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 FOLIATIONS
GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
This page is intentionally left blank
 Proceedings of the Euroworkshop on

FOLIATIONS
GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS

29 May - 9 June 2000 Warsaw, Poland

Editors
Pawet Walczak
Uniwersytettodzki, todz, Poland
Lawrence Conlon
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Remi Langevin
Universite de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Takashi Tsuboi
University of Tokyo, Japan

V f e World Scientific
wll New Jersey • London • Sine
Singapore • Hong Kong
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
P O Box 128, Farrer Road, Singapore 912805
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS

Proceedings of the Euroworkshop
Copyright © 2002 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
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 PREFACE

This volume contains surveys and research papers contributed by the

participants of the Euroworkshop Foliations: Geometry and Dynamics held
in Warsaw, at the Stefan Banach International Mathematical Centre and
the Mathematical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, between May
29 and J une 9, 2000. The Workshop was sponsored by the European Com-
mission grant (HPCFCT-2000-00051), the Japan Society for Promotion in
Science (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 1204003), the University of
Lodz and the Banach Centre. Participants numbered in approximately 70,
more than 50 of them from abroad (Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA and Uzbe-
kistan) .
The organizing committee consisted of four people who became editors
of this volume. They were supported by the staff of the Banach Centre and
a group of young mathematicians from the University of Lodz.
The papers contained in this volume are closely related to the lectures
given at the Workshop, which was designed to cover various aspects of the
theory of foliations, focusing on topology, geometry and dynamics of such
objects. Some of the surveys presented here contain lecture notes of excel-
lent mini-courses given by Yoshihiko Mitsumatsu and Hitoshi Moriyoshi.
All the papers contained in this volume were refereed by experts. The
research papers contain original results. The surveys bring light to the
current state of some aspects of the foliation theory. We hope that both,
the Workshop and this volume of proceedings, should make a significant
contribution to the progress of our filed of science. We express our gratitude
to the participants, the contributors of this volume, the sponsors and all
the colleagues who helped us while organizing the Workshop and preparing
the volume for publication. In particular, we would like to mention Marek
Badura, Maciej Czarnecki and Mariusz Frydrych (who organized the www-
page of the conference as well as the participants data base) and Zofia
Walczak (who worked a lot with the TeX-files of the articles contained
here).
The Editors
This page is intentionally left blank
 CONTENTS

SURVEY ARTICLES

T. Asuke: Some results on secondary characteristic classes of

transversely holomorphic foliations 3

H. Colman: LS-categories for foliated manifolds 17

S. Hurder: Dynamics and the Godbillon-Vey class: a history

and survey 29

R. Langevin: Similarity and conformal geometry of foliations ... 61

Y. Mitsumatsu: Foliations and contact structures on

3-manifolds 75
H. Moriyoshi: Operator algebras and the index theorem on
foliated manifolds 127

RESEARCH PAPERS

J. Alvarez Lopez and Y. Kordyukov: Distributional Betti

numbers of transitive foliations of codimension one 159

S. Aranson and E. Zhuzhoma: Circle at infinity influences

on the smoothness of surface flows 185

A. Bis and P. Walczak: Entropies of hyperbolic groups and

some foliated spaces 197

M . Brittenham: Tautly foliated 3-manifolds with no R-covered

foliations 213

J. Cantwell and L. Conlon: Endests of exceptional leaves;

a theorem of G. Dummy 225

vii
viii

M. Frydrych and J. Kalina: Some remarks on partially

holomorphic foliations 263

A. Haefiiger: Foliations and compactly generated pseudogroups.. 275

J. Heitsch: Traces and invariants for non-compact manifolds 297

M. Hilsum: Hilbert modules of foliated manifolds with boundary 315

V. Kaimanovich: Non-Euclidean affine laminations 333

R. Langevin and P. Walczak: Transverse Lusternik-Schnirel-

mann category and non-proper leaves 351
V. Medvedev and E. Zhuzhoma: Structurally stable
diffeomorphisms have no codimension one Plykin attractors
on 3-manifolds 355

T. Mizutani: On exact Poisson manifolds of dimension 3 371

Y. Nakae: Foliation cones corresponding to some pretzel links 387

T. N o d a and T. Tsuboi: Regular projectively Anosov flows

without compact leaves 403

T. Tsuboi: On the perfectness of groups of diffeomorphisms of

the interval tangent to the identity at the endpoints 421

R. Wolak: Basic distribution for singular Riemannian foliations .. 441

List of participants 449

Program 451
SURVEY ARTICLES
This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawet WALCZAK et al
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 3-16

SOME RESULTS ON S E C O N D A R Y C H A R A C T E R I S T I C
CLASSES OF T R A N S V E R S E L Y HOLOMORPHIC
FOLIATIONS

TARO ASUKE
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences, Hiroshima University,
1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

Transversely holomorphic foliations with non-trivial Godbillon-Vey classes are dis-

cussed. We introduce some examples of such foliations and recall a formula which
relates the Bott and the Godbillon-Vey classes. Finally, we introduce the following
our recent result, namely, associated with such foliations, there exists a natural
5 1 -bundle which has interesting properties, for example, the Bott class is always
well-defined for the lifted foliation and the Godbillon-Vey class of the original folia-
tion is obtained by integrating the 'absolute value' of the Bott class along the fibre.

1 Introduction

Secondary characteristic classes are one of the main tools to study folia-
tions. Among them, the Godbillon-Vey class is the most important one
and studied by many people.
It is known that this class is non-trivial and it can moreover vary contin-
uously if we deform foliations. On the other hand, if we consider foliations
with some transverse structures, this invariant is often rigid, or even trivial
[11, 8, 20]. In this article we first review the following results by following
our previous papers [1, 2, 4]:
1) There are transversely holomorphic foliations whose Godbillon-Vey
classes are non-trivial in any codimensional cases.
2) The Godbillon-Vey class is rigid under smooth deformations in any
codimensional cases.
For transversely holomorphic foliations, we can consider not only the real
secondary classes but the complex secondary classes. We recall a formula

3
4 TARO ASUKE

which relates these classes, in particular, it t u r n s out t h a t t h e Godbillon-

Vey class is written in terms of the Bott class and the first Chern class of
the complex normal bundle (Theorem 3.16). T h e rigidity of the Godbillon-
Vey class is shown by using this formula. We will mention the residuality of
the elements of W U , . An example of Heitsch [19] shows t h a t the imaginary
part of the B o t t class is not residual in general.
Finally, we introduce the following our resent result. By using the above
formula, we can define a natural .S^-bundle with the following properties
(see Theorem 5.2 for the precise and detailed statements):

1) T h e imaginary part of the B o t t class of the lifted foliation remains non-

trivial while the Godbillon-Vey class of the lifted foliation is trivial.

2) T h e Godbillon-Vey class of the original foliation is obtained by inte-

grating t h e 'absolute value' of t h e B o t t class with respect t o a n a t u r a l
trivialization of the normal bundle of the lifted foliation.

This article is organized as follows: first we introduce some examples

of transversely holomorphic foliations. Then in the third section we recall
the definitions of the Godbillon-Vey class and related notions. T h e formula
which relates the real and the complex secondary classes is also introduced
there. T h e forth section concerns the rigidity and the residuality. Finally,
in t h e last section we define a natural S^-bundle over manifolds equipped
with transversely holomorphic foliations and introduce the above result.

2 Examples

We introduce some examples of transversely holomorphic foliations. The

number q will always be the complex codimension of the foliations.
We begin with a trivial one.
E x a m p l e 2 . 1 Consider the foliation of Rp x C whose leaves are the sub-
spaces Rp x {z}, where z £ Cq. This foliation is restricted to a foliation
of (Rp x Cq) \ {(0,0)}, which is invariant by the mapping p defined by
p(x,z) = (2x,2z). By taking the quotient we obtain a transversely holo-
morphic foliation of S 1 x Sp+2i~l.
T h e following example is a classical one due to Bott [7, 9].
E x a m p l e 2.2 Consider Cq+1 \ {0} and the holomorphic vector field X\
on it defined by t h e formula

d d d
v N x
X\ = A0Z0- h AlZl- ! - • • • + *qZq- ,
OZQ OZ\ OZq
 SOME RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 5

where {ZQ,Z\,- • • ,zq) is the standard coordinate of Cq+l. We suppose that

none of Aj is equal to zero, then by integrating this vector field, we obtain
a transversely holomorphic (and holomorphic) foliation H\ of Cq+l \ {0}.
We suppose moreover that none of the ratios \i/\j is a negative real
number, then the foliation H.\ is transversal to the unit sphere S2q+1. Hence
we o_btain a transversely holomorphic foliation H\ of S2q+1 by restrict-
ing H\.
Particularly when all Aj's are the same, then the foliation Tt\ is nothing
but the Hopf hbration. In this case, we can consider a kind of suspension.
This is a complex version of Heitsch's [18] and already appeared in [24] in
the case where q — 1. We set A^ = 1 for all i and denote by X the vector
field X(iX...A).

Example 2.3 We construct a foliation Q of SL(g + 1, C) x ( C 9 + 1 \ {0}) by

suspending the Hopf hbration, namely, since the vector field X is preserved
under the natural action of SL(g + 1, C) on Cq+1, this vector field together
with the orbits of the right action of SL(g + 1, C) on SL(g + 1, C) x (Cq+1 \
{0}) given by (50,^0) • 9 — (ffoff, <?-1^o) defines a foliation, which we call
Q. Since Q is transversal to SL(g + 1, C) x S2q+1, it induces a transversely
holomorphic foliation Q of SL(q + 1, C) x S2q+l.
This foliation is invariant under the left action of SL(g 4- 1, C) defined
by g-(go,vo) = (ggo,vo)- Hence for any cocompact lattice r of SL(q + l,C),
G induces a foliation §(r) of r\SL(q + 1, C) x S2q+1. We include formally
the case where r is trivial and consider <?({e}) = 5- The foliation G{r)
is invariant under the right action of SL(g + 1,C) defined as above, so it
induces a foliation £(T) of T\SL(g + 1, C) x S2q+1.
SU(q+l)

Notice that there is an 5 1 -action on r\SL(q + 1,C) x S2q+1 given by

{(go,V(j)} • z = [(go,voz)}, where we consider S1 = {z e C\ \z\ = 1}. This
action preserves the leaves of g(r), therefore the foliation g{r) projects
down to a foliation ?(r) of r\SL(q + 1, C) x CPq. Similarly, the foliation
g{r) induces a foliation T(r) of T\SL( 9 + 1, C) x CPq.
SU(<?+1)
The following example is a kind of locally homogeneous foliations.
Example 2.4 Let G be a complex Lie group and H be its complex sub-
group. Suppose that K is a closed subgroup of G contained in H: G D
H D K. Then the natural foliation of G by the left cosets of H, namely, the
foliation of G whose leaves are {gH}gec, induces a foliation TK of G/K.
Suppose moreover that G/K admits a cocompact lattice, namely, there ex-
ists a discrete subgroup f of G such that r\G/K is a Hausdorff manifold.
6 TARO ASUKE

Then r\G/K is naturally equipped with a foliation TK (-0 induced by TK ,

because the foliation TK is invariant under the natural left action of G. The
foliations TK are of complex codimension dime G — dime H.
If G is semisimple and K is its compact subgroup, then it is well-known
that there always exist cocompact lattices r of GJK. As an example, we
can consider a complex version of Roussarie's example [10].
Example 2.5 We consider the case where G = SL(g + 1, C) and
H
={(Q C) ; CeGL(«j,C)j.
Then the above construction works for any compact subgroups K contained
in H and we obtain foliations TK, which are complex codimension q. In
particular, Tx^xS\}(q)(-0 a n d -?"su(g)(-0 a r e isomorphic to T(r) and G(F)
in Example 2.3, respectively (cf. [24]).
There is another important example of this kind.
Example 2.6 We consider the case where G = SO(g + 2,C). We denote
by EZj the (g + 2) x (g + 2)-matrix whose (i,j)-entry is equal to one and the
others are zero, where we count rows and columns from zero. We consider
the subgroup H as the Lie group which corresponds to the Lie algebra
f] = (XouXok + V^lX^Xij ; 2 < f c < g + l, 2 < i < j < g + l ) c ,
where X^ = Eij—Eji. As in the above example, if K is a compact subgroup
contained in H, the subgroup H defines a transversely holomorphic foliation
TK of complex codimension q.
As we will see in the next section, the Godbillon-Vey class of some of
the above examples is non-trivial.

3 Definitions

In this section, we recall the some basic notions, especially the definitions
of secondary classes of transversely holomorphic foliations. Some details
of basic notions on transversely holomorphic foliations are also found in
[12, 15]. We briefly mention also the real secondary classes but we refer the
readers to [10] for general real case.
Definition 3.1 A foliation T of a manifold M is a transversely holomor-
phic foliation of complex codimension q if we can find a local coordinate
system of the form {(Ui x V*, (xi, z,), /ji)} such that

1) The foliation T restricted to each Ui x Vi is given by {Ui x {z}} ze vv

2) Each Vi is an open subset of Cq.
 SOME RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 7

3) If we write fji(xi, Z{) = {fji(xi,Zi),^ji(zi)), then jji are biholomorphic

local diffeomorphisms.

After [12] we call such a chart adapted.

It is well-known that there are connections of special kind associated
with foliations, namely, the Bott (or basic) connections. The definition
of the Bott connections can be found in [10] in the real foliation and in
[7] holomorphic foliations. We will here recall the definition of the Bott
connections for transversely holomorphic foliations. For this purpose we
introduce several vector bundles over M.
Definition 3.2 We denote by QR{T) the normal bundle of T as a real fo-
liation: QR{T) = TMjTT. Since the foliation is transversely holomorphic,
we have a natural decomposition of the complexification Q(!F) of QR(F)
into the holomorphic part and anti-holomorphic part as usual: Q{T) =
Q(1'0)(T) © Q* 0 - 1 )^). We define a bundle QW{F) (resp. Q ^ O F ) ) as
a subbundle of TM <g) C locally spanned by ^ and J | (resp. -§^ and J^),
where we consider an adapted chart (we omitted subindices).
Note that the bundles Q^l^{!F) and Q^'^iT) are involutive, namely,
they define virtually 'foliations'. Note also that
Q(I.O)(JT) =TM® C7Q (CU) (.F)
and that
Q(°'1)(f)=TM®C/Q(1'0)(f).
In the following we discuss Q^l'°^(J-), but the arguments apply also to
Q(0'l\T) by taking complex conjugate.
With the above preparations we are able to proceed as in the real case
to define the Bott connections on Q^l'°^{T). Let 7r denote the natural
projection from TM <g> C to Q^fi\T).
Definition 3.3 A Bott connection V on Q^^^J7) is a connection which
satisfies the equation V xY = 7r[X, Y] for any section X of Q^ 0 ' 1 ^^) and
Y of Q (1 ' 0) (^"), where Y is any lift of Y to TM® C.
One can easily show that the Bott connections on Q^'Q\T) are trans-
versely of type (1,0), namely, locally we can write V = d + ( where (
involves only dz, and hence the Bott (basic) connections for holomorphic
foliations are also the Bott connections in our sense. Conversely, connec-
tions transversely of type (1,0) are Bott connections.
We remark that the natural projection TM <g> C to Q{T) induces a
natural projection Q (1 '°)(.F) to Q^fi\T).
8 TARO ASUKE

Let C[v\,- • • ,vq) be the polynomial algebra in Vi, where 1 < i < q.
We set the degree of Vi as 2i. Let Iq denote the ideal of this algebra
generated by the monomials of degree greater than 2q, and define the
algebra Cq\vi, • • • ,vq] as the quotient of C\v\, • • • ,vq] by Iq. We define
Cq\v\,- • • ,vq] in the obvious way. We define also R2q[c\, • • • , C2q) as the
quotient of R[c\, • • • , C2q] by the ideal 1^ generated by the monomials of
degree greater than 4q, where the degree of Cj is equal to 2i.
The most important theorem in the theory of secondary classes of foli-
ation is the following theorem of Bott.
Theorem 3.4 (Bott vanishing theorem [10])
• Given a codimension-2q foliation, we can choose Bott connections so
that the Chern-Weil homomorphism defined on R[ci, • • • ,C2q] annihi-
lates 1^.
• Given a complex codimension-q transversely holomorphic foliation, we
can choose complex Bott connections so that the Chern-Weil homo-
morphism defined on C[v\, • • • ,vq] annihilates Iq.
The Bott vanishing theorem leads us to the following definition.
Definition 3.5 We define differential graded algebras WU, and W02 Q by
setting
WU, = Cq[vlr-- ,vq] ®Cq[vlr-- ,vg] ® A f " i ) " - ."?].
W0 2 „ = R2q[ci,--- ,c2q] ®/\[hi,h3,--- ,h2q-i}.
We equip these algebras with an exterior differential determined by dui =
Vi — Vi, dvi = dVi = 0, dhi = Ci and dci = 0, respectively. We define
the degree of the elements Ui and hi as 1i — 1, respectively. Finally, for
an index set J = (ji, • • • ,jq) which consists of non-negative integers we set
vj = v^1 • • • v3q and \J\ = ji + 2J2 + • • -+qjq- We define vj in the same way.
Remark 3.6 As we mentioned, associated with a transversely holomorphic
foliation are there two virtual 'foliations' given by Q(l>°\T) and Q( 0,1 '(.F).
The definition of WU, reflects this fact.
The Bott vanishing theorem implies that if M is a smooth manifold
equipped with a transversely holomorphic foliation T, then we have a ho-
momorphism xc from H*(W\Jq) to H*R(M;C). A homomorphism XR
from H*(W02q) to H*R(M; R) is also defined by using the Bott vanishing
theorem. It is well-known that XR a n d Xc depend only on the foliation.
We denote the image of an element u> of H*(WXJq) or H*(W02q) by u(T).
Definition 3.7 An element of i7*(WU g ) is called a complex secondary
class if it involves one of the Ui's. Similarly, an element of H*(WC>2q) is
 SOME RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 9

called a real secondary class if it involves one of the /ij's. Their images by
Xc or XR a r e also called secondary classes.
A set of basis of J ff*(W02 g ) is well-known [14]. T h e author does not
know general description of sets of bases of i 7 * ( W U g ) , but we have an
algorithm to find t h e m [2].
We introduce two important classes.
D e f i n i t i o n 3 . 8 We define respectively the class £Q of H*(W\Jq) and the
class G V 2 ? of ii"*(W0 2 g ) by the following formulae:

GV2, = hxc\q

T h e class GV2 9 is called the Godbillon-Vey class, and the class £q is the
imaginary p a r t of the B o t t class. We denote by Chernj the first Chern class
(v\ + v\)/2 of the complex normal bundle of the foliation.
If Cherni is trivial, then we can define the Bott class as follows. First
we choose a Bott connection V& and a trivialization a of the line bundle
y\ 9 Q( 1>0 )(^") so t h a t dui(Vb,cr) = t>i(Vb), where V\(Vb) denotes the first
Chern form calculated by using Vb and wi(Vb,a) is the differential form
obtained by comparing on f\?Q^1,0\T) the connection V& and the fiat
connection with respect to a. T h e Bott vanishing theorem then implies
t h a t t h e differential form wi(V(,, cr)vj(Vb) is closed if | J | = q. In general
the class defined by this differential form depends on the homotopy class
of a, but if vj —v\, then the resulting class is independent of a.
D e f i n i t i o n 3 . 9 We denote by uiVj[T,a) t h e class defined by

Ui(Vfe,o>j(Vb).

