English

Proof of the Arnold chord conjecture in three dimensions I

Symplectic Geometry 2011-01-10 v3

Abstract

This paper and its sequel prove that every Legendrian knot in a closed three-manifold with a contact form has a Reeb chord. The present paper deduces this result from another theorem, asserting that an exact symplectic cobordism between contact 3-manifolds induces a map on (filtered) embedded contact homology satisfying certain axioms. The latter theorem will be proved in the sequel using Seiberg-Witten theory.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1004.4319,
  title  = {Proof of the Arnold chord conjecture in three dimensions I},
  author = {Michael Hutchings and Clifford Henry Taubes},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1004.4319},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

minor corrections and clarifications, to appear in Mathematical Research Letters