Pseudoholomorphic punctured spheres in \(\mathbb R\times (S^1\times S^2)\) (Q860173)

Motivated by his earlier fundamental work on computing Seiberg-Witten invariants in terms of punctured holoiaorphic curves in symplectic four-manifolds [cf.: \textit{C. H. Taubes} J. Differ. Geom. 51, No.~2, 203-334 (1999; Zbl 1036.53066)] and by his ideas to generalize this approach to arbitrary smooth manifolds [cf.: \textit{C. H. Taubes} Geom. Topology 3, 167--210 (1999; Zbl 1027.53111)], the author of the paper under review has developed a particular program of analyzing tge finite-energy pseudoholomorphic subvarieties of the space \(\mathbb{R}\times(S^1\times S^2)\), where the latter is equipped with a special almost complex structure and a certain symplectic form. In this context, a significant role is played by pseudoholomorphic, multiply punctured spheres in \(\mathbb{R}\times(S^1 \times S^2)\) and their moduli spaces, whose detailed description is the main goal of the present paper. In fact, this is the second of two articles devoted to the analysis of these moduli spaces. While the first article [cf.: \textit{C. H. Taubes}, Geom. Topol. 10, 785--928 (2006; Zbl 1134.53045)] provided an extensive study of pseudoholomorphic punctured spheres in \(\mathbb{R}\times(S^1\times S^2)\), including the existence of their moduli spaces as smooth manifolds, the second article under review describes the geometry of these moduli spaces in much more detail. More precisely, the author establishes a natural stratification of the moduli spaces under consideration, together with explicit parametrizations for the various strata. Also, it is shown that each component of each stratum is a fibre bundle over a product of simplices, which then leads to a complete classification of the strata of the moduli spaces under investigation.