Particularly when vj = v\, then we set Bott 9 (jF) = Ui(Vb, cr)ui(Vb) 9 and
call it the B o t t class.
Remark 3.10 T h e class (,q is in fact a real cohomology class, while the Bott
class is a complex cohomology class. Indeed, it is known t h a t ^ ( . F ) =
— 2 I m B o t t q ( F ) . We refer the readers to [9, 10, 1] for the details. We also
remark t h a t it is the Bott class which was firstly found, not the Godbillon-
Vey class.
T h e definitions which we made have certainly a sense, namely, we have
the following. T h e proof appeared in [4] and we omit it.
T h e o r e m 3 . 1 1 ([4])

1) The Godbillon-Vey classes of the foliations J ^ i T ) in Examples 2.5 and

2.6 (we assume in the latter case that q is odd) are non-trivial if K
10 TARO ASUKE

contains a maximal torus T m a x . In the former case, T m a x — Tq and

in the latter case, T m a x = T3iX.

2) If K is contained in SU(g) (resp. SO(q)), the Godbillon-Vey class of

the foliation in Example 2.5 (resp. 2.6) is trivial.

3) The r~structures defined by Examples 2.5 and 2.6 are not the same
if the complex codimension is greater than one. These foliations are
Jerent even as real foliations.

Remark 3.12 We can find similar examples with non-vanishing Godbillon-

Vey class b y using Sp(n, C ) , n > 1 and G2 [4]. T h e example obtained by
using G2, which is of complex codimension 5, is also different from t h e ones
in Examples 2.5 and 2.6. On the other hand, t h e example obtained by using
Sp(n, C) is t h e pull-back of the foliation of SL(2n, C) in Example 2.5 (hence
of complex codimension equal t o 2n — 1). I t seems t h a t t h e semisimplicity
of t h e groups is essential.
On t h e other hand, there is a classical result asserting t h a t t h e class £q
varies continuously:

T h e o r e m 3 . 1 3 ([9]) We have the following formulae, namely,

Bottq(H\,a0) = r-: r vol S 2,+ i,

AQA\•••Aq
t{Hx) = - 2 1 m ( A o + " - + y* + 1 vol s ,. + 1 ,
A 0 A 1 • • • Aq

where Tt\ is the foliation of S2q+1 given in Example 2.2 and a0 is the
natural trivialization of the bundle f^Q^'^CHx) (see [7] for details).
Given a transversely holomorphic foliation, it is natural t o compare t h e
complex and t h e real secondary classes. This can be done by considering t h e
natural mapping BX from BT^ t o BF^q which corresponds t o forgetting
the transverse holomorphic structure, where BT^ denotes t h e classifying
space of transversely holomorphic foliations of complex codimension q and
BT2q denotes t h e classifying space of foliations of codimension 2q. T h e
mapping BX induces a mapping A from H*(W02q) t o H*(WXJg) which is
characterized by t h e equation xc°X = XR- A mapping, say Ao, from W 0 2 q
to W U , which induces A is given as follows [1]:
D e f i n i t i o n 3 . 1 4 We define a mapping AQ from W 0 2 , t o W U , by t h e for-
 S O M E RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 11

mulae
k
Xo(ck) = (^l)k^2(-iyvk^jvj,

A0(^2fc+l) = —-—V^T Y^ {-iyU2k-j+l(Vj +Vj).

Remark 3.15 We regard v^s as the Chern classes and Ci's as the Pontryagin
classes, respectively. If we regard them as the Chern and the Pontryagin
characters, the above formulae are slightly modified but essentially remain
the same.
Note that the kernel of the mapping A can be viewed as the obstruc-
tions to foliations being transversely holomorphic. For example in the case
of complex codimension one, the formula \{h\c\) — 2\(h\C2) holds [1].
This shows that if a real foliation of real codimension 2 do not satisfy the
above equation, this foliation cannot be transversely holomorphic. In [2]
we completely determine the kernel, image, cokernel and coimage of the
mapping A in the case where q < 3.
The Bott class and the Godbillon-Vey class are related by the following
theorem.
T h e o r e m 3.16 ([1]) The formula

A(GV29) = M l £ , ( C h e r n i ) '

holds.
Proof. It follows from the fact that Xo(hi) = \J — \u\ and Ao(ci) =
^ ( v i - S i ) . •
This theorem shows that if we consider transversely holomorphic foli-
ations with non-vanishing Godbillon-Vey class, there is a strict restriction
to the cohomology of ambient manifolds, namely, it must be similar to the
cohomology of S2q+1 x CPq. For example, the Godbillon-Vey class of any
transversely holomorphic foliations of S 1 x S 4 is trivial (such an example is
obtained from Example 2.1 by setting p = 3 and q — 1). On the other hand,
it can be shown that there is a family of real foliations of S1 x S4 which is of
real codimension two and whose Godbillon-Vey class varies continuously [1].
We remark also that H*(sl(q + l . C ^ . t 1 ®su(q,C);C) ^ H*{S3 x
2q+1 q
••• xS x CP ; C). This is used in [4] to show the non-triviality of the
Godbillon-Vey class of .FrixSUCg) of Example 2.5.
12 TARO ASUKE

4 Rigidity and residuality

The formula in Theorem 3.16 together with Theorem 3.13 seems to suggest
that the Godbillon-Vey class can vary continuously even in the category
of transversely holomorphic foliations. But this is not the case, namely,
the Godbillon-Vey class is rigid in the category of transversely holomorphic
foliations.
First we introduce the following mapping.
Definition 4.1 We denote by p the homomorphism from W U , + i to WU,
defined by the following formulae:

Ui if i ^ q + 1
P(Ui)
0 ifi = q + l

iii^q +l vt if i ^ q + 1
P{VI P0»
Hi 1 0 \ii = q + l

We denote by p* the induced homomorphism from i7*(WTJ7+i) to H*(W\J^).

Some arguments essentially parallel to that of the real case by Heitsch
[16] show the following. Combining with the formula in Theorem 3.16,
we obtain the rigidity of the Godbillon-Vey class. We refer the readers to
[4, 1, 16] for the details.
Theorem 4.2 ([4], cf. [16]) The complex secondary classes which belong
to the image of p» are rigid under smooth deformations. In particular,
the Godbillon- Vey class of transversely holomorphic foliation is rigid under
smooth deformations.
Compared with the real case, the space H*(WXJq) and the cokernel of
p* seems rather complicated [2]. For example, we have the following.
Proposition 4.3 When q = 1, cokerp, is generated by ui(vi +vi). When
q = 2, cokerp* is generated by the elements of H*(W\J2) of degree 5, 10
and 12, namely, the following elements:

ui(vj + vivi + v\), ui(v2 + v2) + u2(vi + vi)

10 UiU2ViVi(vi + Vi)

12 U\U2v\v\, UIU2V\V2,U\U2V2V\, UiU2V2V2

Here the number in the left column stands for the degree of the elements
in the same row.
 SOME RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 13

Remark 4-4 T h e B a u m - B o t t example (Example 2.2) shows t h a t the ele-

ments of the lowest degree can vary (cf. Theorem 3.13). We do not know
how about the other classes. Such classes are product classes except for
UiU2{vfv2 — V2v\), namely, they are written as a product of secondary
classes. As was pointed out in [27], it is difficult to study the product
classes.
For transversely holomorphic foliations, the notion of /"-vector fields is
as follows:
D e f i n i t i o n 4.5 A vector field X on M is a /"-vector jield for the foliation
T if [Y,X] is a section of Q1-0^ for any section Y of Q*0-1).
In terms of adapted charts, X is a T-vector field if and only if X is
projectable to V* and the projection is holomorphic (cf. Heitsch[17], G h y s -
Gomez-Mont-Saludes [13]).
As in t h e real case, we can show the following. We omit the proof
because it is identical to the real case, which was done by Heitsch [18].
T h e o r e m 4.6 Let a be an element of W U , which is in the kernel of p,
then a is residual in the sense of Heitsch [18].
If a does not belong to the kernel, the situation become subtle. For
example, the imaginary part of the Bott class £,q is no longer residual in
general. Indeed, an example in [19] shows t h a t if the first Chern class of the
normal bundle of the foliation is trivial, then the class £q is residual but the
residue does depend on the choice of the trivialization. This means t h a t we
cannot define t h e residue of t h e class £q in t h e sense of Heitsch depending
only on t h e foliation.

5 A n o t h e r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e B o t t class a n d t h e
G o d b i l l o n - V e y class

In this section we introduce a result which relates the Bott class and the
Godbillon-Vey class in another way t h a n the formula given in Theorem 3.16.
Let M be a manifold equipped with a transversely holomorphic foliation T
with non-trivial Godbillon-Vey class. As we remarked after Theorem 3.16,
such a manifold is of some specific cohomological type. On the other hand,
among the examples which we introduced, any example of transversely holo-
morphic foliation whose Godbillon-Vey class is non-trivial can be obtained
by taking a quotient of a transversely holomorphic foliation by an 5 1 -action.
Moreover, we can choose the latter foliation so t h a t its Godbillon-Vey class
is trivial.
Recently in [5] we showed t h a t this is true in general. As a preparation,
we introduce the following bundle.
14 TARO ASUKE

D e f i n i t i o n 5.1 We denote by M*(T) t h e principal S^-bundle associated

with A < ? Q ( 1 '° ) (^")- We denote by T* t h e foliation of M*(T) obtained by
pulling-pack T.
If there existed a nowhere vanishing section of /\qQ^1,0^{J-), it would give
a global transverse complex volume form fl such t h a t k e r O = Q^'1'^).
But as we assumed t h a t t h e Godbillon-Vey class of T is non-trivial, this
is not t h e case. Nevertheless, it is t r u e t h a t t h e line bundle A ^ Q ^ 1 ' 0 ' ^ * )
is trivial. Moreover, we choose a natural trivialization a of /\qQ'-1'0'(Jr*)
closely related t o t h e class £ g (.F). By using this trivialization, we can show
t h e following. T h e proof will appear in [5].
T h e o r e m 5 . 2 ([5]) Let (M,T) be a transversely holomorphic foliation of
complex codimension q. Assume that &V2q(3~) is non-trivial and let M be
an S1-bundle over M which corresponds to c C h e r n i ( ^ r ) , where c =£ 0 and
r
c C h e r n i ( ^ ) is assumed to be an integral class (for example, we can set
c = 1). We denote by TT the natural projection, then M has the following
properties, namely,

1. The first Chern class of the complex normal bundle of the lifted foliation
T of M is trivial. Hence the Godbillon- Vey class of T is trivial.

2. The imaginary part of the Bott class of T is non-trivial and there exists
an element ui of H2q+2(M) such that TT<(U>) = GV 2 ( ? (J").

3. Suppose that (M,T) = ( M * ( ^ r ) , J7*), then we have the formula

mXV-lUiUiVjVKiF*,^)) = \Z^TUIVJVK(F)

if \J\ = \K\ = Q> where m denotes the integration along the fibre.
Consequently, TH(y/^1 Bott,(J 7 *) B o t t , ( J 7 * ) ) = GV2g(J7).

E x a m p l e 5 . 3 Consider t h e bundle M*(T). Since it is associated with

the bundle /\9QI'1'0^(!F) whose first Chern class is (/Cherni(jF), it has t h e
properties as above.
E x a m p l e 5.4 T h e foliation Q(r) in Example 2.3 is obtained from t h e fo-
liation T(T) in t h e above way. As we explained in [4], t h e first Chern class
of t h e complex normal bundle of T(r) is essentially t h e first Chern class
of t h e tangent bundle of CPq, which is a certain integer multiple of t h e
Euler class of t h e Hopf fibration. Hence we can choose t h e 'fiberwise' Hopf
fibration as t h e 5 1 - b u n d l e appeared in t h e statement.
 SOME RESULTS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES 15

Acknowledgment

The author is partially supported by the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for

Research Abroad (1999-2000)
This article is based on the author's talk at the conference 'Foliations:
Geometry and Dynamics' held between May 29 and June 9, 2000, and
written during his stay at the Unite de Mathematiques Pures et Appliquees,
Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon. The author would like to express his
gratitude to the members to UMPA, especially to Professor Etienne Ghys.

References

1. T. Asuke, On the real secondary classes of transversely holomorphic

foliations, Ann. Inst. Fourier, 50, No. 3 (2000), 995-1017.
2. T. Asuke, On the real secondary classes of transversely holomorphic
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Toulouse.
4. T. Asuke, The Godbillon-Vey class of transversely holomorphic folia-
tions, preprint.
5. T. Asuke, Localization and residue of the Bott class, preprint.
6. D. Baker, On a class of foliations and the evaluation of their charac-
teristic classes, Comment. Math. Helvetici, 53 (1978), 334-363.
7. P. Baum and R. Bott, Singularities of Holomorphic Foliations, J. Diff.
Geom., 7 (1972), 279-342.
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neous foliations, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 289 (1985), 849-859.
9. R. Bott, On the Lefschetz Formula and Exotic Characteristic Classes,
Symposia Math., 10 (1972), 95-105.
10. R. Bott, S. Gilter and I.M. James, Lectures on Algebraic and Differen-
tial Topology, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, No. 279, Springer-Verlag,
1972.
11. R. Brooks and W. Goldman, The Godbillon-Vey Invariant of a Trans-
versely Homogeneous Foliation, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 286 (1984),
651-664.
12. T. Duchamp and M. Kalka, Deformation Theory for Holomorphic fo-
liations, J. Diff. Geom., 14 (1979), 317-337.
13. E. Ghys, X. Gomez-Mont and J. Saludes, Fatou and Julia Components
of Transversely Holomorphic Foliations, preprint.
14. C. Godbillon, Cohomologies d'algebres de Lie de champs de vecteurs
formels, Seminaire Bourbaki, 1972/73, n° 421, Lecture Notes in Math.,
16 TARO ASUKE

383, Springer Verlag, 1974, 69-87.

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17. J.L. Heitsch, A cohomology for foliated manifolds, Comment. M a t h .
Helv. 5 0 (1975), 197-218.
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19. J.L. Heitsch, A Residue Formula for Holomorphic Foliations, Michigan
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ations, Michigan Math. J., 3 3 (1986), 47-54.
21. S. Hurder Secondary classes, Weil measures and the geometry of foli-
ations, J. Diff. Geom., 2 0 (1984), 291-309.
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ations, Invent. Math., 6 6 (1982), 313-323.
23. F . W . K a m b e r and P. Tondeur, Foliated Bundles and Characteristic
Classes, Lecture Notes in Math., 493, Springer-Verlag, 1975.
24. S. Morita, Discontinuous invariants of foliations, in Foliations (Tokyo
1993), Adv. Stud. P u r e Math., 5, North-Holland, 1985, 169-193.
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Received October 24, 2000.

Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 17-28

LS-CATEGORIES FOR FOLIATED MANIFOLDS

HELLEN COLMAN
Department of Mathematics (m/c 249), University of Illinois at Chicago
851 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607-7045 USA,
e-mail: [email protected]

The purpose of this paper is to introduce some foliated generalizations of category,

in the sense of Lusternik and Schnirelmann. We generalize the classical LS-theory
to foliations and prove a generalization of the Lusternik and Schnirelmann's main
result for compact-Hausdorff foliations.

