- Symplectic sum
In
mathematics , specifically insymplectic geometry , the symplectic sum is a geometric modification onsymplectic manifold s, which glues two given manifolds into a single new one. It is a symplectic version ofconnected sum mation along a submanifold, often called a fiber sum.The symplectic sum is the inverse of the
symplectic cut , which decomposes a given manifold into two pieces. Together the symplectic sum and cut may be viewed as a deformation of symplectic manifolds, analogous for example to deformation to the normal cone inalgebraic geometry .The symplectic sum has been used to construct previously unknown families of symplectic manifolds, and to derive relationships among the
Gromov-Witten invariant s of symplectic manifolds.Definition
Let M_1 and M_2 be two symplectic 2n-manifolds and V a symplectic 2n - 2)-manifold, embedded as a submanifold into both M_1 and M_2 via
:j_i : V hookrightarrow M_i,
such that the
Euler class es of thenormal bundle s are opposite::e(N_{M_1} V) = -e(N_{M_2} V).
In the 1995 paper that defined the symplectic sum, Robert Gompf proved that for any orientation-reversing isomorphism
:psi : N_{M_1} V o N_{M_2} V
there is a canonical
isotopy class of symplectic structures on the connected sum:M_1, V) # (M_2, V)
meeting several conditions of compatibility with the summands M_i. In other words, the theorem defines a symplectic sum operation whose result is a symplectic manifold, unique up to isotopy.
To produce a well-defined symplectic structure, the connected sum must be performed with special attention paid to the choices of various identifications. Loosely speaking, the isomorphism psi is composed with an orientation-reversing symplectic involution of the normal bundles of V (or rather their corresponding punctured unit disk bundles); then this composition is used to glue M_1 to M_2 along the two copies of V.
Generalizations
In greater generality, the symplectic sum can be performed on a single symplectic manifold M containing two disjoint copies of V, gluing the manifold to itself along the two copies. The preceding description of the sum of two manifolds then corresponds to the special case where X consists of two connected components, each containing a copy of V.
Additionally, the sum can be performed simultaneously on submanifolds X_i subseteq M_i of equal dimension and meeting V transversally.
Other generalizations also exist. However, it is not possible to remove the requirement that V be of codimension two in the M_i, as the following argument shows.
A symplectic sum along a submanifold of codimension 2k requires a symplectic involution of a 2k-dimensional annulus. If this involution exists, it can be used to patch two 2k-dimensional balls together to form a symplectic 2k-dimensional
sphere . Because the sphere is a compact manifold, a symplectic form omega on it induces a nonzerocohomology class:omega] in H^2(mathbb{S}^{2k}, mathbb{R}).
But this second cohomology group is zero unless 2k = 2. So the symplectic sum is possible only along a submanifold of codimension two.
Identity element
Given M with codimension-two symplectic submanifold V, one may projectively complete the normal bundle of V in M to the mathbb{CP}^1-bundle
:P := mathbb{P}(N_M V oplus mathbb{C}).
This P contains two canonical copies of V: the zero-section V_0, which has normal bundle equal to that of V in M, and the infinity-section V_infty, which has opposite normal bundle. Therefore one may symplectically sum M, V) with P, V_infty); the result is again M, with V_0 now playing the role of V:
:M, V) = ((M, V) # (P, V_infty), V_0).
So for any particular pair M, V) there exists an identity element P for the symplectic sum. Such identity elements have been used both in establishing theory and in computations; see below.
Symplectic sum and cut as deformation
It is sometimes profitable to view the symplectic sum as a family of manifolds. In this framework, the given data M_1, M_2, V, j_1, j_2, psi determine a unique smooth 2n + 2)-dimensional symplectic manifold Z and a
fibration :Z o D subseteq mathbb{C}
in which the central fiber is the singular space
:Z_0 = M_1 cup_V M_2
obtained by joining the summands M_i along V, and the generic fiber Z_epsilon is a symplectic sum of the M_i. (That is, the generic fibers are all members of the unique isotopy class of the symplectic sum.)
Loosely speaking, one constructs this family as follows. Choose a nonvanishing holomorphic section eta of the trivial complex line bundle
:N_{M_1} V otimes_mathbb{C} N_{M_2} V.
Then, in the direct sum
:N_{M_1} V oplus N_{M_2} V,
with v_i representing a normal vector to V in M_i, consider the locus of the quadratic equation
:v_1 otimes v_2 = epsilon eta
for a chosen small epsilon in mathbb{C}. One can glue both M_i setminus V (the summands with V deleted) onto this locus; the result is the symplectic sum Z_epsilon.
As epsilon varies, the sums Z_epsilon naturally form the family Z o D described above. The central fiber Z_0 is the symplectic cut of the generic fiber. So the symplectic sum and cut can be viewed together as a quadratic deformation of symplectic manifolds.
An important example occurs when one of the summands is an identity element P. For then the generic fiber is a symplectic manifold M and the central fiber is M with the normal bundle of V "pinched off at infinity" to form the mathbb{CP}^1-bundle P. This is analogous to deformation to the normal cone along a smooth divisor V in algebraic geometry. In fact, symplectic treatments of Gromov-Witten theory often use the symplectic sum/cut for "rescaling the target" arguments, while algebro-geometric treatments use deformation to the normal cone for these same arguments.
However, the symplectic sum is not a complex operation in general. The sum of two Kähler manifolds need not be Kähler.
History and applications
The symplectic sum was first clearly defined in 1995 by Robert Gompf. He used it to demonstrate that any
finitely presented group appears as thefundamental group of a symplectic four-manifold. Thus the category of symplectic manifolds was shown to be much larger than the category of Kähler manifolds.Around the same time, Eugene Lerman proposed the symplectic cut as a generalization of symplectic blow up and used it to study the
symplectic quotient and other operations on symplectic manifolds.A number of researchers have subsequently investigated the behavior of
pseudoholomorphic curve s under symplectic sums, proving various versions of a symplectic sum formula for Gromov-Witten invariants. Such a formula aids computation by allowing one to decompose a given manifold into simpler pieces, whose Gromov-Witten invariants should be easier to compute. Another approach is to use an identity element P to write the manifold M as a symplectic sum:M, V) = (M, V) # (P, V_infty).
A formula for the Gromov-Witten invariants of a symplectic sum then yields a recursive formula for the Gromov-Witten invariants of M.
References
* Robert Gompf: A new construction of symplectic manifolds, "Annals of Mathematics" 142 (1995), 527-595
* Dusa McDuff and Dietmar Salamon: "Introduction to Symplectic Topology" (1998) Oxford Mathematical Monographs, ISBN 0-19-850451-9
* Dusa McDuff and Dietmar Salamon: "J-Holomorphic Curves and Symplectic Topology" (2004) American Mathematical Society Colloquium Publications, ISBN 0-8218-3485-1
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