Braiding knots in contact 3-manifolds (Q764081)

Let \(M\) be a closed, oriented \(3\)-manifold, and \(\xi\) a contact structure on \(M\) which is oriented and positive. One of the central results in contact geometry relating open book decompositions and contact structures, due to \textit{E. Giroux} [``Contact geometry: From dimension three to higher dimensions'', in: Ta Tsien Li (ed.) et al., Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, ICM 2002, Beijing, China, August 20--28, 2002. Vol. II: Invited lectures. Beijing: Higher Education Press. 405--414 (2002; Zbl 1015.53049)], says that if \(M\) is a closed, oriented \(3\)-manifold then there is a one to one correspondence between contact structures \(\xi\) on \(M^3\) up to contact isotopy and open book decompositions \((L, \pi)\) of \(M^3\) up to positive stabilization. In a contact manifold \((M, \xi)\), an oriented arc \(\gamma\subset M\) is called transverse if for all \(p\in \gamma\) and \(\xi _p\) the contact plane at \(p\), \(T_p {\gamma}\), intersects \(\xi _p \) transversely and positively. Also, if \(\gamma\) is a closed curve then it is called a transverse knot. \textit{D. Bennequin} [``Links and Pfaffian equations'', Astérisque 107/108, 87--161 (1983; Zbl 0573.58022)] showed that any transverse link \(K\) in \(({\mathbb{R}}^3,\xi_{std})\) is transversely isotopic to a link braided about the \(z\)-axis. In the paper under review a generalization of the previous theorem is shown, namely, if \((L, \pi)\) is an open book decomposition for the \(3\)-manifold \(M\), \(\xi\) is supported by \((L, \pi)\) and \(K\) is a transverse link in \(M\), then \(K\) can be transversely isotoped to a braid with respect to \((L, \pi)\). The main result is a generalization of Markov's theorem on when the closures of two braids represent (transversely) isotopic links. It says that if \(M\) is a closed, oriented \(3\)-manifold and \((L, \pi)\) is an open book decomposition for \(M\) together with its supported contact structure \(\xi\), and \(K_0\) and \(K_1\) are transverse closed braid representatives of the same topological link, then \(K_0\), \(K_1\) are transversely isotopic if and only if they differ by braid isotopies and positive Markov moves and their inverses.