1 Introduction

The LS-category was introduced in the course of research into the calculus
of variations in 1930 [17]. The motivation was that it gives a lower bound
for the number of critical points of any smooth function on a compact
manifold. For a survey in LS-category see [14, 15].
There are many extensions of the original concept adapted to various
contexts such as the fibrewise category, introduced by I.M. James and J.
Morris [16] and the equivariant category, by E. Fadell [9].
A good category for foliations should be an invariant of homotopy type,
for some type of homotopy compatible with the foliated structure.
We propose on the one hand the tangential category, cat<(M,T), which
coincides with the category of the leaves when the foliation is a product
and on the other hand the transverse category, cat^ (M, J 7 ), that coincides
with the category of the leaf space if the foliation is a fibration.
In general, we can compare these foliated categories with the ordinary
category of the ambient manifold, the leaf space and the leaves.
Cohomological lower bounds for the tangential and transverse category
can be obtained in terms of leafwise and basic cohomology respectively.
Finally, we give a generalization of Lusternik-Schnirelmann's main re-
sult. Precisely, if (M, J7) is a compact-Hausdorff foliation and / is a basic
17
18 HELLEN COLMAN

function on M then the number of critical leaves is at least cat r f 1 (M, J7).

2 LS-category

Given a topological space X, a subset U of X is categorical if U is con-

tractible in X. T h e category of X, c a t X , is the least number of categorical
open sets required to cover X. If no such covering exists, the category is
said to be infinite.
Category is an invariant of homotopy type.
If X is connected and c a t X is finite then c a t X < 1 + d i m X , where
dim denotes covering dimension. To obtain lower bounds for category we
consider a cohomology theory with any coefficient ring. We have c a t X >
niLH"*(X).
T h e Lusternik-Schnirelmann's main theorem asserts t h a t if M is a com-
pact manifold and / is a smooth function on M then the number of critical
points of / is at least c a t X .

3 Fibrewise category

T h e following outline summarizes basic facts of t h e fibrewise context. A

fibrewise space is a topological space X together with a projection px over
a given base space B. A fibrewise constant map between fibrewise spaces
is a m a p c: X —> Y such t h a t there exists a section s: B —> Y of py with
c = spx- A fibrewise nullhomotopy is a fibre-preserving homotopy into a
fibrewise constant m a p .
A subset U of a fibrewise space X is said to be fibrewise categorical if
the inclusion U C X is fibrewise nullhomotopic. T h e fibrewise category of
X, catBX, is the least number of fibrewise categorical open sets required
to cover X. If no such covering exists, the fibrewise category is said to be
infinite.
Fibrewise category is an invariant of fibrewise homotopy type.
To obtain cohomological lower bounds for fibrewise category we take
the quotient of the reduced cohomology H*(X) by the ideal generated by
the subring p*H*(B). We have t h a t

, H*(X)
v ;
c a t R X > nil-
(p*H*(B))

T h e fibrewise category of a product coincides with t h e category of t h e

fibre. Consider the space F x B for any space F. If U C F is a categorical
subset of F then U x B is fibrewise categorical. For any fibrewise categorical
 L S - C A T E G O R I B S FOR FOLIATED MANIFOLDS 19

subset V C F x B the fibrewise nullhomotopy restricted to F gives a

contraction of V in F. So c a t s ( F x J J ) = c a t F .
If the projection has no global sections, fibrewise category is not finite.
In order t o avoid such requirement we give a generalization t h a t only re-
quires local sections [2]. We describe a subset U of a fibrewise space X to
be local fibrewise categorical if there exists a local section s: p(U) —> X
such t h a t t h e inclusion U C X is fibrewise homotopic to the m a p c = spy,
where pu: U —> p{U) is the restriction of p. So, the local fibrewise category
of X, c a t p X , defined in the same way, only requires t h e existence of local
sections.
We assert t h a t if p: X —> B is a locally trivial bundle with fibre F
then c a t F < catpX < c a t F c a t B . Therefore for all non-trivial principal
bundles t h e local fibrewise category is finite whereas the fibrewise category
is infinite.
B u t the existence of local sections implies the fibres are closed. So, for
all maps p: X ~> B in which p~l{b),b £ B is not closed we have infinite
fibrewise and local fibrewise category. This fact motivated the search for a
better notion of category suitable to any foliation.

4 Equivariant c a t e g o r y

There are several different developments of an equivariant version of the

classical theory [9, 18, 6]. They all coincide in the initial step of definitions
and some basic facts.
Let G be a compact Lie group acting on a topological space X. A
homotopy between G-spaces is equivariant if Ht(gx) = gHt(X), x G X, g e
G. An invariant subset U C X is said to be G-categorical if there exists an
equivariant homotopy H: U x I —> X of the inclusion such t h a t Hi: U —* X
has image in a single orbit. T h e equivariant category of X is the least
number of G-categorical open sets required to cover X.
Equivariant category is an invariant of equivariant homotopy type.
If G acts freely on M , then the equivariant category coincides with the
ordinary category of the orbit space. W h e n the action is not necessarily
free it is just bounded below by the category of the orbit space, catA*/G <
catcX.
To obtain cohomological lower bounds, take the Borel cohomology
HG{X) = H(EG x G X), the latter being the Cech cohomology of the
orbit space of the product EG x X with respect to the diagonal action.
Then
P r o p o s i t i o n 4 . 1 If H£.(orb(x)) = 0 , V i e I s o cat G A" > nilH^(X).
20 HELLEN COLMAN

5 Foliated categories

We propose two generalizations of category adapted to the field of foliations

t h a t provide two new invariants of the (integrable, foliated) homotopy type.
We will assume manifolds and foliations are smooth.
Let (M,J 7 ) and (M',.? 7 ') be foliated manifolds. A smooth m a p
/ : (M,F) —> (M',T') is said to be foliated if it sends leaves into leaves.
A homotopy H: M x R —> M' is said to be integrable if H is a foliated
m a p considering M x R foliated by leaves L x R , L € T. T h e notation
~ : F x R W ^ ' denote integrable homotopy. And the homotopy is foliated if
it is a foliated m a p considering M x R foliated by leaves L, L e T. We
use ~jr to denote foliated homotopy. An integrable homotopy induces an
homeomorphism between leaf spaces whereas a foliated homotopy induces
just a homotopy, in the ordinary sense.

5.1 Tangential category

An open subset U of M is tangentially categorical if the inclusion m a p

(U,Tu) c_^ {M,!F) is integrably homotopic to a m a p constant on each leaf
of T\j. Here U is regarded as a foliated manifold with t h e foliation T\j
induced by T on U.
D e f i n i t i o n 5.1 T h e tangential category c a t 4 ( M , J7) of a foliated manifold
( M , J7) is the least number of tangentially categorical open sets required to
cover M. If no such covering exists, let c a t t ( M , F) = oo.
W h e n T is a foliation by a single leaf, an open subset is tangentially
categorical if and only if it is categorical, so c a t t ( M , !F) — c a t M . For a
foliation by points, we have cat((M, J-) = 1.
A distinguished open set of a foliated chart is always categorical, so
cat((M, !F) is finite in compact manifolds.
Tangential category is an invariant of integrable homotopy type.
We have t h a t c a t t ( M , T) > catL for any leaf L e f since the integrable
homotopy on a tangentially categorical subset U restricted to a leaf of Tu
gives a contraction on the corresponding leaf of T. We will say t h a t a
foliated manifold is tangentially contractible if c a t t ( M , T) = 1. In this case
every leaf is contractible and closed. Thus, if M is a compact manifold,
( M , T) is tangentially contractible iff T is by points. T h e contractibility of
every leaf is not sufficient to contract tangentially the manifold, as shown
by the example of the linear foliation on the torus with irrational slope.
If t h e projection 7r: M —> M/T onto the space of leaves has a global
section, we can compare the tangential category with the fibrewise category
of M as a fibrewise space over MjT. It is clear t h a t
 LS-CATEGORIES FOR FOLIATED MANIFOLDS 21

P r o p o s i t i o n 5.2 c a t 4 ( M , T ) < CSXM/^M.

Finally we can obtain cohomological lower bounds considering the tan-
gential cohomology [12].
An r-form u € flr(M) is a tangential form if it can be written locally
as

u = ^2 f(x, y)dxil A • • • A dx%T

where (x\,..., xp, y) is a distinguished open set of a foliated chart.

T h e space of tangential forms Q,p{M) has a differential d? defined as
one does classically for an r-form with y playing the role of a parameter.
We call its cohomology ifjr(M) the tangential cohomology of ( M , J7). If the
foliation is by points, the tangential cohomology is 0 in positive degrees.
P r o p o s i t i o n 5.3 Let U be a tangentially categorical open subset of M.
The map i*: Hjr(M) —> Hjru{U) induced by the inclusion U ^-> M is null.
We can define a relative tangential cohomology considering the complex

n^M, u) = nrr(M) e n^iu)

with differential djr(u),9) = (d^uj,u>\u —djrO). We have the exact sequence
of the pair ( M , U)

••• - H^r\U) -* HrT(M, U) - Hrr(M) -+ H^(U) -^ •••

We define a product [5] in relative tangential cohomology and prove:

T h e o r e m 5 . 4 c a t t ( M , J") > n i l ^ ( M ) .
T h e tangential cohomology of a manifold is in general hard to calculate.
W.Singhof and E.Vogt [22] gave a cohomological bound for the tangential
category using ordinary cohomology instead of foliated cohomology which
allows explicit calculation of the tangential category in many cases.
T h e same authors prove also a generalization of the classical estimate
of category by the dimension of the space.
P r o p o s i t i o n 5.5 ([22]) c a t t ( M , . F ) < d i m . F + 1 .
This estimate together with the lower bound by the category of the
leaves, give the exact value of the tangential category for a large number
of foliations, namely all foliations containing a leaf L such t h a t catL =
dim L + 1. Classes of manifolds verifying this condition have been studied
(see J . O p r e a and J.Walsh [19]) and include symplectic manifolds (M2n,co)
with U\V2M — 0, aspherical and hyper-aspherical manifolds.
In particular,

1. For any flow J 7 in a compact manifold M , catj(M, T) = 2.

22 HELLEN COLMAN

2. For any 2-dimensional Seifert fibration T, cat t (M, T) = 3.

3. Any 2-dimensional foliation in the 3-sphere has tangential category 3.

5.2 Transverse category

An open subset U of M is transversely categorical if the inclusion map
{U,Tu) *-> (M, T) factors through a leaf up to foliated homotopy.
Definition 5.6 The transverse category cat^ (M, T) of a foliated manifold
(M, T) is the least number of transversely categorical open sets required to
cover M. If no such covering exists, let cat^ (M, T) = oo.
When T is a foliation by points, cat^ (M, T) = catM. If J 7 is a foliation
by a single leaf, cat^ (M, T) = 1.
Transverse category is an invariant of foliated homotopy type which is
finite on compact manifolds.
We will say that a foliated manifold is transversely contractible if
catfp (M, T) = 1. This implies the contractibility of the leaf space (in the
ordinary sense). The contractibility of the leaf space is not sufficient to
contract the manifold transversely, as shown again by the linear foliation
on the torus. If the slope is irrational, the leaf space is contractible since
the quotient topology is the coarse topology. The transverse category is
3 since the torus admits a covering by 3 distinguished open sets and the
transverse category is bounded below by the category of the torus (because
the leaves are contractible).
Even when the leaf space is a better space, its contractibility does not
imply the transverse contractibility of the foliated manifold. Consider the
Seifert fibration on the Klein bottle K ~ S1 x z2 S1, Z2 acting by reflection
in the second factor. The leaves of T are the images in K of Sl x {y},
y E S1. The leaf space is KjT = [-1,1]. So (K,T) is not transversely
contractible whereas the leaf space is contractible.
If the foliation is defined by an action of a compact Lie group, i.e. if
the action is locally free, we can compare the transverse category with the
equivariant category of M as a G-space. We claim
Proposition 5.7 cat^ (M, T) < cat G M.
Finally we can obtain cohomological lower bounds considering the basic
cohomology [21].
An r-form ui 6 W(M) is a basic form if it can be written locally as

where (x, j / i , . . . , yq) is a distinguished open set of a foliated chart.

 L S - C A T E G O R I E S F O R FOLIATED MANIFOLDS 23

We denote fl(,(M) the complex of basic forms with the restriction of the
differential on fi(M). Its cohomology H\,{M) is the basic cohomology of
(M,F). If the foliation is by one leaf, the basic cohomology is 0 in positive
degrees.
Proposition 5.8 Let U be a transversely categorical open subset of M.
The map i* : Hb{M) —> Hb(U) induced by the inclusion in basic cohomology
is null.
We define a relative basic cohomology considering the complex [1]:

srb(M,u) = srb(M)®srb-1{u)
with differential d(u>, 9) = (duj,cu\u — dd). In this way we have a long exact
sequence in basic cohomology associated to the pair (M, U).
Theorem 5.9 cat^ (M,.F) > nilk*Hb(M) where k* is the induced by the
inclusion map k: Clb(M) <—> f2(M).
We generalize the classical result of Varadarajan [24] about the cate-
gories of the spaces involved in a fibration.
Theorem 5.10 Let L$ £ T be a leaf such that catLo > catL. Then
catM < catL 0 cat^ (M, T).
Corollary 5.11 For any foliation T in M,

catM < cat t (M, T) cat^ (M, T).

5,3 Saturated transverse category

We can define a transverse category in a stronger form requiring M to be
covered by saturated open categorical sets.
Definition 5.12 The saturated transverse category cat! (M,JF) of a fo-
liated manifold (M, J7) is the least number of saturated transversely cat-
egorical open sets required to cover M. If no such covering exists, let
cat^(M, F) = oo.
Obviously the transverse category cannot exceed the saturated trans-
verse category. The linear foliation on T 2 with irrational slope shows that
transverse category can be finite even when saturated transverse category
is infinite.
This invariant coincides with the category of the leaf space for a foliation
defined by a fibration. In general the saturated transverse category is a
subtle invariant.
24 HELLEN COLMAN

5.3.1 Compact-Haus dor ff foliations

S a t u r a t e d transverse category provides a lower bound for the number of

critical leaves of any basic function on a compact manifold endowed with a
compact-Hausdorff foliation.
A compact-Hausdorff foliation is a foliation with all leaves compact
and their leaf space is Hausdorff. T h e structure of compact-Hausdorff fo-
liations has been studied by D.B.A. Epstein [8], R. Edwards, K. Millet
and D. Sullivan [7] and others. T h e basic structure theorem for compact-
Hausdorff foliations states t h a t for any leaf L there exists a finite sub-
group G of the orthogonal group 0(n), n = codimjT; a homomorphism
h: IT\{L) —» G and a leaf preserving diffeomorphism of L XQ D onto a
neighbourhood of L, where D is an open ball in R n and L is the covering
space associated to the kernel of h. We call this neighbourhood a stan-
dard neighbourhood of L. This local model implies t h a t MjT is a Satake
manifold [23].
T h e s t a n d a r d neighbourhoods of the local model are transversely cate-
gorical since the radial contraction m a p Rt: D —> D defined by multiplying
the points of D by t commutes with the action of G and so induces a foliated
homotopy.
P r o p o s i t i o n 5 . 1 3 Let T be a compact-Hausdorff foliation of a compact
manifold M. Then c a t ! (M, T) < oo.
One of t h e open problems is to understand for what other classes of
foliations must c a t ! (M, T) be finite.
T h e transverse saturated category can be finite even though T has non-
compact leaves, and even when there is an exceptional minimal set for T.
Examples of such foliations with c a t ! {M,T) finite are given in [13], where
the following is shown:
T h e o r e m 5 . 1 4 If M is a compact manifold and c a t i ( M , J7) < oo then T
has a compact leaf.
Let / : M —> R denote a basic function, t h a t is, constant along the
leaves. Consider t h e critical set K of / . It is saturated. T h e leaves L C K
are called critical leaves of / . For any c € R we write Mc — / _ 1 ( —oo,c]
and Kc = K(^f~l{c). Our aim is to determine the number of critical leaves
of/.
P r o p o s i t i o n 5.15 Let T be a compact-Hausdorff foliation of a compact
manifold M and f: M —> R a basic function. Then

1. If c is a regular value of f then for some e > 0 there is a foliated

homotopy Ht of M with Hi(Mc+<L) = M c _ £ .
 L S - C A T E G O R I E S F O R FOLIATED MANIFOLDS 25

2. If c is an isolated critical value of f there are arbitrarily small neigh-

bourhoods U of Kc and arbitrarily small e > 0 such that there exists a
foliated homotopy Ht of M with Hi(Mc+e — U) C M c _ e .

T h e proof is based on an extension of the standard methods of integrat-

ing the (foliated) gradient field V / (see [4] for details of the proof of the
Proposition 5.15).
T h e o r e m 5 . 1 6 Let f: M —> R be a basic function where M is a com-
pact manifold with a compact-Hausdorff foliation T. Then, f has at least
c a t ! (M, T) critical leaves.
Write c a t ! (A, M) for the minimal number of saturated categorical open
sets of M required to cover A, where A is any saturated subset of M.
For every positive integer m, we define
cm(f) = inf{c e R| cat^, (Mc> M)>m}.
We prove t h e theorem by proving the following
L e m m a 5 . 1 7 Let f: M —> R be a basic function where M is a compact
manifold with a compact-Hausdorff foliation T. Then

1. If — oo < cm(f) < oo then cm(f) is a critical value of f.

2. If - o o < cm(f) = cn(f) = c < oo then uxts^(Kc,M) >n-m + l.

T h e proof of the lemma depends on a few properties t h a t the relative

category c a t ! (A, M) verifies, namely the following:
Let A, B be s a t u r a t e d subsets of M

1. Monotonicity: If A C B then cat^ (A, M) < cat^ (B, M).

2. Subadditivity: cat^ (A U B , M ) < cat^ {A, M) + cat^ (B, M).
3. Deformation invariance: If A is transversely deformable into B then
cat^(^,M) < cat^(S,M).
T h e remaining p a r t of the proof is the same as in the classical case with
the suitable obvious modifications.

