Transverse knots, branched double covers and Heegaard Floer contact invariants (Q873762)

Let \(L \subset S^3\) be a transverse link with respect to the standard contact structure \(\xi_0\) on the 3-sphere \(S^3\) and \(\Sigma(L)\) be the double covering of \(S^3\) branched over \(L\). Then, the pullback of \(\xi_0\) can be perturbed over \(L\) to give a well defined contact structure \(\xi_L\) on \(\Sigma(L)\). The paper under review is devoted to studying some relations between the properties of the contact manifold \((\Sigma(L),\xi_L)\) and those of \(L\) as a transverse link in \((S^3,\xi_0)\). In particular, the author shows how to represent \((\Sigma(L),\xi_L)\) in terms of contact surgery, once \(L\) is made into closed braid by a transverse isotopy. Then, using such contact surgery description she proves that \((\Sigma(K_1),\xi_{K_1})\) and \((\Sigma(K_2),\xi_{K_2})\) are contactomorphic, for certain pairs of transverse knots \(K_1\) and \(K_2\), which have the same self-linking number and are isotopic as smooth knots, but not as transverse knots. Moreover, she derives information on the Ozsváth-Szabó invariant of \((\Sigma(L),\xi_L)\) for certain special forms of the link \(L\) and explores the connection between this invariant and the Khovanov homological invariant of \(L\) introduced in [\textit{O. Plamenevskaya}, Math. Res. Lett. 13, No.~4, 571--586 (2006; Zbl 1143.57006)].