Converting homotopies to isotopies and dividing homotopies in half in an effective way

DOI10.1007/S00039-014-0283-6zbMATH Open1305.53044arXiv1311.0779OpenAlexW1990419886MaRDI QIDQ484085FDOQ484085

Yevgeny Liokumovich, Gregory R. Chambers

Publication date: 18 December 2014

Published in: Geometric and Functional Analysis. GAFA (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We prove two theorems about homotopies of curves on 2-dimensional Riemannian manifolds. We show that, for any epsilon > 0, if two simple closed curves are homotopic through curves of bounded length L, then they are also isotopic through curves of length bounded by L + epsilon. If the manifold is orientable, then for any epsilon > 0 we show that, if we can contract a curve gamma traversed twice through curves of length bounded by L, then we can also contract gamma through curves bounded in length by L + epsilon. Our method involves cutting curves at their self-intersection points and reconnecting them in a prescribed way. We consider the space of all curves obtained in this way from the original homotopy, and use a novel approach to show that this space contains a path which yields the desired homotopy.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.0779

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zbMATH Keywords

simple closed curvesself-intersection pointstwo-dimensional Riemannian manifolds

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Global Riemannian geometry, including pinching (53C20) Spaces of embeddings and immersions (58D10) Homotopy groups (55Q99)

Cites Work

• Resonance for loop homology of spheres
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• Wave front evolution and equivariant Morse lemma
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• Curves von 2-manifolds and isotopies
• Familles de courbes planes différentiables
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Cited In (5)

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Monotone homotopies and contracting discs on Riemannian surfaces
• Computing Optimal Homotopies over a Spiked Plane with Polygonal Boundary
• Splitting a contraction of a simple curve traversed m times
• Constructing monotone homotopies and sweepouts

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