5.3.2 Codimension one foliations

We can also generalize the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theorem for any folia-

tion of codimension one.
If a basic function on a compact manifold endowed with a codimen-
sion 1 foliation T has a finite number of critical leaves, so T is a compact-
Hausdorff foliation [4]. T h e result is based in the properties of minimal sets
on codimension one foliations [11], part B.
26 HELLEN COLMAN

So, either all leaves are compact in which case T is a compact-Hausdorff

foliation [10, 20] or else / has infinitely many critical leaves. In any case
we have
T h e o r e m 5.18 Any basic function on a compact manifold endowed with
a codimension one foliation has at least c a t ! (M, J7) critical leaves.

5.3.3 Computations of the saturated transverse category

In order to understand the information contained in the saturated t r a n s -

verse category of a foliation, we study further properties of this new invari-
ant in particular classes of foliations. This study was begun by S. Hurder
and H. Colman [3] who proved the following results.
For any foliation, we have c a t M / . F < c a t ! (M,T). If the foliation is a
fibration the saturated transverse category coincides with the category of
t h e leaf space. For a compact-Hausdorff foliation the s a t u r a t e d transverse
category can be arbitrarily large for a fixed leaf space MjT.
Our main result provides upper and lower bounds on the saturated
transverse category in terms of the codimension of the foliation and the
categories of certain associated spaces.
P r o p o s i t i o n 5.19 Let M be a compact manifold endowed with a codimen-
sion q compact-Hausdorff foliation T. Let E C M be the set of exceptional
leaves (leaves with non-trivial holonomy). Then
m a x { c a t M / . F , cat^ (E, J7)} < cat^ (M, J") < cat^ (E, JF) + q.
Examples show t h a t b o t h the lower and upper bound are realized.
Let {-E*}i=o,... ,k be the Epstein filtration for a compact-Hausdorff folia-
tion, where E° = M and El+1 is the exceptional set of T\-£i. We conjecture
that
c a t l (M, T) = max{cati?i| i = 1 , . . . , k}
% 1
where B = n(E '), the image of the i-term of the Epstein filtration in the
leaf space.
Compact-Hausdorff foliations are a special case of compact foliations
where all leaves are compact but the holonomy groups are allowed to be
infinite. T h e saturated transverse category of these foliations is generally
unknown.

Acknowledgments

I would like to t h a n k for its hospitality and its support, the Stefan Banach
International Mathematical Centre in Warsaw, during the Conference on
 L S - C A T E G O R I E S F O R FOLIATED MANIFOLDS 27

Foliations, May 29-June 9, 2000 and the University of Sheffield, EU RTN1-

1999-00176, Modern Homotopy Theory.

References

1. H. Colman, Categoria LS en foliaciones, Publ. Depto. de Geometria

y Topologia, 93, Santiago de Compostela, 1998.
2. H. Colman, Local fibrewise category, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci.
Paris, Ser. I 324, no 5 (1997), 549-552.
3. H. Colman and S. Hurder, LS-category of compact-Hausdorfffoliations,
preprint.
4. H. Colman and E. Macias-Virgos, The transverse Lusternik-Schni-
relmann category of a foliated manifold, Topology, 40 (2) (2001), 419-
430.
5. H. Colman and E. Macias-Virgos, Tangential category of a foliated
manifold, submitted.
6. M. Clapp and D. Puppe, Invariants of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann
type and the topology of critical sets, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 298
(1986), 603-620.
7. R. Edwards, K. Millet and D. Sullivan, Foliations with all leaves com-
pact, Topology, 16 (1977), 13-32.
8. D.B.A. Epstein, Foliations with all leaves compact, Ann. Inst. Fourier,
26 (1976), 265-282.
9. E. Fadell, The equivariant Lusternik-Schnirelmann method for invari-
ant functionals and relative cohomological index theories, in Methodes
Topologiques en Analyse Non-Lineaire, ed. A. Granas, Montreal, 1985.
10. A. Haefiiger, Varietes feuilletes, Ann. Scuola Norm. Pisa, (3) 16
(1962), 367-397.
11. G. Hector and U. Hirsch, Introduction to the Geometry of foliations,
A and B, Vieweg, 1981-83.
12. J.L. Heitsch, A cohomology for foliated manifolds, Comment. Math.
Helvetici, 50 (1975), 197-218.
13. S. Hurder, Category and compact leaves, preprint, June 2000 (available
at http://www.math.uic.edu/~hurder/).
14. I.M. James, On category, in the sense of Lusternik-Schnirelmann,
Topology, 17 (1978), 331-348.
15. I.M. James, Lusternik-Schnirelmann category, Chapter 27 Handbook
of Algebraic Topology, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 1995, 1293-1310.
16. I.M. James and J. Morris, Fibrewise category, Proceedings of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, 119A (1991), 177-190.
28 HELLEN COLMAN

17. L. Lusternik and L. Schnirelmann, Methodes topologiques dans les

Problemes Variationnels, Hermann, Paris, 1934.
18. W. Marzantowicz, A G-Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of space with
an action of a compact Lie group, Topology, 28 (1989), 403-412.
19. J. Oprea and J. Walsh, Quotient maps, group actions and Lusternik-
Schnirelmann category, to appear in Topology and its Aplications.
20. G. Reeb, Sur certaines propietes topologiques des varietes feuilletes,
Act. Sci. et Ind., 1183 (1952), 91-154.
21. B. Reinhart, Foliated manifolds with bundle-like metrics, Ann. of
Math., 69 (1959), 119-132.
22. W. Singhof and E. Vogt, Tangentiale Kategorie, preprint in German.
23. I. Satake, On a generalization of the notion of manifold, Proc. Nat.
Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 42 (1956), 359-363.
24. K. Varadarajan, On fibrations and category, Math. Z., 88 (1965),
267-273.

Received October 31, 2000.

Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 29-60

D Y N A M I C S A N D T H E GODBILLON-VEY CLASS.
A HISTORY A N D SURVEY

STEVEN HURDER
Department of Mathematics (m/c 249), University of Illinois at Chicago
851 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607-7045 USA,
e-mail: [email protected], Web: http://www.math.uic.edu/~hurder/

We survey thirty years of study of the relations between dynamics and the
Godbillon-Vey invariant of codimension one foliations. We include a section on
open problems.

1 A simple definition

In 1971, C. Godbillon and J. Vey introduced the invariant of foliations

named after them. Previously, the study of foliations was considered either
as an area of topology, viewing a foliation is a generalized fibration structure
on a manifold (cf. [76]), or as an area within differential equations, whose
key results concerned recurrence and limit sets (cf. [97]). With the advent
of the Godbillon-Vey class and its generalization to the other secondary
classes, the field obtained a unique focus, characterized by the interplay
of geometry, topology, dynamical systems, and eventually ergodic theory.
The study of the Godbillon-Vey invariant for codimension one foliations, in
particular, illustrates the breadth of the field of foliations, and it is still a
developing subject. We discuss here the path of ideas and results from "a
simple definition", to our current understanding of how the Godbillon-Vey
class depends on the geometry and dynamics of a foliation, concluding with
a selection of open problems. This work updates and expands on parts of
the Seminaire Bourbaki "Sur l'invariant de Godbillon-Vey" by Ghys [31],
and the problem session from the 1992 foliations meeting in Rio de Janeiro
[72]. The bibliography attempts to be comprehensive and up-to-date.
Let M be a C°°-manifold with a codimension-one foliation T which is
transversally C 2 , and with C°° leaves. We assume that the normal bundle

29
30 STEVEN H U R D E R

to T is oriented, so there is a 1-form u> on M whose kernel defines the leaf

tangent bundle TJ7. The Frobenius Theorem implies there is a 1-form 77
on M such that du> = r\ A ui. Godbillon and Vey [41] observed that 3-form
77 Adr] is closed, and its cohomology class GV{T) = [rjAdrj] £ H3(M) is an
invariant under diffeomorphism and foliated concordance [77].
The simplicity of the definition of the Godbillon-Vey invariant GV{T) =
\r)Adrf\ gives little indication of its geometric or dynamical meaning. The 1-
form 77 entering in the definition is sometimes called the modular form for T.
It has long been known that the restriction of 77 to leaves of T are closed
forms, and for a C1-foliation there is a well-defined leafwise cohomology
class [77] € H1(M,Jr), called the Reeb class, and the integral of 77 along
leafwise curves measures the transverse holonomy expansion [95] (see also
[43, 96] and § 2, [31]) . The idea can even be traced back to the work of
Poincare [93]. So [77] is a cohomology invariant of T which measures the
transverse expansion.
The study of dynamics of flows and foliations have both been profoundly
influenced by the special examples derived from Anosov flows on compact
manifolds [1, 91, 92], especially the Anosov flows which are the geodesic
flow of a compact manifold with constant negative curvature. For example,
let M denote the unit tangent bundle to a metric of constant curvature on
a closed orientable surface T,g of genus g > 1, and T the weak-stable folia-
tion of the geodesic flow on M. The Roussarie calculation, included in [41],
evaluated GV(T) on the fundamental class, (GV{T), \M\) = ±4TT(1 - g),
giving the first example of a codimension one foliation with non-vanishing
GV(!F). Thurston's celebrated construction [106] of a family of smooth
foliations {Tt \ t > 0} on the 3-sphere, for which (GV^t), \M\) = t, is con-
structed from the weak stable foliation starting with a punctured surface.
The leaves of the weak stable foliation of an Anosov flow have exponential
growth and are transversally expansive. Moussu and Pelletier [86] and Sul-
livan (in [102]) asked whether this is always true - if GVi^J7) ^ 0 must JF
have leaves of exponential growth? This conjecture was supported by all of
the examples. Moreover, in Thurston's examples the Godbillon-Vey class
assumed a continuous range of values, suggesting that a geometric interpre-
tation of GVr(Jr) should involve dynamical information such as "entropy".
Thurston's note [106] also contained a geometric interpretation of the
Godbillon-Vey invariant for 3-manifolds as measuring "helical wobble".
Reinhart and Wood [98] gave a formula expressing the the Godbillon-Vey
class of a foliation of a Riemannian 3-manifold in terms of the curvatures
of the leaves and normal bundle, which can be interpreted as the helical
wobble. (See [31] for a nice discussion on this point.) As pointed out by
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 31

Langevin, the Reinhart-Wood formula is suggestive of an integral geometry

interpretation of the Godbillon-Vey invariant and hints at possible dynam-
ical connections [3, 73]. Sullivan [105] gave another interpretation of the
Godbillon-Vey invariant as the "second derivative" of the intersection of
certain foliation currents. Sullivan's calculation is also an interpretation of
helical wobble, but more in the spirit of dynamical systems.

2 Structure theory

During the period 1976-1982, there were a succession of works by various

authors which proved the Moussu-Pelletier and Sullivan conjecture for in-
creasingly general classes of foliations. The approach to the conjecture was
to prove a "vanishing theorem", where the leaves of T are assumed to have
a dynamical property which implies subexponential growth, and then show
this forces GV[T) = 0.
The first result was by Herman [53] in 1976, who showed that GV{!F) =
0 if T is the suspension of an action of Z 2 on the circle. This was extended
soon after by Wallet [121], so that one knew that GV(F) = 0 for a codi-
mension one C2-foliation T transverse to a circle bundle over a compact
Riemann surface, if no leaf of T has holonomy. Wallet's result was in turn
extended by Morita and Tsuboi [84] in 1978, who showed that GV{T) = 0
if T is a foliation without holonomy on any compact manifold. This re-
sult introduced C 2 -dynamics and Sacksteder's Theorem into proofs of the
"vanishing theorem" for the first time, for a corollary of the Sacksteder
theorem is that a foliation without holonomy is defined by a transverse in-
variant measure. The vanishing of GV(T) is a consequence of constructing
a sequence of smooth transverse 1-forms approximating this measure.
A foliation T is almost without holonomy if the only leaves with holon-
omy are compact. The simplest example of such is the Reeb foliation,
though in general these foliations can have very complicated topology, as
they are depth one with the non-compact leaves spiralling in on the compact
leaves. Their study has a long history [18, 44, 48, 83, 85, 86, 88], with the
basic structure theorem for C2-foliations proving that the holonomy of the
compact leaves must be abelian, that their complement is a union of local
minimal sets, and there exists a transverse vector field defined in an open
neighbourhood of the compact leaves which commutes with the holonomy.
Mizutani, Morita and Tsuboi [82] and Cantwell and Conlon [8] proved in
1980 that GV(T) = 0 for foliations almost without holonomy. Both proofs
combined the structure theory for foliations almost without holonomy with
the techniques developed for foliations without holonomy.
32 STEVEN HURDER

T h r o u g h o u t the 1970's, the geometry of codimension one foliations with

increasing degrees of complexity was actively studied. This research culmi-
nated in three distinct approaches to a general structure theory: Dippolito
proved the "octopus decomposition" for C°-foliations; Nishimori [89] in-
troduced the "SRH" (Staircase, Room, Hall) decomposition; Cantwell and
Conlon [9] and Hector [49] proved a Poincare-Bendixson theorem for t h e
asymptotic behaviour of leaves. All of these can be seen as developing the
ideas of the almost without holonomy classification theory. T h e Poincare-
Bendixson theory also provided an approximate correspondence between
the growth rates of leaves and their level of complexity [7, 10, 11, 47, 110,
111, 112, 113, 115]. During 1980-81, a succession of authors extended the
vanishing theorem for foliations almost without holonomy, to increasingly
more general classes [8, 28, 89, 114]. None of these results directly related
the growth of leaves to the vanishing of GV(J7), and all relied on the struc-
ture theory to estimate the form r\ A dr\.
Underlying these succession of works was a new idea, t h a t the Godbillon-
Vey invariant could be "localized" to an open saturated subset U C M,
where the special "dynamics and geometry" of T\fJ could be used to show
GV{T\U) = 0. This idea became more explicit in the works of Cantwell-
Conlon [8], Nishimori [89], Tsuchiya [114], and Duminy-Sergiescu [28].

3 Dummy's Theorem

In a brilliant work growing out of the paper [28], G. Duminy [26] introduced
the Godbillon measure gjr on the E-algebra Bo(^F) generated by the open
saturated subsets of a foliation T of codimension one. Dummy's note was
also highly original on two other points: T h e Godbillon measure is one half
of the Godbillon-Vey invariant, constructed from the leaf cohomology class
[77] 6 HX(M,T). T h e second half, the "Vey class" [drj\ € H2{M/T), was
considered as a fixed invariant of T on which the Godbillon measure could
be evaluated to give GV{T\U) for U 6 Bo{T). T h e other innovation, in
a companion manuscript [27], was an estimation of the Godbillon measure
using what are essentially techniques of ergodic theory. Duminy's work
lifted the veil on t h e study of t h e relation between GV(T) and dynamics.
T h e o r e m 3 . 1 ( D u m i n y ) If T is a codimension one, C2-foliation of a
compact manifold M with non-trivial Godbillon measure g?, then T must
have a hyperbolic resilient leaf, and hence there is an open subset of M
consisting of leaves with exponential growth.
While the original manuscripts of Duminy were widely circulated, they
were unfortunately never published. An account of Duminy's method was
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 33

later published by Cantwell and Conlon [12], who extended the theorem to
non-compact manifolds. This extension is not so simple as passing from
cohomology on a compact manifold to t h a t on a non-compact manifold, as
the key estimates Duminy used required the Poincare-Bendixson structure
theory of C 2 -foliations on compact manifolds [9, 49]. Cantwell and Conlon
extended in the Poincare-Bendixson theory to open manifolds in [12].
D u m m y ' s method of proof was t h a t , if there is no resilient leaf for T,
then by Sacksteder's Theorem [100] there are no exceptional minimal sets.
Hence, by t h e Poincare-Bendixson theory, all leaves of J- either lie at finite
level, or lie in "arbitrarily thin" subsets U e Bo(J-)- T h e finite level case
is analyzed analogously to the almost without holonomy case, while the
analysis of the thin sets used the new techniques of [27]. Duminy's new
techniques raised new questions:

1. Exactly what are the properties of the "Godbillon measure" ?

2. Could t h e technique of t h e Godbillon measure also yield a n approach
to relating the secondary classes for higher codimension foliations to
their dynamics?
3. W h a t is t h e meaning of t h e calculation in [27] which miraculously
showed just what needed to be shown?
4. Does t h e "Vey class" have a geometric or dynamical meaning compa-
rable t o t h a t proved for t h e Godbillon measure?
Only the first two of these questions have been partially answered to date.
After Duminy's manuscripts first appeared in March 1982, these ques-
tions were discussed among Larry Conlon, Andre Haefiiger, James Heitsch,
Paul Schweitzer, and the author, who were visiting Princeton in Spring,
1982. T h r e e of the five participants in this mini-program at the Institute
for Advanced Study subsequently published papers on Duminy's work!
T h e first development following on Duminy's work was by Heitsch and
Hurder [52], T h e y extended Duminy's ideas in two directions, one formal
and the other more fundamental. First, they showed t h a t for a codimension
q > 1, (^-foliation, each cohomology class yj £ iJ*(fl[(q), SO(q)) yields an
associated Weil measure, denoted by XF(yi)> f ° r which the Godbillon mea-
sure gjr = XF{VI) is the simplest one. T h e classes yi are those which appear
in t h e .E 2 -term of t h e spectral sequence calculation of t h e cohomology of
the t r u n c a t e d Weil algebra WO(q), hence their name. T h e fact t h a t the
Weil measures are defined for C 1 -foliations was just an observation based
on the definitions. T h e definition of the "Vey class", and more generally the
classes [cj] corresponding to the Chern forms c j ( Q ) of the normal bundle
to T', still require a C 2 -foliation for their definition.
34 STEVEN H U R D E R

T h e more fundamental point of the work [52] was t h a t the measures were
defined on the E-algebra B{T) of all measurable, saturated subsets of M,
and t h a t the leafwise forms used to define the measures XF{VI) need only
be transversally measurable. It may happen t h a t the only open s a t u r a t e d
subsets for a foliation are either empty, or M itself, so the extension of
the Godbillon measure to the algebra of measurable sets B(F) widened
the application of the ideas. On the other hand, the ability to calculate
these new invariants using measurable d a t a had a more important impact.
Dynamical hypotheses on a foliation, combined with asymptotic techniques,
often yields leafwise smooth, but only transversally measurable data, so
t h a t this extension allowed techniques of ergodic theory to be applied in
the evaluation of the Godbillon and Weil measures.
For example, the Godbillon measure g? can be calculated using a trans-
versally measurable, transverse volume form for T. A foliation with all
leaves compact is easily shown to have a transversally measurable, closed
transverse volume form, hence its Godbillon-Vey classes must vanish. This
argument applies in any codimension. Cantwell and Conlon used the modi-
fication of D u m m y ' s approach to give a simpler proof of Dummy's Theorem
[12, 21]. Hurder [55] showed t h a t for a foliation of arbitrary codimension, if
all leaves are compact, then all of the Weil measures must vanish since such
a foliation admits a transversally measurable, holonomy invariant t r a n s -
verse Riemannian metric. This was the first "vanishing theorem" for t h e
other secondary classes of foliations, for codimension greater t h a n one.
Duminy's papers [26, 27] were a demarcation in the study of the dy-
namics of foliations. T h e fundamental conjecture posed in 1974 was solved,
while the reformulation of his ideas transformed the study of the relation
between dynamics of foliations and the Godbillon-Vey and other secondary
classes, into questions of ergodic theory. T h e study of foliation dynamics
was afterwards motivated by results and techniques of the ergodic theory for
smooth maps [103, 71] and group actions [125]. Connections to the theory
of ergodic equivalence relations [29] and cocycles [101] became fundamental.

