbl 1028.57005); \textit{D. Fuchs} and \textit{T. Ishkhanov}, Mosc. Math. J. 4, No. 3, 707--717 (2004; Zbl 1073.53106); \textit{J. M. Sabloff}, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2005, No. 19, 1157--1180 (2005; Zbl 1082.57020)], it is known that the existence of augmentations of the Chekanov-Eliashberg differential graded algebra into \({\mathbb Z}/2\) is equivalent to the existence of rulings of front diagrams. This paper obtains this result for augmentations of \(({\mathcal A},\partial)\) into any field. Here is a statement of the main theorem of the paper. Theorem. Let \(\Lambda\) be a Legendrian knot in \({\mathbb R}^3\). Given a field \(F\), \(({\mathcal A}, \partial)\) has a \(\rho\)-graded augmentation \(\epsilon: {\mathcal A} \rightarrow F\) if and only if any front diagram of \(\Lambda\) has a \(\rho\)-graded normal ruling. Furthermore, if \(\rho\) is even, then \(\epsilon(t) = -1\).