English

Bi-invariant metrics on the group of symplectomorphisms

Symplectic Geometry 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

This paper studies the extension of the Hofer metric and general Finsler metrics on Hamiltonian symplectomorphism group Ham(M,ω)Ham(M,\omega) to the identity component Symp0(M,ω)Symp_0(M,\omega) of symplectomorphism group. In particular, we prove that the Hofer metric on Ham(M,ω)Ham(M,\omega) does not extend to a bi-invariant metric on Symp0(M,ω)Symp_0(M,\omega) for many symplectic manifolds. We also show that for the torus T2nT^{2n} with the standard symplectic form ω\omega, no Finsler metric on Ham(T2n,ω)Ham(T^{2n},\omega) that satisfies a strong form of the invariance condition can extend to a bi-invariant metric on Symp0(T2n,ω)Symp_0(T^{2n},\omega). Another interesting result is that there exists no C1C^1-continuous bi-invariant metric on Symp0(T2n,ω)Symp_0(T^{2n},\omega).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0510569,
  title  = {Bi-invariant metrics on the group of symplectomorphisms},
  author = {Zhigang Han},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0510569},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

15 pages