4 Ergodic theory

One of t h e "often discovered'" facts in ergodic theory is t h a t a diffeo-

morphism / : M —> M of a compact Riemannian manifold M cannot ex-
pand volume on an invariant set of positive measure. This basic fact was
first formulated by Schmidt [101] in cocycle language as saying t h a t t h e
additive Radon-Nikodym cocycle v: Z x M —> R defined by i/(n, x) =
l o g { | ( / n ) ' ( x ) | } has subexponential growth for almost every x 6 M. T h e
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 35

key to the proof is that the group Z has subexponential growth, while if
limsup,,^^ v(n,x)/n > a > 0 on a set E C M of positive Lebesgue mea-
sure, then the volume of the iterates fn{E) grows exponentially, and there
is "no room" for all the volume in the space Z x M .
On the other hand, if F is a group with exponential word growth acting
smoothly on M, then the additive Radon-Nikodym cocycle v. T x M —> K
can have exponential growth. This is exactly what happens, for example,
with the action of a surface group on the circle at infinity in the original
examples calculated by Roussarie. This balance between the growth of the
group and of the Radon-Nikodym cocycle underlies the next advance in the
study of the Godbillon-Vey invariants.
We need a digression into the growth rates of leaves. For a finitely
generated group, the limit gr(T) = lim l o g { # r n } / n always exists, where
r „ = {7 | ||7|| < n}, as r is a homogeneous metric space for the word
metric. Given a leaf L C M of T for Riemannian manifold M, and x e L,
we say L has subexponential growth if
\imsuplog{VolL{x,R)}/R = 0,

where Voli(x, R) denotes the volume in the leaf metric of a ball centred at
x e L with leaf radius R. If
liminf \og{VolL{x,R)}/R = 0,

we say that the leaf L has non-exponential growth, while L has exponential
growth if
liminflog{Vo/ L (x,i?)}/R> 0.
R—>oo

A foliation can have leaves which have nonexponential growth but not
subexponential growth [47].
In 1984, Hurder [58] proved that for the pseudogroup of a codimension
q > 1 foliation of a compact manifold, if almost all orbits have subexponen-
tial growth, then the Radon-Nikodym cocycle has subexponential growth.
This gave the first direct relation between the growth of leaves of a foli-
ation and the asymptotic growth rate of the modular class [rj\. However,
subexponential growth of the Radon-Nikodym cocycle does not imply the
modular form has any local growth estimates. A cocycle with subexponen-
tial growth may still oscillate wildly on small scale, and only when averaged
for large "time" does it behave in a subexponential manner.
One consequence of the Heitsch-Hurder reformulation of Dummy's meth-
ods was that it is possible to renormalize the transverse volume form using
36 STEVEN HURDER

a leafwise smooth, transversally measurable change of scale function. If

such a change of scale function can be chosen so that the new transverse
volume form has uniform arbitrarily slow growth, then the modular form r\
is uniformly estimated arbitrarily close to 0, hence the Godbillon measure
must vanish. This is just a measurable version of the original idea from
Herman [53]! Fortunately, smooth ergodic theory had already solved the
renormalization problem. A fundamental technique for the study of non-
uniform hyperbolic dynamical systems is the Lyapunov tempering proce-
dure used in Pesin theory [90]. Hurder and Katok [66] extended this tem-
pering procedure from actions of Z to the context of metric equivalence
relations. When applied to a foliation with almost every leaf of subexpo-
nential growth, this yields for each e > 0 a transverse volume form which is
uniformly e-invariant. Thus, the Godbillon measure must vanish. This was
the key idea behind the proof in [58] of the generalization of the Moussu-
Pelletier and Sullivan Conjecture to all codimensions:
T h e o r e m 4.1 Let T be a C1 foliation of codimension q > 1 such that al-
most every leaf has subexponential growth rate. Then the Godbillon measure
gr = 0. If' T isC2 then the Godbillon-Vey class GV(T) = 0.
The theorem implies that if GV{T) ^ 0 then there exists a set of leaves
with positive measure that do not have subexponential growth. It is not
known if the set of leaves with non-exponential, but not subexponential
growth can have positive Lebesgue measure. Alternately, one can ask if
the method of proof of the theorem can be extended to leaves with non-
exponential growth.
This discussion is focussed on the development of codimension one the-
ory, but we detour for a moment to describe some related issues that are
best observed in higher codimensions. The structure theory for codimen-
sion one foliations has no counterpart in higher codimensions. Even for a
single diffeomorphism of a compact manifold M of dimension greater than
one, it is impossible to give a good classification. The best that has been
achieved is to restrict to classes of dynamics, and make a structure theory
for diffeomorphisms within these restricted classes. Classes of examples
include pseudo-Anosov maps of surfaces, Anosov maps of manifolds, affine
actions, projective actions, actions with all orbits finite, distal and equicon-
tinuous actions, and so forth. Similar classes of dynamical systems have
been defined and studied for group actions on manifolds with some measure
of success, and to some extent also for foliations.
An alternate approach to a classification theory for arbitrary diffeomor-
phisms, or groups of diffeomorphisms, of a compact manifold M is to at-
tempt to classify the derivative cocycle of the action. Associated to a group
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 37

action ^ i T x M ^ M i s t h e derivative co cycle Dp: T x M -> GL(R q ),

where we have chosen some bounded measurable trivialization of the tan-
gent bundle TM. For a codimension q foliation T, there is an analogous
cocycle Dip: Gjr —> GL(Mq) where Q? is the holonomy groupoid of T.
Rather than attempt the seemingly impossible step to classify the group
actions or foliation dynamics, one studies their associated cocycles up to an
appropriate notion of measurable coboundary. This yields a cohomology
theory which is the direct generalization of the idea of the modular class
[77] £ H1(M,J7). The classification of cocycles up to measurable equivalence
is a well-studied problem from smooth ergodic theory of group actions, and
there are many techniques, and several celebrated theorems.
One invariant associated to a measurable cocycle is the Lyapunov band
spectrum which consists of a band of asymptotic (or generalized) eigenval-
ues for the range of Dip. For example, these invariants have a prominent
role in the study of asymptotic behaviour of the solutions of differential
equations, especially in the Sacker-Sell theory. Another more delicate in-
variant consists of the algebraic hull [127] of Dip, which is the smallest
algebraic subgroup G C GL(R q ) so that Dip is cohomologous to a cocycle
with values in G.
The existence of an invariant ergodic measure allows deeper analysis of
Dip. For example, if a smooth action admits an ergodic invariant measure
and the group F is a higher rank lattice, then Zimmer's Cocycle Super-
rigidity Theorem [125, 79] reduces the classification of Dp to a problem
in representation theory. There remains the problem of translating infor-
mation about the cocycle Dp into dynamical information for T, which
frequently also requires the hypothesis (or construction) of an invariant
measure for the action or foliation. For example, see the applications by
Zimmer [123, 124, 126] of cocycle superrigidity to the smooth classification
of group actions.
In codimension one, classification theory naturally evolved from an un-
derstanding of a certain collection of examples or "models". In higher codi-
mensions, there is a far greater collection of models. The modular form
7? is replaced by the transverse derivative cocycle Dip, whose behaviour is
far more complicated. In spite of these additional considerations, there are
several results relating vanishing of secondary classes to foliation dynam-
ics and the classification of the derivative cocycle in higher codimensions.
Hurder [56] showed in 1984 that for the linear holonomy of a leaf in a
C2-foliation T, if the algebraic hull is not amenable, then T has leaves of
exponential growth. Hurder and Katok [66] showed in 1987 that if a foli-
ation T defines an amenable equivalence relation, and hence the algebraic
38 STEVEN HURDER

hull of the cocycle Dip: Qjr —> GL(M q ) is amenable, then many of its sec-
ondary classes of T vanish. T h e University of Chicago thesis of Stuck [104]
extended these vanishing results. Analysis of the cocycle Dip, combined
with possible additional hypotheses on the transverse geometry of the fo-
liation T, are expected to yield a better understanding of the dynamics of
foliations in higher codimensions. For example, the geometric entropy of
a foliation can be combined with information derived from Dip to produce
new results in all codimensions, as we discuss next.

5 Geometric entropy

One of the most fundamental invariants of the dynamics of a diffeomor-

phism of a compact manifold is its topological entropy. W h e n positive, it
implies the orbits of / exhibit an exponential amount of "chaos". W h e n
zero, the m a p / is somehow not typical, and has unusual regularity. For
the study of group actions and foliation dynamics, it is natural to look for
a corresponding entropy invariant of the system.
There are been several definitions of topological entropy for group ac-
tions, motivated by the need to have a definition for lattice dynamics where
the group is typically Z " . These definitions admit extensions to actions
of amenable groups, but for non-amenable groups, these definitions all en-
counter difficulties of one sort or another. T h e main problem with adapting
these definitions for the study of foliations, however, is t h a t they all vanish
for C^-actions whose leaves have growth rate greater t h a n linear, so would
vanish for all but the simplest or most pathological foliations!
T h e introduction by Ghys, Langevin and Walczak [37] of the geometric
entropy h{T) for a C 1 -foliation T marked another transformation in the
study of foliation dynamics. Their definition is completely natural: h(T)
measures t h e exponential rate of growth for (e, n)-separated sets in t h e
analogue of t h e Bowen metrics for the holonomy pseudogroup Qr of T.
(Chapter 13 of [6] gives an excellent introduction and discussion of foliation
entropy.) Thus, h{T) is a measure of the complexity of the transverse
dynamics of T. T h e precise value of h(JF) depends upon a variety of choices,
but the property h{F) = 0 or h{T) > 0 is well-defined. A codimension one
foliation with a transverse invariant measure has entropy zero, while the
entropy of the Roussarie example is positive. T h e authors established two
key relations between h(F) and dynamics:

T h e o r e m 5.1 ( T h e o r e m 6 . 1 , [37]) If T is aC2 -foliation of codimension

one, then h{T) > 0 if and only if T has a resilient leaf.
This theorem, combined with Duminy's Theorem, implies t h a t if
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 39

GV{T) ± 0 then h{F) > 0.

T h e o r e m 5.2 ( T h e o r e m 5.1, [37]) If T is a C1-foliation of codimen-
sion q > 1 with h{F) = 0, then T has a non-trivial holonomy invariant
transverse measure.
A number of problems and questions are suggested by these two theo-
rems (see § 7, [37]):
1. Can one show the implication "if GV(T) ^ 0 then h(F) > 0" directly?
2. Show that if some secondary class is non-zero for q > 1, then h(T) > 0.
3. Can one define an analog of metric entropy for a foliation, and use it
to estimate h(T)l
4. What is the relation between .F-harmonic measures and h(T)7
These problems have been the continued focus of research since the appear-
ance of the paper [37], and influenced research in many areas of the study
of codimension one foliations. We will discuss the progress and updated
formulations for these questions.
The problem of defining h(T) using harmonic measures remains open.
The closest result to obtaining such a relation, and this is only at the
level of intuition, is the paper by Ghys [33] which proves key results about
random walks on leaves and recurrence along the ends of leaves. This
suggests that ^-harmonic measures should almost surely be influenced by
the separation of leaves as they tend to infinity, as the entropy measures a
type of expansion of the leaves, which should influence the properties of the
convergence of the heat flow to harmonic measures. As both the geometric
entropy and the properties of harmonic measures are natural invariants of
a foliation, any relation between them would have great appeal and most
likely be fundamental.
Work on the first three problems will be discussed in relation to the
paper [59] by Hurder, which outlined program for the study of h(T) using
the foliation geodesic flow. A foliation with smooth leaves has a leafwise
geodesic flow, defined on the unit tangent bundle V = T\T to the leaves.
The foliation T on M defines a foliation T on V whose leaves cover those
of T. The foliation geodesic flow preserves T. The Riemannian geometry
of this flow has been studied by Walczak in a series of papers [116, 117,
118, 119]. It also has a close relationship to the entropy of foliations.
Ghys, Langevin and Walczak actually defined two entropies for a folia-
tion in [37], the pseudogroup entropy h^F) introduced above, and another
invariant called the geometric entropy of T', defined by requiring points in
an (e, n)-separated set to be separated by the holonomy along geodesic seg-
ments of length at most n. Equivalently, the geometric entropy is that for
40 STEVEN HURDER

the pseudogroup Q? with the norm on maps defined via the shortest leaf-
wise distance of a leafwise p a t h with the same holonomy. T h u s , as proved
in [37], these entropies are either b o t h zero, or non-zero.
T h e paper [59] proposed to reformulate the geometric entropy of T in
terms of t h e entropy relative to the invariant foliation T associated to the
foliation geodesic flow, and then use the restriction of the normal derivative
cocycle Dip: Qjr —> GL(R q ) to this flow to estimate the entropy. This
would allow introduction of many techniques of smooth dynamical systems
for the study of h(!F), and give a uniform approach which applied in all
codimensions along the lines used in [66].
T h e papers [58, 66] used ergodic theory methods to prove vanishing
theorems for secondary classes in terms of the range of the derivative co-
cycle Dip on t h e metric equivalence relation defined by the pseudogroup
Q?. A n a t u r a l question following these works was to find geometric con-
ditions which gave information about the Lyapunov band spectrum of the
transverse derivative cocycle Dip, and use this information to obtain fur-
ther relations between dynamics and the secondary classes. For example,
the paper [57] showed t h a t the characteristic classes must vanish for distal
group actions with some additional hypotheses. A key step in [57] was t o
introduce invariant measures, not for t h e full group action, but associated
to particular elements of the group along which there was hyperbolic ex-
pansion, and consider the Pesin stable manifold for these measures. T h e
corresponding approach for foliations is to consider transversally hyperbolic
invariant measures for the geodesic flow, and their stable manifolds. So,
the techniques of [57, 58, 66] can be applied to the study of the relation
between h{!F) and the dynamics of T.
Two difficulties in applying these ideas to the study of foliation geomet-
ric entropy are immediately encountered: First, the entropy of the geodesic
flow, relative to the invariant foliation, clearly bounds the geometric en-
tropy from below. For foliations whose leaves have subexponential growth,
the relative geodesic flow entropy and the geometric entropy are equiva-
lent. Langevin and Walczak [74] called t h e relative geodesic flow entropy
the transverse entropy, and proved t h a t in codimension one, the geometric
entropy and t h e transverse entropy are always equivalent. B u t it is not
known whether these two entropies always agree for codimension greater
t h a n one.
T h e other difficulty is the definition and applications of a measure en-
tropy for foliations, based on a relative measure entropy for t h e geodesic
flow analogous to a construction well known in the ergodic theory of maps
[78]. T h e (formidable) technical work required has never been written up,
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 41

and it remains an open problem to justify this part of the program.

