A proof of Gromov's non-squeezing theorem

Shah Faisal

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2412.18462

A proof of Gromov's non-squeezing theorem

Shah Faisal

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The original proof of the Gromov's non-squeezing theorem [Gro85] is based on pseudo-holomorphic curves. The central ingredient is the compactness of the moduli space of pseudo-holomorphic spheres in the symplectic manifold $(\mathbb{CP}^1\times T^{2n-2}, ω_{\mathrm{FS}}\oplus ω_{\mathrm{std}})$ representing the homology class $[\mathbb{CP}^1\times\{\operatorname{pt}\}]$. In this article, we give two proofs of this compactness. The fact that the moduli space carries the minimal positive symplectic area is essential to our proofs. The main idea is to reparametrize the curves to distribute the symplectic area evenly and then apply either the mean value inequality for pseudo-holomorphic curves or the Gromov-Schwarz lemma to obtain a uniform bound on the gradient. Our arguments avoid bubbling analysis and Gromov's removable singularity theorem, which makes our proof of Gromov's non-squeezing theorem more elementary.

Explore related subjects

math.SG math.DG

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Shah Faisal. 2024-12-24. A proof of Gromov's non-squeezing theorem. https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.18462

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

KAM splittings and equidistributed periodic orbits for stable hypersurfaces

We show that any stable hypersurface of a symplectic $4$-manifold, on which the cohomology class of the symplectic form restricts to a multiple of a rational class, can be $C^\infty$-approximated by (possibly unstable) hypersurfaces whose closed characteristics equidistribute. The cohomological condition is necessary due to a famous example of Herman. The proof combines KAM theory with recent quantitative closing lemmas for Reeb flows and area-preserving maps. As a further application, we prove that every geodesible volume-preserving vector field on a closed three-manifold can be $C^\infty$-approximated by volume-preserving vector fields with equidistributed periodic orbits.

math.SG↗

arXiv2026

An algebraic generalization of Giroux's criterion

We compute the contact homology algebra of a neighborhood $(\mathbb{R}_τ \times W, ξ)$ of a convex hypersurface $W$ and determine when this algebra is zero or non-zero. Thus we provide a tool for inferring the tightness of such $ξ$ for $W$ of any even dimension. In more detail, consider the augmentations $ε^{\pm}$ of chain-level contact homology algebras of the dividing set $(Γ, ξ_Γ)$ determined by the positive and negative regions of $W$. We compute $CH(\mathbb{R}_τ \times W, ξ)$ as the derived tensor product of the $ε^{\pm}$. Consequently the vanishing or non-vanishing of $CH(\mathbb{R}_τ \times W, ξ)$ is determined by the induced morphisms $Hε^{\pm}$ from $CH(Γ, ξ_Γ)$ to the coefficient ring.

math.SG↗

arXiv2026

Hofer-Like Geometry Revisited

We prove that the inclusion of the Hamiltonian group $\Ham(M,ω)$ into the identity component $G_ω(M)$ of the symplectic diffeomorphism group is a bi-Lipschitz embedding with respect to the Hofer norm and the Hofer-like norm, and we identify geometric conditions under which this embedding is isometric: settling a conjecture of Banyaga. This conjecture was proved by Buss and Leclercq; our proof provides explicit equivalence constants. We also detail and simplify Banyaga's original proof of the non-degeneracy of the Hofer-like norm. We then extend the analysis to all of $G_ω(M)$: for $ϕ$ with flux class $γ$, the Hofer-like norm is given by a semidirect-product formula, the infimum over the harmonic locus $\Harm(γ)$ plus a Hofer residue. This yields a geometric condition for the two norms to agree on the Hamiltonian group. In particular, this geometric condition holds on all closed surfaces of genus $g\ge 2$.

math.SG↗