Negative inflation and stability in symplectomorphism groups of ruled surfaces (Q720752)

The rational homotopy of the symplectomorphism groups \(G^g_\lambda\) of symplectic ruled surfaces \(M^g_\lambda-(\Sigma_g\times S^2, \lambda\sigma_{\Sigma_g}\oplus\sigma_{S^2})\) such that the areas of \(\Sigma_g\) and \(S^2\) are \(\lambda\) and 1, respectively, is computed as follows: let \(g> 0\), \(k\geq[g/2]\) and \(k<\lambda\leq k+ 1\), then \[ \begin{aligned} \dim\pi_i G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q} &= 0,\quad i= 0\text{ and }3< i< 4k+ 2g,\\ \dim\pi_1 G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q} & = 1,\quad g> 1,\quad \dim\pi_1 G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q}= 3,\;g= 1,\\ \dim\pi_2 G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q} &= 2g,\quad \dim\pi_3 G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q}= 1,\quad\text{and }\dim\pi_{4k+2g} G^g_\lambda\otimes\mathbb{Q}\geq 1\end{aligned} \] (Proposition 1.9). To derive Proposition 1.9, first a refinement of the negative inflation method in a symplectic four-manifold [\textit{F. Lalonde} and \textit{D. McDuff}, Math. Res. Lett. 3, No.~6, 769--778 (1996; Zbl 0874.57019); \textit{T.-J. Li} and \textit{M. Usher}, J. Symplectic Geom. 4, No.~1, 71--91 (2006; Zbl 1120.53052)] is given (Theorem 1.1). Using the negative inflation method and results on the homotopy type of \(G^g_\lambda\) [\textit{D. McDuff}, in: É. Ghys (ed.) et al., Essay on geometry and related topics. Mémoires dédiés à André Haefliger. Vol. 2. Genève: L'Enseignement Mathématique. Monogr. Enseign. Math. 38, 527--556 (2001; Zbl 1010.53064)], the following stability theorem on the homotopy type of \(G^g_\lambda\) is proved: Let \(k\geq[g/2]\), then the homotopy type of \(G^g_\lambda\) is constant. Moreover, as \(\lambda\) passes the integer \(k+1\), the groups \(\pi_i\), \(i= 0,\dots, 4k+ 2g- 1\) do not change (Theorem 1.2). In [McDuff, loc. cit.] it was shown that the homotopy limit \(G^g_\infty= \lim_{\lambda\to\infty} G^g_\lambda\) exists and is homotopic to \({\mathcal D}^g_0\), the identity component of the subgroup of diffeomorphisms that preserve the \(S^2\) fibers (Proposition 1.5). In [McDuff, loc. cit.] it is also shown that \[ \begin{aligned} \dim\pi_i({\mathcal D}^g_0\otimes\mathbb{Q}) &= 0,\quad i= 0\text{ and }i> 3,\\ \dim\pi_1({\mathcal D}^g_0)\otimes\mathbb{Q} &= 1,\quad g> 1,\quad\dim\pi_1({\mathcal D}^g_0)\times \mathbb{Q}= 3,\quad g= 0,\\ \dim\pi_2({\mathcal D}^g_0)\otimes\mathbb{Q} &= 2g,\quad \dim\pi_3({\mathcal D}^g_0)\otimes\mathbb{Q}= 1\end{aligned} \] (Proposition 1.6). Moreover, it was shown in [McDuff, loc. cit.] that \(\widetilde i: G^g_\lambda\to{\mathcal D}^g_0\) yields a surjective map on all rational homotopy groups. Theorem 1.2 improves this assertion showing that \(\widetilde i_*: \pi_j(G^g_\lambda\to \pi_j({\mathcal D}^g_\lambda))\), \(j= 0,\dots, 4k+ 2g-1\), are isomorphisms if \(k> [g/2]\) and \(k< \lambda\leq k+ 1\) (Proposition 1.7). Proposition 1.9 follows from Propositions 1.6 and 1.7 except for the statement on \(\pi_{4k+2g}(G^g_\lambda)\), which is shown via the study of Whitehead products (Proposition 1.8; cf. [\textit{O. Buşe}, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2010, No.~17, 3303--3340 (2010; Zbl 1241.57031)], details are given in \S3). Theorem 1.1 asserts that, for all \(\varepsilon> 0\), there exists a family of symplectic forms \(\tau_\mu\) on \((M^4,J,\tau_0)\) all taming \(J\) such that \[ [\tau_\mu]= [\tau_0]+\mu a_Z,\quad 0\leq \mu\leq {\tau_0(Z)\over m}- \varepsilon, \] where \(a_Z\) is the Poincaré dual of \(Z\), assuming \(J\) is \(\tau_0\)-tame and \(M\) admits an embedded \(J\)-holomorphic curve \(u: (\Sigma, j)\to (M^4, J)\) in a homology class \(Z\) with \(Z^2= -m\). This is proved in \S2 following McDuff's proof of Lemma 3.1 in [McDuff, loc. cit.]. In [McDuff, loc. cit.] a homotopy fibration \[ 0\to G^g_\lambda\to \text{Diff}_0(M^g_\lambda)\to{\mathcal A}^g_\lambda \] is exploited, where \({\mathcal A}^g_\lambda\) is the space of almost complex structures that are tamed by some form isotopic to \(\lambda\sigma_{\Sigma_g}\otimes \sigma_{S^2}\). \({\mathcal A}^g_\lambda\) has a stratification \(\bigcup_{0\leq k<[\lambda]}{\mathcal A}^g_{\lambda,k}\), where \({\mathcal A}^g_{\lambda,k}\) consists of almost complex structures that admit irreducible \(J\)-holomorphic curves in the class of \(A- kF\in H_2(M^g_\lambda,\mathbb{Z})\), where \(A\) and \(F\) are the homology classes of the base and fiber, respectively, if \(k\geq 1\) and the main strata \({\mathcal A}^g_{\lambda,0}\) consists of almost complex structures \(J\) that admit only non-negative self-intersection curves. Theorem 1.2 is proved analyzing this stratification and applying Theorem 1.1.