Equivalence classes of augmentations and Morse complex sequences of Legendrian knots (Q907770)

A smooth knot \(L:S^1\to\mathbb R^3\) satisfying \(L'(t)\in\ker(dz-y dx)\) for all \(t\in S^1\) is called a Legendrian knot in the standard contact structure \(\xi\) on \(\mathbb R^3\) with front \((xz)\) and Lagrangian \((xy)\) projections. A front diagram is said to have a \(\sigma\)-generic front diagram if it is embedded except at transverse self-intersections, called crossings, and semi-cubical cusps such that all of these exceptional points have distinct \(x\)-coordinates. The rotation number is \(r(L)=(d-u)/2\), where \(d\), respectively \(u\), is the number of cusps at which the orientation travels downward, respectively upward, with respect to the \(z\)-axis. A smooth one-parameter family \(L_t\), \(0\leq t\leq 1\), of Legendrian knots is a Legendrian isotopy between \(L_0\) and \(L_1\). If \(L\) is a Legendrian knot with \(\sigma\)-generic front diagram \(D\) and rotation number \(0\), then a Maslov potential is a map \(\mu: L\to\mathbb Z\) that is constant except at cusp points of \(L\) where the Maslov potential of the lower strand of the cusp is one less than the upper strand. For the labels \(Q=\{q_1,\dots,q_n\}\) assigned to the crossings and right cusps of \(D\), a generator \(q\in Q\) is assigned a grading \(|q|\) so that \(|q|=1\) if \(q\) is a right cusp and, otherwise, \(|q|=\mu(T)-\mu(B)\), where \(T\) and \(B\) are the strands of \(D\) crossing at \(q\) and \(T\) has smaller slope. If \(A(D)\) is the \(\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z\) vector space generated by the labels \(Q\), then the graded algebra \(\mathcal{A}(D)\) is the unital tensor algebra \(T A (D)\). The Chekanov-Eliashberg differential graded algebra, CE-DGA, \((\mathcal{A}(D),\partial)\) is the algebra \(\mathcal{A}(D)\) along with a degree \(-1\) differential \(\partial:\mathcal{A}(D)\to\mathcal{A}(D)\). The homology of \((\mathcal{A},\partial)\) is a Legendrian invariant and, if considered up to some equivalence classes, the resulting DGA class is also a Legendrian invariant. An algebra homomorphism \(\epsilon:\mathcal{A}(D)\to \mathbb Z/2\mathbb{Z}\) satisfying \(\epsilon\circ\partial=0\), and \(\epsilon(1)=1\) only if \(|q|=0\), is called an augmentation, and the set of augmentations is denoted by \(Aug(L)\). There is a natural algebraic equivalence relation on \(Aug(L)\) whose set of equivalence classes is denoted by \(Aug^{ch}(L)\). The cardinality of \(Aug^{ch}(L)\) is a Legendrian isotopy invariant. If \(F:\mathbb{R}\times L\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) is a smooth function, \(\mathcal{C}_{x}\subset \{x\}\times L\) denotes the set of critical points of \(F_{x}=F(x,.)\), and \(\mathcal{C}_{F}=\bigcup_{x\in\mathbb{R}}\mathcal{C}_{x}\), then \(\Sigma_{F}=\{(x,F(x,x,w))\mid (x,w)\in \mathcal{C}_{F}\}\) is the \(xz\)-projection of an immersed Legendrian submanifold in \((\mathbb{R}^{3},\xi)\) if the rank of the second derivatives of \(F\) is maximal at all points in \(\mathcal{C}_{F}\). The fuction \(F\) is named a generating family for the Legendrian knot \(L\). If \(L\) is a Legendrian knot with \(\sigma\)-generic front \(\Sigma\) admitting a generating family \(F:\mathbb{R}\times \Sigma\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\), and the generating family is chosen so that \(F_{x}\) is a Morse function whose critical points have distinct critical values for all but finitely many values of \(x\), then by placing an appropriate metric \(g\) on \(\mathbb{R}\times \Sigma\), the Morse-Smale chain complex \((C_{x},\partial_{x},g_{x})\) of the pair \((F_{x},g_{x})\) is constructed, and then a graded normal ruling is a combinatorial object on \(\Sigma\) that encodes a certain pairing of the generators of \((C_{x},\partial_{x},g_{x})\) as \(x\) varies. In [Pac. J. Math. 249, No. 1, 77--133 (2011; Zbl 1233.57006)], the first author defined a discrete analog of a generating family called a Morse Complex Sequence, \(MCS\). An \(MCS\) is viewed as a sequence from the 1-parameter family of chain complexes \((C_{x},\partial_{x},g_{x})\) from a generating family. If \(MCS(\Sigma)\) stands for the set of \(MCSs\) of a \(\sigma\)-generic front \(\Sigma\) and \(\widehat{MCS}(\Sigma)\) denotes the set of \(MCSs\) of \(\Sigma\) up to a natural equivalence, the the author showed that for \(\Sigma\), \(L_{\Sigma}\), and a fixed Legendrian knot \(L\) there exists a surjective map \(\widehat{\Psi}:\widehat{MCS}(\Sigma)\rightarrow Aug^{ch}(L_{\Sigma})\). In this paper, the authors extend the results of the above paper and show that the map \(\widehat{\Psi}\) is, in fact, a bijection. As a corollary, homotopic augmentations determine the same graded normal ruling of \(L\) and have isomorphic linearized contact homology groups. A second corollary states that the count of equivalence classes of Morse Complex Sequences of a Legendrian knot is a Legendrian isotopy invariant.