The correspondence between augmentations and rulings for Legendrian knots (Q865256)

The authors study the relation between two types of invariants of Legendrian knots: the contact homology Differential Graded Algebra (DGA) invariant of \textit{Yu.~Chekanov} [Invent. Math. 150, No. 3, 441--483 (2002; Zbl 1029.57011)] and the ruling invariant constructed independently by \textit{Yu.~Chekanov} and \textit{P.~Pushkar} [Russ. Math. Surv. 60, No. 1, 95--149 (2005); translation from Usp. Mat. Nauk 60, No. 1, 99--154 (2005; Zbl 1085.57008)] and by \textit{D.~Fuchs} [J. Geom. Phys. 47, No. 1, 43--65 (2003; Zbl 1028.57005)]. Both the augmentations of the DGA and the rulings can be graded by a divisor \(\rho\) of the Maslov class of a Legendrian knot. In the above paper, Fuchs proved that the existence of a \(\rho\)-graded ruling implies the existence of a \(\rho\)-graded augmentation. The converse was proved independently by \textit{D.~Fuchs} and \textit{T.~Ishkhanov} [Mosc. Math. J. 4, No. 3, 707--717 (2004; Zbl 1073.53106)] and by \textit{J.~Sabloff} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2005, No. 19, 1157--1180 (2005; Zbl 1082.57020)]. The number of \(\rho\)-graded augmentations is not a Legendrian knot invariant, however for \(\rho\) zero or odd the normalized number of \(\rho\)-graded augmentations is indeed an invariant. In the above work Sabloff gave an algorithm for obtaining a ruling of a plat-position front of a Legendrian knot from the augmentation of its DGA. In this work the authors establish the many-to-one correspondence between augmentations and rulings under this algorithm. The main result of the paper is an explicit formula that for \(\rho\) zero or odd computes the normalized number of \(\rho\)-graded augmentations through the complete ruling invariant of Chekanov-Pushkar.