Langevin and Walczak [75] also studied the relations between the geo-
metric entropy and the exponents of the transverse derivative cocycle Dip.
This paper introduces the "pressure" for the dynamics of a pseudogroup.
Bis and Walczak [2] showed that the geometric entropy can be calculated
using pseudo-orbits.
During 1999-2000, the program of [59] for the study of h(!F) was carried
out for codimension one foliations, avoiding the construction of relative
measure entropy [62]. The role of the relative measure entropy was to
obtain lower bound estimates on the geometric entropy in terms of the
Lyapunov spectrum of invariant measures for the foliation geodesic flow.
The alternative approach of [63, 64, 65] is based on the construction of
special dynamical subsystems, called "ping-pong games". The existence
of a ping-pong game is equivalent to the existence of a resilient leaf, and
directly implies the geometric entropy of the foliation is positive. The
key point is that asymptotic estimates for the restriction of Dp along the
foliation geodesic flow can be combined with stable manifold theory along
transversally hyperbolic invariant measures for the geodesic flow, to produce
ping-pong games, and hence prove the foliation geometric entropy must be
positive.
The dynamic given by a ping-pong game represents an intermediate in-
variant of a foliation, and its existence can be proved by techniques similar
to proving the existence of measures with positive relative entropy. A good
theory of relative measure entropy should assign positive values to the dy-
namical subsystem determined by a ping-pong game. In the absence of
such a theory, the study of the ping-pong games of T provides an effec-
tive method to estimate h(T). Here are the main results from the papers
[63, 64, 65]:
Theorem 5.3 (Theorem 1.1, [63]) Suppose J7 is a codimension one,
transversally C1-foliation with h(T) > 0, then T has a ping-pong game,
and hence a resilient leaf.
The proof of this uses "elementary" techniques of ergodic theory and
flow dynamics, so avoids the use of C 2 -structure theory.
Theorem 5.4 (Theorem 1.1, [65]) Suppose J7 is a codimension one,
transversally C 1 -foliation with non-trivial Godbillon measure g?, then T
has a ping-pong game and hence h(T) > 0.
The proof of this uses a new cocycle tempering method, modifying that
of [58], and the basic methods for constructing ping-pong games developed
in [63, 64].
For higher codimensions, this approach also yields the following result,
42 STEVEN HURDER

where it is necessary to impose a Holder condition on the transverse holon-

omy:
T h e o r e m 5.5 ( T h e o r e m 1.3, [65]) If'T is a codimension q, transversally
C1+a-foliation with h{F) > 0, then T is not distal. In particular, J- cannot
be a foliation with all leaves compact.
T h e proofs of these results are heavily "one dimensional", but it seems
likely t h a t it will be possible to extend the techniques of proof to higher
codimensions, to obtain relations between h(T) and the secondary classes.
(See also the discussion for Problem 9.5 at the end of this paper.)

6 Exceptional minimal sets

A leaf of a codimension one foliation is semi-proper if it approaches itself

from one side. If the closure K = L of a semi-proper leaf L is minimal,
then it is transversally a nowhere dense Cantor set, and we say K is an
exceptional minimal set. T h e semi-proper leaves are precisely the leaves
through the endpoints in the gaps of the transverse Cantor set. Semi-
proper leaves and exceptional minimal sets have been understood as an
essential part of the study of codimension one dynamics since the work of
Denjoy, and t h e generalizations to foliations by Sacksteder [96, 100].
A variety of constructions of exceptional minimal sets have been given
(e.g., see [99, 46, 68, 80]). T h e Poincare-Bendixson classification theory
for C 2 -foliations [9, 49] is greatly simplified when there are no exceptional
minimal sets. T h e proof of Dummy's theorem assumes there are no resilient
leaves, and hence no exceptional minimal set, and proceeds from there.
Surprisingly, the exceptional minimal sets have defied an easy classifi-
cation.
One of the open problems is to show t h a t an exceptional minimal set
for a C 2 -foliation must have Lebesgue measure zero. Inaba [68] and Mat-
sumoto [80] in 1986 gave general constructions of minimal sets for which the
Lebesgue measure is zero. As remarked in [80], if an exceptional minimal
set K has measure zero, then the Godbillon-Vey measure vanishes on K, so
t h a t analysis of the Godbillon-Vey invariant can ignore the contributions
from exceptional minimal sets. Though unlikely, it would be an amazing
result to show there exists an exceptional (local) minimal set with non-zero
Godbillon-Vey measure.
Another open problem is to show t h a t the leaves in an exceptional
minimal set of a C 2 -foliation must have a Cantor set of ends. A deep,
unpublished work of Duminy (written up by Cantwell and Conlon in the
manuscript [16]) shows t h a t the semi-proper leaves always have a Cantor
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 43

set of ends.
One can also ask when an exceptional minimal set contains only a finite
number of semi-proper leaves. There exists C1-foliations with exceptional
minimal sets having a countably infinite number of semi-proper leaves, but
it is conjectured that for C2-foliations this is impossible.
In spite of the extensive study of exceptional minimal sets in codimen-
sion one dynamics, all of these questions show a key piece of the puzzle is
still missing. To quote from [13], "Our very incomplete understanding of
the exceptional type constitutes a major gap in the theory."
In 1988, Cantwell and Conlon [13] introduced a class of exceptional
minimal sets, those of Markov type. A Markov minimal set K admits
a finite set of expanding holonomy generators which define the foliation
dynamics on it, and thus the dynamics on K are given by a quotient of a
subshift of finite type. Cantwell and Conlon showed that for an exceptional
minimal set of Markov type, there are only a finite number of semi-proper
leaves, and K has measure zero [13]. They later showed that every leaf in
a Markov minimal set K has a Cantor set of ends [15].
Inaba and Matsumoto [69] showed for transversally projective foliations,
an exceptional minimal set is always Markov. This paper also gave a tech-
nical refinement of the definition of Markov property, which broadens the
definition. Walczak [120] showed in fact that a Markov minimal set has
Hausdorff dimension less than the dimension of M.

7 Extensions of Godbillon-Vey

The definition of the Godbillon-Vey invariant of a C2-foliation of codimen-

sion one clearly depends upon the second derivatives of the 1-form defining
T. It is conjectured that if there is a homeomorphism h: M —> M' map-
ping the leaves of a C 2 foliation T on M to the leaves of a C2-foliation T'
on M', then h*GV{F) = GV{F). This problem has been posed in each
of the foliation surveys and problems sessions [102, 31, 72] since 1978, and
still remains unresolved.
The existence of a topological conjugacy h between T and T' means
that the two foliations have the same topological dynamics. If GViT) is
determined by the topological dynamics of J7, then the conjecture should be
true. On the other hand, conjugation by a homeomorphism allows changing
the exponents of hyperbolicity for the dynamics. For example, a homeomor-
phism can change the "shape" of an exceptional minimal set, and similarly
distort the transverse dynamics of a foliation. Thus, it would be very sur-
prising if the conjecture is true. However, there are no counter-examples in
44 STEVEN HURDER

C 2 , and no suggestive examples to guide intuition on this question.

One approach to the problem would be to show that non-triviality of
the Godbillon-Vey classes implies there is sufficient hyperbolicity in the
dynamics of the foliations (at least in the support of their Godbillon-Vey
measures) to prove that the homeomorphism h is actually C 1 or possibly
even C 2 , along the lines of [39] mentioned below.
A weaker conjecture is whether the conclusion holds when the conjugacy
h has some additional regularity. For example, Raby [94] showed that
GV{!F) is an invariant under C1-diffeomorphism. Hurder and Katok [67]
showed (independently, and using essentially the same methods as Raby)
that if the conjugacy h and its inverse are absolutely continuous, then the
conclusion is true. Natsume [87] showed that the Godbillon-Vey map in
analytical K-theory of foliation C*-algebras is also C 1 -invariant.
Ghys and Tsuboi [39] used Duminy's Theorem to show that for a fo-
liation with GV{F) ^ 0, a C1-conjugacy must be C 2 on the support of
the Godbillon-Vey measure, thus the C 1 -conjecture is only of modest in-
terest. It is unknown if the assumption that h and its inverse are Holder
C a -continuous, for some a > 0, suffices to show h*GV(T') = GV(!F).
There are counter-examples to topological invariance of extensions of the
Godbillon-Vey class to foliations which are not C2. Ghys defined in [30]
a "Godbillon-Vey" type invariant for piecewise C2-foliations in codimen-
sion one, and then showed via surgery on Anosov flows on 3-manifolds that
there are homeomorphic, piecewise C2-foliations with distinct "Godbillon-
Vey" invariants. In another direction, Hurder and Katok defined in [67] a
"Godbillon-Vey" type invariant for the weak-stable foliations of volume pre-
serving Anosov flows on 3-manifolds, and showed that for the geodesic flow
of a metric of variable negative curvature on a compact Riemann surface,
the "Godbillon-Vey" invariant is a function of the "Mitsumatsu defect"
[81], hence varies continuously and non-trivially as a function of the metric
(Corollary 3.12, [67]) . The weak-stable foliations of all of these metrics
are topologically conjugate, so this gives a continuous family of counter-
examples. Both approaches to extending the Godbillon-Vey invariant are
combined in work of Tsuboi [108, 109].
The topological invariance conjecture highlights once again how little
is fundamentally known about the Godbillon-Vey class and its geometric
or dynamical meaning. Perhaps, if it were possible to give a geometric
or dynamic interpretation for the "Vey class", then one could determine
whether the ingredients are preserved under homeomorphism, or possibly
under a Holder homeomorphism, or just under diffeomorphism.
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 45

8 Tricks a n d t r e a t s

While compiling this survey, and from the author's own research in the
subject, several techniques and methods frequently are seen to be b o t h
essential and in some way unique to the study of the Godbillon-Vey classes
and t h e dynamics of codimension one foliations. In this section, we compile
a short sampling and brief description of selected techniques which have
led to a deeper understanding of the themes of this survey. Of course, a
thorough reading of the introductory texts on foliations, such as Godbillon's
book [40] or the recent text by Candel and Conlon [6], reveals a far greater
variety of ideas and techniques t h a n discussed below. Still, it seems useful
(and novel) to offer a list of "Tricks and Treats" for the subject, if only as
an advertisement for the variety of methods which play a role in this field.
T e c h n i q u e 8.1 Naive distortion lemma
This is the most well-known method of 1-dimensional dynamics, except
perhaps the well-ordering of the line. T h e hypothesis "J 7 is C 2 " often
means simply t h a t the elements of the holonomy pseudogroup satisfy this
estimate, which was used in the celebrated theorems of Denjoy [24] and
Sacksteder [100]. Briefly, recall t h a t given a chain of local diffeomorphisms
g = h^ o • • • /ijj and two points UQ and VQ in the domain of g, t h e n

n-l
|iog{s'(«o)}-iog{s>o)}|<0 Y. K-<U
p=0

where 8 is a constant depending on the C 2 norms of the generating elements

{h\,... , h^} and up — hi o- • • hil (UQ) and vp = hi o- • • h^ (VQ). See section
8.1.A, [6]. This is usually applied in a context where the right-hand-sum is
estimated by geometric considerations, as occurs when UQ and VQ are the
endpoints of a gap for an exceptional minimal set. It is called "naive" by
Sullivan, because in the modern theory of 1-dimensional dynamics there is
also a "sophisticated" distortion lemma, also known as the "Schwartzian
distortion lemma". This latter technique is a fundamental tool for renor-
malization theory of maps in 1-dimensional dynamics, but has not been
used in the study of foliations, though it might prove useful for studying
exceptional minimal sets.
T e c h n i q u e 8.2 Octopus decomposition
This result for C°-foliations, which has no counterpart in classic dy-
namics, was introduced by Dippolito [25]. It states t h a t an open s a t u r a t e d
subset U C M of a foliated compact manifold can be decomposed into a
union of manifold with corners, U = N U A\ U • • • U An where J\f is the
46 STEVEN HURDER

body, or nucleus, of U, and the At are the arms. The body N is a compact,
connected manifold with boundary and corners, and F\N foliates N. Each
arm Ai is a closed, non-compact submanifold with boundary and corners,
and J-\Ai is a foliated interval bundle. More technical conditions are re-
quired (see pages 130-131, [6]) but this suffices to give the idea. The power
of this result lies in that the structure of foliated interval bundles is well un-
derstood, so this isolates difficulties with the study of T\U to the compact
foliated body T\hf. One imagines the arms of the octopus snaking through
the various exceptional minimal sets of J7, or possibly squeezing between
the proper leaves. The conjecture about whether an exceptional minimal
set K for a C2 foliation can have infinitely many semi-proper leaves is just
asking how many octopi can share the set K\
Technique 8.3 Poincare-Bendixson theory
The theory of levels is one of the most sophisticated tools for the study
of C2-foliations. It was developed by Cantwell and Conlon [9] and Hector
[49], and defines inductively a decomposition (or hierarchy) of a foliation
according to the asymptotics of the leaves. Starting with level 0, the com-
pact minimal sets, the leaves at the next level are the local minimal sets
for the complement of the previous level. The resulting structure and com-
plications can be formidable. Fortunately, there is an introduction to the
theory [14], and Chapter 8 of [6] provides a detailed and patient discus-
sion of all aspects of the theory. One its greatest successes is the structure
theory of real analytic foliations [11], where the hierarchy is finite and the
structure of each stage is very well understood. When this theory is ap-
plied to codimension one foliations of 3-manifolds, one can ask about the
"placement" of the leaves, or local minimal sets at various levels, within
the manifold. For example, if M is Haken it is possible to formulate precise
questions about the leaf placements at increasing levels and the fundamen-
tal group of M. Unfortunately, it is not possible to answer these questions
yet - the ongoing work of Cantwell and Conlon [17, 18, 19, 20] have solved
the placement problem for depth one, while depth two awaits.
Technique 8.4 Micro-expansion, sheaves and quivers
A (^-foliation T with positive geometric entropy has micro-expansion,
a phrase coined to suggest the explosion in the orbits of exponentially close
points that has to occur when h{J-) > 0. A complete transversal T for
T has finite length, so by definition of geometric entropy, for e > 0 small
and i —> oo, there exists a sequence n* —> oo and collections of (e, rii)-
separated points {x\,... ,xlp.} C T where the sequence {p^ has exponen-
tial growth exp(ni/i(j F ))/pi —> 1. By a pigeon-hole principle, there must be
subcollections of exponentially many points exponentially close which are
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 47

(e,nj)-separated. We can assume the set transversal T is a subset of the

line so well-ordered, and the sets are index with x\ < x\ for k < £. T h e n
for each x\ there is an element of holonomy 7^ of length at most n» which
e-separates x\ and x\+l. One pictures this as a sheaf of arrows of length n ,
with bases concentrated on smaller and smaller regions, the arrows repre-
senting elements of holonomy {7^.}, and the tips pairwise separating so they
end up at least e apart. Moreover, the transverse derivatives along these
arrows are non-uniformly hyperbolic by t h e mean value theorem, so these
could be called hyperbolic quivers, which sounds even more formidable.
On the other hand, the tips of the arrows must also land somewhere on
T , and since there are exponentially many arrows, another application of
the pigeon-hole principle yields exponential families of arrows (elements of
holonomy) of length n^ whose bases and tips are exponentially close. These
are quivers. T h u s , there is quite a lot of dynamical information contained
in the s t a t e m e n t "h(T) > 0". As intuitive and imprecise as the image
of quivers may seem, it can be formalized in a variety of contexts to help
understand the geometric entropy. For example, it is a key idea behind
the proofs involving entropy in the papers [63, 64, 65]. T h e main question
about quivers is how to quantify them. It seems likely t h a t any scheme
will be analogous to the construction of relative measure entropy for t h e
geodesic flow of T. There should also be a connection between quivers and
t h e pseudo-orbit estimates of [2].
Almost t h e opposite concept was used in the proof of Theorem 5.1, [37]
which proved t h a t if h(T) = 0 then there exists a holonomy invariant t r a n s -
verse measure. Here, the intuition is closer to a "straw m a t " , as the base
of the arrows are uniformly spaced and the tips cluster at a subexponential
rate.
T e c h n i q u e 8.5 Ping-pong games and closing
A ping-pong game for a C°-foliation is a basic concept of topological
dynamics, which is equivalent to the idea of resilient orbits, but somehow
more n a t u r a l to construct. T h e basic idea is t h a t there should be given
an interval Jo C T in the transversal for T, and elements of holonomy
h\: Io —> h C Jo and /12: h —* h C IQ SO t h a t both hi and /12 are
contractions. We also require t h a t t h e closures of Ii and I2 are disjoint,
and b o t h contained in the interior of IQ. It is an exercise t h a t t h e orbits
of the fixed-points in a ping-pong game generate resilient leaves, and t h a t
a foliation with a ping-pong game must have h{J-) > 0. This latter fact
was used in [37] to show t h a t a foliation with a resilient leaf has h(T) > 0.
For a e x f o l i a t i o n , a hyperbolic ping-pong game is one where the maps are
hyperbolic contractions on t h e set IQ, and thus hi and /12 must each have
48 STEVEN HURDER

a unique hyperbolic fixed-point. Thus, a hyperbolic ping-pong game is like

having part of the hypothesis of a Markov minimal set, except that orbits of
the hyperbolic fixed-points are not assumed to lie in an exceptional minimal
set. A C1-foliation with a quiver must have a ping-pong game, and hence
positive entropy - a fact used in the proof of Theorem 1.1 of [65]. The
existence of a quiver also implies there are attracting fixed-points, which
is a type of closing lemma that says close to every quiver is a hyperbolic
fixed-point. This idea is developed in detail in section 4 of [64].
Technique 8.6 Tempering procedures
Tempering procedures are specialty tools, which often appear to be
more technical than useful, but when needed are indispensable and very
powerful. Tempering is a process which converts asymptotic estimates for
a cocycle into local estimates by making a change of scale (coboundary)
for the initial data. For example, if tp: T x S 1 —> S 1 is a C 1 -action on the
circle, then the derivative dip: T x S 1 —> R is a real-valued cocycle over the
action <p. We define the exponent of d<j) at x by

A(x) = hmsup i ° g ( m a x M 7 ) ' ( x ) | | [ 7 l [ < n } )

n—i-oo ri

If K C M is a closed saturated subset such that X(x) < a for almost all
x e K, then for gr(.F) the word growth rate of T, choose e > a + gr(r) and
define

fc(x) = ^ e x p { - e - ||7||}-<#(7,x).

