December 10, 2000
We present a new proof of a result due to Taubes: if X is a closed symplectic four-manifold with b_+(X) > 1+b_1(X) and with some positive multiple of the symplectic form a rational class, then the Poincare dual of the canonical class of X may be represented by an embedded symplectic submanifold. The result builds on the existence of Lefschetz pencils on symplectic four-manifolds. We approach the topological problem of constructing submanifolds with locally positive intersections via almost complex geometry. The crux of the argument is that a Gromov invariant counting pseudoholomorphic sections of an associated bundle of symmetric products is non-zero.
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June 26, 2001
According to Taubes, the Gromov invariants of a symplectic four-manifold X with b_+ > 1 satisfy the duality Gr(A) = +/- Gr(K-A), where K is Poincare dual to the canonical class. Extending joint work with Simon Donaldson in math.SG/0012067, we interpret this result in terms of Serre duality on the fibres of a Lefschetz pencil, by proving an analogous symmetry for invariants counting sections of associated bundles of symmetric products. Using similar methods we give a new proof...
September 20, 2004
A symplectic structure is canonically constructed on any manifold endowed with a topological linear k-system whose fibers carry suitable symplectic data. As a consequence, the classification theory for Lefschetz pencils in the context of symplectic topology is analogous to the corresponding theory arising in differential topology.
November 14, 2006
In this paper we show that there exists a family of simply connected, symplectic 4-manifolds such that the (Poincare dual of the) canonical class admits both connected and disconnected symplectic representatives. This answers a question raised by Fintushel and Stern.
October 14, 2004
We consider structures analogous to symplectic Lefschetz pencils in the context of a closed 4-manifold equipped with a `near-symplectic' structure (ie, a closed 2-form which is symplectic outside a union of circles where it vanishes transversely). Our main result asserts that, up to blowups, every near-symplectic 4-manifold (X,omega) can be decomposed into (a) two symplectic Lefschetz fibrations over discs, and (b) a fibre bundle over S^1 which relates the boundaries of the L...
November 27, 2000
We study Lefschetz pencils on symplectic four-manifolds via the associated spheres in the moduli spaces of curves, and in particular their intersections with certain natural divisors. An invariant defined from such intersection numbers can distinguish manifolds with torsion first Chern class. We prove that pencils of large degree always give spheres which behave `homologically' like rational curves; contrastingly, we give the first constructive example of a symplectic non-hol...
April 8, 2003
This text is a set of lecture notes for a series of four talks given at I.P.A.M., Los Angeles, on March 18-20, 2003. The first lecture provides a quick overview of symplectic topology and its main tools: symplectic manifolds, almost-complex structures, pseudo-holomorphic curves, Gromov-Witten invariants and Floer homology. The second and third lectures focus on symplectic Lefschetz pencils: existence (following Donaldson), monodromy, and applications to symplectic topology, i...
October 25, 2021
In this article we study proper symplectic and iso-symplectic embeddings of $4$--manifolds in $6$--manifolds. We show that a closed orientable smooth $4$--manifold admitting a Lefschetz fibration over $\C P^1$ admits a symplectic embedding in the symplectic manifold $(\C P^1 \times \C P^1 \times \C P^1, \omega_{pr}),$ where $\omega_{pr}$ is the product symplectic form on $\C P^1 \times \C P^1 \times \C P^1.$ We also show that there exists a sub-critical Weinstein $6$--manifol...
August 31, 2001
In this short article we give a criterion whether a given minimal symplectic 4-manifold with $b_{2}^{+}=1$ having a torsion-free canonical class is rational or ruled. As a corollary, we confirm that most of homotopy elliptic surfaces $E(1}_{K}$, K is a fibered knot in $S^3$, constructed by R. Fintushel and R. Stern are minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with $b_{2}^{+}=1$ which do not admit a complex structure.
May 19, 2008
This is a survey paper on the space of symplectic structures on closed 4-manifolds, for the Proceedings ICCM 2004
September 10, 2013
We initiate a study of positive multisections of Lefschetz fibrations via positive factorizations in framed mapping class groups of surfaces. Using our methods, one can effectively capture various interesting symplectic surfaces in symplectic 4-manifolds as multisections, such as Seiberg-Witten basic classes and exceptional classes, or branched loci of compact Stein surfaces as branched coverings of the 4-ball. Various problems regarding the topology of symplectic 4-manifolds...