On symplectic fillings of small Seifert 3-manifolds (Q6091919)

The classification of symplectic fillings of contact 3-manifolds stands as one of the fundamental problems in symplectic 4-manifold topology. For example, all minimal symplectic fillings of lens spaces and certain small Seifert 3-manifolds coming from the link of quotient surface singularities were completely classified. \textit{L. Starkston} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 367, No. 8, 5971--6016 (2015; Zbl 1316.53092)] investigated minimal symplectic fillings of the link of some weighted homogeneous surface singularities. For the link of quotient surface singularities endowed with a canonical contact structure, it was proven that every minimal symplectic filling is obtained by a sequence of rational blowdowns from the minimal resolution of the singularity. Conversely, \textit{L. Starkston} [J. Gökova Geom. Topol. GGT 10, 60--79 (2016; Zbl 1365.57039)] showed that there are symplectic fillings of some Seifert 3-manifolds that cannot be obtained by a sequence of rational blowdowns from the minimal resolution of the singularity. Hence, it is an intriguing question as to which Seifert 3-manifolds have a rational blowdown interpretation for their minimal symplectic fillings. In the paper under review, the authors investigate the minimal symplectic fillings of small Seifert 3-manifolds with their canonical contact structure. Let \(Y=Y(-b; (\alpha_1, \beta_1), (\alpha_2, \beta_2), (\alpha_3, \beta_3))\) be a small Seifert 3-manifold, where \(b\), \(\alpha_i\) and \(\beta_i\) are integers, \(b\geq 4\), \(0<\beta_i<\alpha_i\) and \((\alpha_i, \beta_i)=1\). Consider the canonical contact structure on \(Y\). The authors prove that all minimal symplectic fillings of \(Y\) are listed explicitly by curve configurations. Furthermore, they demonstrate that these fillings can be derived from a sequence of rational blowdowns from the minimal resolution of the corresponding weighted homogeneous surface singularity.