It is then an exercise that the new cocycle cf>(j,x) = ft(<p(l)(x)) • <j>{li^) •

/ £ ( x ) _ 1 has uniform local variation bounded by e.
Tempering for linear cocycles over group actions and foliations was in-
troduced by Hurder and Katok in [67], and used there and in [58] to reg-
ularize the transverse derivative cocycle Dip for foliations. A discussion
of tempering can also be found in [31]. For example, when the leaves
of T have subexponential volume growth, the transverse Radon-Nikodym
cocycle satisfies X(x) = 0 for almost all x, so tempering constructs a trans-
verse measure defining T with arbitrarily small local variation. The papers
[64, 65] introduce another tempering procedure for subexponential growth
cocycles over arbitrary growth foliations, which is applied in [65] to obtain
new vanishing theorems for the Godbillon-Vey classes. Tempering proce-
dures are essentially the only available method for converting transversally
measurable information for a foliation (typically obtained from ergodic the-
ory considerations) into differential geometric conclusions.
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 49

9 Open questions

"Problem sessions" were held at both the 1976 and 1992 symposia on foli-
ations at Rio de Janeiro, with the discussion and proposed problems com-
piled by Paul Schweitzer [102] for the 1976 meeting, and Remi Langevin
[72] for the 1992 meeting. Some of the problems remain unchanged, while a
comparison between these two reports fourteen years apart illustrates some
of the advances in the field, and changing emphasis in research. The sur-
vey of the Godbillon-Vey invariant by Ghys [31] also includes a number of
problems with discussions about them. Here, we compile a list of questions
concerning the topics of the present survey. It is not meant to be compre-
hensive when compared to the more general problem lists above, but does
attempt to include all of the frequently mentioned problems regarding the
Godbillon-Vey classes and foliation dynamics.
Problems on Godbillon-Vey invariants
Problem 9.1 Give a geometric interpretation of the Godbillon-Vey inva-
riant
The Moussu-Pelletier and Sullivan Conjecture is a one-sided look at
GV(J-), as it only relates to dynamical properties of T which can force
the Godbillon measure to vanish. The other side is the "Vey class" which
depends upon curvature properties of the leaves and normal bundle. The
Reinhart-Wood formula [98] gave a pointwise geometric interpretation of
GV(T) for 3-manifolds. What is needed is a more global geometric property
of T which is measured by GV{T). The helical wobble description by
Thurston [106] is a first attempt at such a result, and the Reinhart-Wood
formula suitably interprets this idea locally. Langevin has suggested that
possibly the Godbillon-Vey invariant can be interpreted in the context of
integral geometry and conformal invariants [3, 73] as a measure in some
suitable sense. The goal for any such an interpretation, is that it should
provide sufficient conditions for GV(F) ^ 0.
Problem 9.2 Topological invariance of the Godbillon-Vey invariant
Given a homeomorphism h: M —> M' mapping the leaves of a C2 foli-
ation f o n M t o the leaves of a C2-foliation T' on M', show h*GV(T') =
GV{T). As discussed in section 7, if h is C 1 , then Raby [94] proved
h*GV{T') = GV{F), and when h and its inverse are absolutely contin-
uous, then Hurder and Katok [67] showed this. An intermediate test case
might be to assume h and its inverse are a Holder C a -continuous for some
a > 0, and then prove h*GV(F) = GV(T), using for example arguments
from regularity theory of hyperbolic systems and an approach similar to
50 STEVEN HURDER

Ghys and Tsuboi [39]. Alternately, a direct proof may be possible, perhaps
based on a solution to Problem 9.1.
P r o b l e m 9.3 The Godbillon-Vey invariant and harmonic measures
T h e vanishing theorems are based on relating the Godbillon measure
to the existence of "almost invariant" smooth transverse measures for T.
A foliation always admits a harmonic measure, but the structure of t h a t
measure depends upon whether T admits transverse invariant measures, or
not. Is it possible to establish relations between the values of the Godbillon-
Vey invariant and the structure of harmonic measures for T1 There are
other similarities in the properties of b o t h of these invariants of T which
suggests t h a t such a relationship is plausible.
P r o b l e m 9.4 What is meaning of thickness?
T h e concept of "thickness" introduced by Duminy [26, 27, 12] was given
in t e r m s of t h e structure theory of C 2 -foliations, yet its application is t o
show t h e foliation admits almost invariant transverse volume forms on an
open s a t u r a t e d subset, which is a purely dynamical consideration. Does the
thickness have an interpretation as a dynamical property of the foliation
geodesic flow, or some other ergodic property of JF?
P r o b l e m 9.5 Suppose that T has codimension q > 1 and there is some
non-zero secondary class (or possibly Weil measure). Does this imply
h{T) > 0?
Hurder [56] showed t h a t for a C 2 -foliation of codimension q > 1, if
there is a leaf L whose linear holonomy m a p Dip: 7i"i(L,x) —> G L ( R q )
has non-amenable image, then T has leaves of exponential growth. T h e
proof actually constructs a modified ping-pong game for J7, using the C2-
hypothesis to show t h a t the orbits of the holonomy pseudogroup shadow
t h e orbits of t h e linear holonomy group which has an actual ping-pong game
by Tits [107]. T h u s , it seems probable t h a t this proof also shows h(F) > 0
with these hypotheses. Since the Weil measures vanish for a foliation whose
transverse derivative cocycle Dip: Q? —> G L ( R q ) has amenable algebraic
hull [66], it should be possible to combine the methods of [56, 66, 63] to
solve this problem.

Problems on minimal sets

P r o b l e m 9.6 Let K be an exceptional minimal set for a codimension one
C2-foliation T. Show
1. The Lebesgue measure of K is zero;
2. K has only a finite number of semi-proper leaves;
3. Every leaf of K has a Cantor set of ends.
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 51

4- Every semiproper leaf of K has germinal holonomy infinite cyclic, gen-

erated by a contraction.
5. K is Markov.

T h e first four questions were posed at least 20 years ago. Note t h a t K

has only a finite number of semiproper ends if and only if its complement
in M has only a finite number of connected open components. D u m m y ' s
Theorem [16] shows t h a t the semiproper leaves of K must have a Cantor
set of ends. A number of authors have shown the measure of K is zero for
special cases [68, 80, 69]. Cantwell and Conlon showed t h a t if K is Markov,
t h e n the first four properties follow [13, 15].
P r o b l e m 9.7 For a codimension one C2-foliation T, give an example of
an exceptional minimal set K with non-trivial Godbillon- Vey measure.
This is most likely impossible, as it contradicts (9.6.1) above. If a
counter-example to (9.6.1) can be constructed, then it will automatically
have non-zero Godbillon measure, as an exceptional minimal set must be
hyperbolic for a C 2 -foliation, so it would then be plausible to ask t h a t
whether t h e Godbillon-Vey class localized to K is non-zero.
P r o b l e m 9.8 For a codimension one, Cl- or C2-foliation J~', give a struc-
ture theorem for the exceptional minimal sets of T.
This is asking first for an understanding of how many semiproper leaves
there are, and t h e n for some sort of generalized Markov structure on K. In
other words, it is asking a lot!
P r o b l e m 9.9 Let T be a closed subgroup of H o m e o + ( § 1 ) acting transi-
tively. Is r conjugate to one of the subgroups SO(M 2 ), P S L k ( R 2 ) , or
Homeok.+tS 1 ) o / H o m e o + ( § 1 ) ?
This question was posed by Ghys as Problem 4.4, [35]. T h e hypothesis
the group is closed is essential, so unless t h e group is finite it must be
non-discrete. T h e problem is included as an understanding of this question
would surely help with understanding the minimal actions of countable
groups on S 1 . (Note t h a t the subscript k in the question indicates the
fc-fold covering group.)

Problems on geometric entropy

P r o b l e m 9 . 1 0 Give a definition of the measure entropy, or some other
entropy-type invariant, of a C1 -foliation T, which can be used to establish
positive lower bounds for the geometric entropy.
This problem was asked in the original paper of Ghys, Langevin a n d
Walczak [37]. Their earlier paper [36] gave a possible definition, but the
connection to t h e geometric entropy is unclear. T h e paper by Hurder [59]
52 STEVEN HURDER

proposes a definition of the measure entropy in terms of invariant measures

for the associated geodesic flow. If well-defined, these measure entropies
will estimate the entropy of the geodesic flow relative to the invariant fo-
liation almost by definition. A special case is to show there exists a good
definition of measure entropies for codimension 1 foliations. Another ap-
proach might be to define measure entropy for a foliation in terms of its
harmonic measures.

Problems on ergodic theory

P r o b l e m 9 . 1 1 Show the set of leaves with non-exponential growth, and

not subexponential growth, has Lebesgue measure zero.
Hector's construction in [47] of examples with leaves of this special t y p e
appear to produce a set (of such leaves) with measure zero. This growth
condition, t h a t lim sup / lim inf, implies a high degree of non-uniformity
for the asymptotics of the leaf. If there exists a set of positive measure
consisting of such leaves, then recurrence within the set should imply a
uniformity of the growth, contradicting the hypothesis.

P r o b l e m 9 . 1 2 Can a codimension one foliation have higher rank?

T h e celebrated theorems of Burger and Monod [5] and Ghys [34] show
t h a t a higher rank group does not admit an effective C 1 -action on the
circle. One can view these results as about the holonomy groups of a
codimension one foliation transverse to a circle bundle. Can these theorems
be generalized to codimension one foliations which are not transverse to a
circle bundle? P a r t of the problem is to give a suitable definition of higher
rank for a foliation (cf. Zimmer [123].)

P r o b l e m 9 . 1 3 Does restricted orbit equivalence preserve geometric en-

tropy?
Given foliated compact manifolds ( M , J-) and ( M ' , T'), a restricted orbit
equivalence between T and J-' is a measurable isomorphism h: M —> M'
which maps the leaves of J- t o the leaves of T\ and the restriction of h t o
leaves is a coarse isometry for the leaf metrics. Note t h a t h and its inverse
are assumed to preserve the Lebesgue measure class, but need not preserve
the Riemannian measure. Such a m a p preserves the Mackey range of the
Radon-Nikodym cocycle [122]. Restricted orbit equivalence also preserves
the entropy positive condition, for ergodic Z n actions. Does a corresponding
result hold for geometric entropy: if hi^T) > 0, must h(T') > 0 also?
P r o b l e m 9 . 1 4 How is the flow of weights for T related to the dynamics
ofT?
 DYNAMICS AND THE GODBILLON-VEY CLASS 53

Connes has show t h a t the Godbillon-Vey class, or more precisely the

B o t t - T h u r s t o n 2-cocycle defined by it, can be calculated from the flow of
weights for t h e von neumann algebra 9Jl(M,F) (see [22], Chapter III.6,
[23].) This gives another proof of the theorem of Hurder and Katok [66]
t h a t if GV{F) ^ 0 then M(M,F) has a factor of type III. T h e flow of
weights is determined by the flow on the Mackey range of the modular
cocycle, so t h a t a t y p e III factor corresponds to a ergodic component of the
Mackey range with no invariant measure. However, almost nothing else is
known about how the flow of weights is related to the topological dynamics
of T. In particular, Alberto Candel has asked whether the existence of a
resilient leaf can be proven using properties of the flow of weights.

Acknowledgments

Partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9704768.

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Received October 31, 2000.

Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 61-73

SIMILARITY A N D C O N F O R M A L G E O M E T R Y OF
FOLIATIONS

REMI LANGEVIN
Laboratoire de Topologie, Departement de Mathematiques,
Universite de Bourgogne, B.P. 47 870, 21078 Dijon, France,
e-mail: [email protected]

The study of curvature integrals associated to a foliation of flat tori or constant

curvature spheres started with D.Asimov's article [1]. It was continued in [2]. In
the Section 2 we will look for a curvature integral invariant by homotheties. In
the Section 5 we replace the affine grassmannian of the first section by the set of
spheres S. The author thanks T. Tsuboi for suggesting the study of foliations of
some similarity surfaces.

1 Euclidean integral geometry for foliations

Let W C M.n be an open subset, and let T be a codimension 1 orientable

foliation of W. As T is orientable, a unit normal N(m) is defined at each
point m £ W.
Definition 1 (Symmetric functions of the curvature <7+ associated
to an oriented codimension one foliation). As, through every point
m of the foliated space there is a leaf Lm of J7, the symmetric functions of
the curvatures of the leaf Lm at the point m are defined by:

det[Id + t(d-y)](m) = ^ Y • af •

where 7 is the Gauss map associated to the leaf Lm.

An integral geometric interpretation and proof of formulas involving
these functions can be found at the end of [2] or in [8].
Let us recall here the euclidean integral geometric foliated exchange
theorem. We need first a few geometric observations.
Let H be an affine hyperplane of R" + 1 . The trace T\u of T on H is
generically a foliation of (W n H) with only isolated singularities. In fact,

61
62 R E M I LANGEVIN

generically, these singularities are hyperbolic.

When the ambient space is R 3 the singularities are of one of the two
following types: center or saddle. We attribute signs to these singular
points
e(saddle) — —1 and e(center) = +1

Figure 1. Center and saddle.

When the foliation is of codimension one and transversely oriented, the

normals N to the leaves define a vector field with an isolated singularity at
TO. The sign e(m) is
e(m) = (-iyndexN(m)_

Definition 2 The number \^L\(T,H) is the number of singular points of

T\H- When |/i|(.F, H) is finite, and the singularities are all hyperbolic, the
number /x + (.F, H) is:

meS(T\H)

Remark. A singular point m of T\ H is a point where the leaf Lm is tangent

to H. We can also locally project Lm on the normal at m to H (and to
Lm). We get a function which is in general a Morse function, for which the
Morse index of m satisfies:
{_l)MorselndeXofm = < m )

The sign e(m) is, when the dimension of the leaves of T is even, the sign
of the Gauss curvature of Lm at m.
 SIMILARITY AND CONFORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 63

We will call the integral Jw \K\ when the ambient space is M3 (or Jw \k\
when W is of dimension 2) t h e total curvature of J-.
T h e o r e m 3 (Foliated exchange theorem)

I \K\= I \n\{F,H).
IW
Jw JA{3,2)
JA(3.2)

Moreover, if one of the previous integrals are finite:

Jw JA(3,2)
To prove this theorem, we need t o define t h e polar curves of t h e foliation
Let us recall the definition here, as we will need to make an analogous
construction comparing a foliation and a family of tangent circles later.

1.1 Polar curves

T h e critical points of the orthogonal projection of a leaf L of T on a line

A are in general isolated on L.
D e f i n i t i o n 4 T h e closure of the union of these critical points:

T(T,A) = \Jcrit(pA\L)

is generically almost everywhere a smooth curve (it may have singular

points) [13].
P r o p o s i t i o n 5 ([13]) Generically the polar curve T(F,A) is transverse
to A x
Remark. W h e n r ( J r , r m J " x ) is tangent to TmT, the Gauss curvature of
t h e leaf Lm is zero, as, in t h a t case, the differential of the Gauss m a p of
t h e leaf Lm restricted t o T m r ( . f . T ^ - 1 ) is zero.
Let us first give some applications of the foliated exchange theorem in
dimension 2. We note |fc|(m) t h e absolute value of the curvature of t h e leaf
Lm of T t h r o u g h m. Let us give two easy examples; many similar others
are developped in [11].
T h e o r e m 6 Let D e M2 be the unit disc and T be an orientable foliation
with orientable singularities, tangent to dD. Then

\k\ > 2?r

D

the minimal value is achieved by the foliation by concentric circles, or any

foliation of the disc with locally convex leaves.
64 R E M I LANGEVIN

Proof. Any affine line intersecting the disc should have at least one
contact with the foliation. The measure of this set of lines is the length of
the boundary circle dD (see [12]). •
Using Cauchy-Crofton's formula in the same way we also get
Proposition 7 Let A = | < r < 1 be the annulus limited by the circle of
center 0 and radius 1 and the circle of center 0 and radius ^. The total
curvature of a foliation T tangent to the boundary satisfies

f \k\>n.
JA

2 Dimension-one foliations of homothety surfaces

Some results concerning the integral L,2 k2 of the square of the curvature
of the leaves of a foliation of the flat torus T 2 are given in [9], motivated
by energy formulas for liquid crystals.
Let T be a foliation of a domain M2. As the 2-form k2dv is scale invari-
ant (invariant by similarities of the euclidean plane R 2 , if the foliation is
invariant by a similarity, or in particular an homothety 7i, the integral on
a fundamental domain W: Jw k2dv is well-defined on the quotient torus:
R2/H.
Let us consider two examples on the quotient T = R 2 / 7 t i , where Hi
is the homothety of center the origin and ratio 1/2.
The first foliation T\ of T, is the quotient of the foliation of R 2 by
horizontal lines. Notice it has two Reeb components.
As the curvature is identically zero, JRk2 = 0.
The second foliation T2 of T, is the foliation quotient of the foliation
Ti of the plane by concentric circles. The integral of k2 is in that case:

rcles =
I I ~ rdOdr = 2irln(2).
Jl/2 JO T'

We can also write this integral as / T 1 • dw where dw = ^dQdr is a 2-form

invariant by all the homotheties of center 0.
Let us now consider a foliation T of T admitting a closed curve which
is the image in T of the unit circle . Using the Schwarz inequality we get

r 2 k2dw / dw>{ \k\ -rdw)2.

IT JT JT

Integrating on the fundamental domain A=^>r>l,we get a lower

 SIMILARITY AND CONPORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 65

bound

f l> [ \k\-rdw> f \k\-\>\\ ( k\.

