Simplified SFT moduli spaces for Legendrian links (Q6055555)

The author addresses the possibility of combinatorial counting of holomorphic curves with boundary on a Legendrian link \(\Lambda\) in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) with the standard contact structure [\textit{J. B. Etnyre}, Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 71, 81--107 (2003; Zbl 1045.57012) ], and shows that any symplectic field theory invariant of \(\Lambda\) [\textit{Y. Eliashberg} et al., in: GAFA 2000. Visions in mathematics -- Towards 2000. Proceedings of a meeting, Tel Aviv, Israel, August 25--September 3, 1999. Part II. Basel: Birkhäuser. 560--673 (2000; Zbl 0989.81114)] is combinatorially computable using only disks with one or two positive punctures. For this purpose, the author shows that the reduced moduli spaces \(\mathcal{M}^\Lambda/\mathbb{R}\) of holomorphic curves in \(\mathbb{R}\times \mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{C}\) with boundary on the Lagrangian cylinder \(\mathbb{R}\times \Lambda\) \[ U:\dot\Sigma\to\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{C}, \quad\quad U(\partial\dot\Sigma)\subset \mathbb{R}\times\Lambda, \] can be identified as the zero-locus, \(\mathcal{O}^{-1}(0)\), of an obstruction function \(\mathcal{O}\), from a moduli space \(\mathcal{M}^\lambda\) of holomorphic curves in \(\mathbb{C}\) with boundary on the Lagrangian projection \(\lambda=\pi_{\mathbb{C}}(\Lambda)\subset\mathbb{C}\) to the first cohomology group of the domain, and inquires into the possibility of counting the points in \(\mathcal{O}^{-1}(0)\), merely considering the Lagrangian projection \(\lambda\). The author recalls that \(\mathcal{O}\) vanishes for 2-disks [\textit{J. B. Etnyre} et al., J. Symplectic Geom. 1, No. 2, 321--367 (2002; Zbl 1024.57014)], but \(\mathcal{O}^{-1}(0)\) is not combinatorially computable in general. The author describes a general index formula for holomorphic maps to \(\mathbb{C}\) with boundary on an immersed multicurve and proves that after applying a Legendrian isotopy to the link \(\Lambda\), any \(U\) of index 1 is a disk with one or two positive punctures for which \(\pi_{\mathbb{C}}\circ U\) is an embedding, and any \(U\) of index 2 is either a disk or an annulus with \(\pi_{\mathbb{C}}\circ U\) simply covered and without interior critical points.