English

The symplectic topology of Ramanujam's surface

Symplectic Geometry 2007-05-23 v2 Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

Ramanujam's surface M is a contractible affine algebraic surface which is not homeomorphic to the affine plane. For any m>1 the product M^m is diffeomorphic to Euclidean space R^{4m}. We show that, for every m>0, M^m cannot be symplectically embedded into a subcritical Stein manifold. This gives the first examples of exotic symplectic structures on Euclidean space which are convex at infinity. It follows that any exhausting plurisubharmonic Morse function on M^m has at least three critical points, answering a question of Eliashberg. The heart of the argument involves showing a particular Lagrangian torus L inside M cannot be displaced from itself by any Hamiltonian isotopy, via a careful study of pseudoholomorphic discs with boundary on L.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0411601,
  title  = {The symplectic topology of Ramanujam's surface},
  author = {Paul Seidel and Ivan Smith},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0411601},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

22 pages, 2 figures. Version 2 has referee's clarifications, this version to appear in Comment. Math. Helv