On certain \({C}^0\)-aspects of contactomorphism groups (Q6877003)

This paper investigates the \(C^0\)-topology of contactomorphism groups and their \(C^0\)-closures, the groups of contact homeomorphisms, by focusing on quantitative properties of conjugacy classes and spectral norms. A central contribution of the work is the exploration of the Rokhlin property defined as the existence of a dense conjugacy class within the context of \(C^0\)-contact topology, extending concepts previously studied for Hamiltonian homeomorphisms of surfaces by \textit{E. Glasner} and \textit{B. Weiss} [Am. J. Math. 123, No. 6, 1055--1070 (2001; Zbl 1012.54042)]. The authors prove a fundamental dichotomy: the topological group of compactly supported contact homeomorphisms of \(\mathbb{R}^{2n+1}\) possesses the Rokhlin property, whereas for the prequantization space \(\mathbb{R}^{2n} \times S^1\) this property fails. This failure is shown to be a topological footprint of contact rigidity, more precisely stemming from the contact non-squeezing theorem established by \textit{Y. Eliashberg} et al. [Geom. Topol. 10, 1635--1748 (2006; Zbl 1134.53044)]. For closed contact manifolds, the authors show that the Rokhlin property is similarly absent due to the existence of Reeb flows without fixed points. Furthermore, the authors provide a significant advancement in the study of \textit{S. Sandon}'s spectral norm [J. Topol. Anal. 2, No. 3, 327--339 (2010; Zbl 1216.53077)] by proving that it is \(C^0\)-locally bounded. More precisely, they establish a stability result showing that for any two contactomorphisms within a \(C^0\)-distance of half, the difference in their spectral norms is at most two. This local boundedness allows for the successful extension of the spectral norm to the group of contact homeomorphisms via a limit inferior construction. Finally, the paper relates these findings to the contact fragmentation norm, establishing a hierarchy between the conjugation norm and the fragmentation norm. They prove that the fragmentation norm is unbounded on \(\mathbb{R}^{2n} \times S^1\), building upon earlier work by \textit{V. Colin} and \textit{S. Sandon} [J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 17, No. 7, 1657--1685 (2015; Zbl 1334.53088)]. These results cover the gap between flexible contact dynamics and the rigid quantitative invariants derived from generating function homology and Rabinowitz Floer homology, offering a new perspective on the quantitative failure of the Rokhlin property through the introduction of conjugation connectivity metrics.