JT JT J A ° ° JT
Using the computation made in the first section of a greatest lower
bound of the total curvature of a foliation of the annulus A tangent to the
boundary JA \k\ > IT, we get finally the lower bound

JTk2dV'- ln(2)'• 128'

Question.
The lower below we found has no reason to be optimal. Is Icircles the
greatest lower bound?
The same type of question can be asked about the energy of two orthog-
onal foliations T\ and JF2, as the energy fw(k2 + k%)dv, where k\ is the
curvature of the leaves of J7!, and /C2 the curvature of the leaves of T2, is
invariant by a similarity. This is the energy | V#| 2 of the section of the unit
tangent bundle (here a trivial bundle) considered by Eells and Sampson [4]
and [5]. This energy is also the energy of the section of T\W = W x S1
defined by any of the two foliation [5].
Some results for singular foliations of R2 \ {0} obtained by A.S. Fawaz
suggest questions for the corresponding foliation of the quotient T [6].
Question.
Do the images of harmonic (pairs of) foliations in R 2 \ 0 in the quotient
T minimize the energy in their isotopy classes?
Examples of such foliations are

— Foliation such that the tangent direction to the leaves makes a constant
angle a with the position z. The leaves are logarithmic spirals.
— Level foliation of TZe(z^n + l))n ^ —1 (the index is (-n)).
— Harmonic Reeb components defined by the line field associated to the
multivalued vector field X{z) = i • z^1+l'"<2>'. The choice of the imag-
inary part of the exponent garantees that the foliation is well defined
on the quotient T.

3 The set of spheres

Let us first sum up some properties of the set of codimension-one spheres

of Sn.
66 R.EMI LANGEVIN

Let L be the Lorentz quadratic form

L(xi,X2,-,xn) = (xi)2 + (X2)2 + ••• - (x ( r l + 2 ) ) 2 .
We denote also by L the bilinear form associated to the quadratic form
L. Vectors v such that L(v) > 0 are called space-like, vectors v such that
L(v) < 0 are called time-like. The light cone is the isotropic cone of L. The
set of points at infinity of the light cone is the union of two n-dimensional
spheres Sn. The set of lines of the light cone is therefore also a sphere
Sn, that we denote S ^ and "see" in the positive half-space £5 > 0. A
natural way to see the sphere is to intersect the light cone with the affine
space X5 = 1. This endows Sn with a (non-canonical) riemannian metric.
Intersections with other space-like affine spaces avoiding the origin give
other riemannian metrics conformally equivalent to the previous one.
The space S of oriented codimension one spheres of Sn correspond bi-
jectively to the quadric A of equation L — 1. In fact, let a be a point of
A, the hyperplane orthogonal to a should contain a time-like vector (an L-
orthogonal basis of Rn+2 contains exactly one time like vector, and cannot
contain any isotropic vector). This subspace meets then the sphere S ^ in
a (n-l)-dimensional sphere E. Note that a path "going to infinity" on A
is a family of spheres whose radius goes to zero. Taking on Sn the stan-
dard metric, or any other conformally equivalent metric, a closed family of
spheres of bounded radius is compact in <S.
Note that the stereographic projection of Sn on R™ maps the set S of
hyperspheres in Sn to the set of hyperspheres and hyperplanes in R n .
The space of spheres, S admits a measure m invariant by the isometry
group G of linear maps of R n + 2 leaving L invariant. One can see it as the
measure associated to the (n+l)-form on A: inner product of the euclidean
volume form of R n + 1 by the position vector of a point on A.
Using the stereographic projection, we can compute this measure in
terms of the centers {x\,X2, •••,£„ and radii r of spheres in W1

m = \dxi A dx2 A • • • A dxn A dr\.

4 Codimension-one foliation of R 3 , S3 or H 3

The result we mention now is contained in the paper [10].

The Theorem is formulated for foliations in R 3 , but it is clear that it can
be transposed to any 3-space of constant curvature using the stereograpic
projection of the sphere or of the quadric L = 1 on the affine plane £5 = 1.
Let f b e a codimension 1 foliation of W C K3. For any 2-dimensional
generalized sphere (that is, a sphere or a plane) E in R 3 denote by N~(T,)
 SIMILARITY AND CONFORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 67

the number of negative contacts with the foliation T, i.e. the number of
points of a saddle tangency of E and T (Figure 2). It is clear that the
number N~ (E) is conformally well-defined.

Figure 2. Saddle type contact between T and a sphere.

Remark. The sphere E has a saddle tangency with a leaf of the foliation
T if its curvature k is in between the principal curvatures k\ and k2 of the
leaf at the point of contact. It has a center tangency with the leaf if its
curvature is not in the closed interval [hi, k2] •
Then the following theorem holds
Theorem 8 Let J7 be a smooth foliation in a domain W c R 3 . Then

\ I \k1-k2\3dV= /*JV-(E)d/i(E).
o Jw Js
Since the right hand side is conformally well-defined, one obtains the
following
Corollary 9 Let T be a smooth foliation ofWcR3. Then the 3-form
\ki -k2\3dV,
where ki are the principal curvatures of leaves and dV is the volume ele-
ment, is a conformal invariant.
Recall first the coarea formula [7].
Theorem 10 (Coarea formula) Let Ml and Nq (I > q) be Riemannian
manifolds. Let dx and dy be the measure element of M and N associated
to the metrics,let $ : M —> N be a smooth map and let f : M —> R be a
measurable function. Then

[ f(x) || Jac($) || dx= f (f f(x) dx)dy,

where the inner integral in the right hand side is computed with respect to
the (I — q)-dimensional Hausdorff measure induced on $ - 1 ( y ) from M and
68 R E M I LANGEVIN

II Jac(&) || is the Radon derivative of the measure on N with respect to the

image under d<& of the q-dimensional measure on M.
Proof. Apply the coarea formula (in the case dim(M) = dim(N)) to the
map P from the bundle of generalized spheres tangent to T to the space
S of generalized spheres. More precisely, consider the normal line bundle
NT and construct a map sending a point (x,t) to the sphere of radius |£|
centered at the point x + tn, where t € i and n is a unit normal to T at x.
Define P to be this map with the domain restricted to those values of (x, t),
for which the the sphere P(x, t) has a saddle contact with the foliation.
Taking into account that the density of the measure /i on S at the sphere
of radius r centered at the point (xi, £2, £3) is equal to r - 4 dx\ dx^ dx3 dr
one can easily obtain that
\\JacP\\ = | ( l - M ) ( l - f c 2 t ) | t - 4 .
The values of t e K with a saddle contact form an arc between 1/fci and
l/fe2 which does not contain a sphere of zero radius. Integrating || JacP\\
along the corresponding set of the fiber one obtains that

^-(E)dM(E)=/(/ | ( l - M ) d - M ) | ^ y
S JU J(l-kit)(l-k2t)<0 t
which gives the desired formula. •

5 Bilocal statements

The set S of circles is now 3-dimensional. Unlike the case of codimension

one foliation of R n , n > 3, it is not possible to consider a locally defined full
mesure set of spheres using only local information of a leaf for a dimension-
one foliation of W C K2 (at a point the only distinguished circle is the
osculating circle; these provide only a 2-dimensional family of circles). Still,
the circles having more than two contact points with the foliation form a
bounded family. When the foliation is oriented, we can count each circle
C with a multiplicity p(C), where p(C) + 1 is the number of points where
the oriented normal to the foliation points out of the circle. Let us call
™(D = Ices (P(C)f-
Taking the measure of the set of non trivial circles, or better the integral
of the multiplicity, we get conformal invariants of the foliation. Let us show
that we can express the second one by a bilocal integral, in fact an integral
on a subset of the set of pairs of points of W.
Consider the set of circles tangent at a point x to the foliation T. The
set of other tangency points of one of these circles with the foliation is
 SIMILARITY AND CONFORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 69

trivial circle nontrivia! circle

Figure 3. Trivial and non trivial circle for a foliation.

generically a curve t h a t we will call r ^ . x - Sending t h e point x t o infinity,

the familily of tangent circles is transformed into a family of parallel lines
C. T h e image of these tangency points is then t h e polar curve defined
by C a n d t h e image of t h e foliation T. T h e set of pairs of points (x, y)
belonging t o a circle tangent at x a n d y to t h e foliation is then in general
a 3-dimensional subvariety C\ = [_)x TjrtX of W x W. Call C t h e subset of
C\ formed by pairs (x, y) such t h a t t h e orientation defined by t h e tangent
to t h e circle a n d t h e normal at x or y t o t h e foliation coincide, (in other
terms, turning t h e circle into a non-trivial one see Figure 3). Forgetting t h e
two points we get a m a p G from C t o t h e set S of oriented circles (which is
3-dimensional as C).
T h e jacobian of this m a p depends on

— x a n d y,
— t h e tangents t o t h e foliation a n d t o t h e curve T^tX at y,
— t h e t a n g e n t s t o t h e foliation and t o t h e curve Tjry at x
— t h e curvatures of t h e foliation at t h e two points x and y.

To fix t h e notations, let us call j X t V t h e circle tangent at x t o t h e leaf

Lx of T t h r o u g h x, a n d y t o t h e leaf Ly of T through y. Denote by CXtV
the circle orthogonal t o yXty containing x and y, 9X t h e angle at x of Lx
and CXty a n d 9y t h e angle a t y of Ly and Cx<y.
T h e coarea formula gives a n equality between t h e weighted measure of
non-trivial circles a n d an integral on C\. To compute t h e jacobian of G, let
us consider a frame tangent to C C W x W

vi = (unit vector tangent toTy,0)

V2 = (0, unit vector tangent toTx)

70 R E M I LANGEVIN

I>3 = vector tangent to E with unit projection on the first factor

where E is the curve in Lx x Ly c W x W formed by pairs (z, z*) when
the two leaves are considered as the two folds of an envelope of circles.

Figure 4. Frame adapted to the measure of non-trivial circles

When the pair (x, y) moves on x x Tx the corresponding circles stay

tangent at x to Lx by definition of Yx. We can follow these circles by their
second point of intersection with the circle Cx,y (the first being x).
When the pair (x, y) moves on Ty x y the corresponding circles stay
tangent at y to Ly by definition of Yy. We can also follow these circles by
their second point of intersection with the circle Cx,y orthogonal to ~fx,y
containing x and y (the first being y).
Notice that these two family of circles are light rays in the quadric A
orthogonal to the curve E for the Lorentz form.
The area corresponding to dG(vi),dG(v2) is the area on the two di-
mensional quadric A2 of pairs of points on the circle Cx<y. The pencils of
tangent circles at x to Lx and at y to Ly provide a projection to CXty. The
area we are looking for is \cos{9x) x cos(0y)\ x . } | 2 . We can check this
result using the stereographic projection of C x , y on the line through x and
y from the pole intersection of the mediatrix of the segment [x, y] with Cx,y.
The measure of the pairs of points (zi,Z2) on the line in [t,t + dt] x [s,s + ds]
is
\t-s\21^ ^ ^ s l a n d ^ i s the same as the measure of the counter images
on CX}y. Notice that the length of the corresponding infinitesimal intervals
are the same on the circle and the line.
To mesure dG(vj,), which is a space-like vector, as the family of circle
has an envelope, we just need to measure how they turn. The rotation
speed of the circles CXiV is the difference of the curvature of Lx and the
 SIMILARITY AND CONFORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 71

curvature of CxtV.
The jacobian we are looking for is then, as the \cos(8x)\ terms cancel
out
\{kx - fx,y)cos{8y)\,
where fXtV is the curvature of the circle CXtV.
Let us check now some examples.
Let us consider first a limit Reeb component J-\ on a square flat torus
R 2 / Z 2 formed by half circles tangent to the closed leaf M. x {0} (it fails to
be a foliation along the closed leaf R x {O} ).

Figure 5. Limit Reeb component made of half circles.

A circle has a non trivial contact with the foliation T of M2 if and only
if its diameter is larger than 1. The translations in Z 2 act on the set of
circles of R 2 , preserving the measure m. The measure of non trivial circles
is then, using coordinates (x, y) G [0,1] x [0,1] and radius r of a circle
f°° 1 f
TUQ = / —~dr / dx A dy = 2.
r
Ji/2 Ju2/z2
For any foliation T of the torus with a Reeb component, the circles of
radius larger than 1 are non-trivial, therefore
f°° 1 f 1
m(T) > / -5-dr
3 / dx A dy = - .
J1 r y R2/Z 2 2

Question.
Is m 0 the greatest lower bound of the measure m{F\) on foliations of
R 2 / Z 2 admitting at least one Reeb component?
Consider now two foliations of the torus R2/Tt 1 where H i is the homo-
' 2 2

thethy of ratio 1/2.

72 R E M I LANGEVIN

The first is the quotient of the foliation of R 2 by horizontal lines. Notice

it has two Reeb components. All circles of the plane are in trivial position
with respect to the foliation JFi\ therefore m(!F) = 0.
The second foliation of the homothethy annulus, Tz is the foliation
quotient of the foliation T$ of the plane by concentric circles. The powers
of H i act on the set of circles S. The intersection of a fundamental domain
2

with the set of non trivial circles for T is the zone contained between the
positive cone of great circles tangent to the unit circle and the great circles
tangent to the circle centered in the origin and radius 1/2. The measure
of non-trivial circles (each having exactly one pair of nontrivial tangency
points with the foliation) is
/•oo rtn/[(r-l),l]
i/[(r-l),l] //.27T
-2^ ^j
WIA = / / (1 + x) • —^dOdxdr.
'1/2 JI r
Jl/2 JO
Question.
Is the measure TTIA the minimum of m{T) for foliations of R2/Ti.i ad-
mitting a closed leaf isotopic to the quotient of the unit circle?

Figure 6. Two foliations of the homothety quotient torus.

The author expects some better results when the conformal integral
geometry of anuli in R 2 and tori in S3 will be better understood. Some
partial results about anuli are obtained by Y. Nikolayevsky and the author
(work in progress).

References

1. D. Asimov, Average Gaussian curvature of leaves of foliations, Bulletin

of the American Mathematical Society, 84-1 (1978).
 SIMILARITY AND CONFORMAL GEOMETRY OF FOLIATIONS 73

2. F . Brito, R. Langevin and H. Rosenberg, Integrales de courbure sur des

varietes feuilletees, Journal of Differential Geometry 16 (1981), 19-50.
3. R. Bryant, A duality theorem for Willmore surfaces, Journal of Differ-
ential Geometry 20 (1984), 23-53.
4. J. Eells and J.H. Sampson, Harmonic mappings of riemannian mani-
folds, American Journal of Mathematics, 8 6 (1964), 109-133.
5. J. Eells and J.H. Sampson, Variational theory in fiber bundles, Proc.
US-Japan Seminar Diff. Geom., Kyoto (1965), 61-69.
6. A.S. Fawaz, Energie et feuilletages, These de troisieme cycle, Dijon,
France, 1986.
7. H. Federer, Geometric Measure Theory, Springer Verlag, 1969.
8. R. Langevin, Feuilletages tendus, Bulletin de la Ssociete M a t h e m a t i q u e
de France, 1 0 7 (1979).
9. R. Langevin, Feuilletages, energies et cristaux liquides, Asterisque,
1 0 7 - 1 0 8 (1983), 201-213.
10. R. Langevin and Y. Nikolayevsky, Three viewpoints on the integral
geometry of foliations, Illinois Journal of Mathematics, 43-2 (1999),
233-255.
11. R. Langevin and C. Possani, Total curvature of foliations, Illinois Jour-
nal of Mathematics, 37-3 (1993), 508-524.
12. L.A. Santalo, Integral geometry and geometric probability, Encyclope-
dia of Mathematics and its Applications, Addison Wesley, 1976.
13. R. T h o m , Generalisation de la theorie de Morse aux varietes feuil-
letees, Annales de l'lnstitut Fourier, 14-1 (1964), 173-189.
14. Ph. Tondeur, Foliation on Riemannian Manifolds, Universitex Springer
Verlag, 1988.

Received November 3, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawe! WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 75-125

FOLIATIONS A N D CONTACT S T R U C T U R E S ON
3-MANIFOLDS

YOSHIHIKO MITSUMATSU
Department of Mathematics, Chuo University,
1-23-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8551, Japan,
e-mail: yoshi@math. chuo-u. ac.jp

This article is a re-presentation of the minicourse in Warsaw which dealt with recent
interactions between the theory of foliations and that of contact structures on 3-
manifolds. In the conference, the author prepared and distributed a rather lengthy
note on 3-dimensional contact topology, which contains introductory expositions
of fundamentals in contact geometry as well as its recent progress. The present
article focuses more on the main themes such as a brief introduction to the theory
of confoliations, contact structures and foliations associated with Anosov flows, and
their generalizations, and contains less about the contact topology itself. In the
final section, some problems which were presented in the problem session during
the conference are raised.

0 Introduction to contact geometry

0.1 Introduction
A maximally nonintegrable hyperplane field on an odd dimensional man-
ifold is called a contact structure. The progress of symplectic topology
in recent years, especially in dimension 4, has called attention also to 3-
dimensional contact topology. While a symplectic structure is defined as a
2-form on an even dimensional manifold, a contact structure is defined by 1-
form on odd dimensional manifolds. Therefore the method of its study can
be much more topological. Especially, in 3-dimensional contact topology,
which is now in a very rapid progress, the topological method investigat-
ing submanifolds i.e., knots and surfaces has a great importance. On the
other hand, we can also get strong results by applying global analytic big
machineries, such as Seiberg-Witten theory and J-holomorphic curves, to a
symplectic manifold which has the contact structure on its end or boundary.

75
76 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

In this note, we begin with and basically keep ourselves within the
topological framework.
In 90's, the relation between the theory of codimension 1 foliations on
3-manifolds and 3-dimensional contact topology has come to attract atten-
tions. The one is an integrable plane field and the other is even infinites-
imally non integrable. As plane fields they differ by much, like water and
oil. However, since long it has been recognized by several people at least
vaguely that they have some similarities between their methods of study
(e.g., embedding a surface and tracing the vector field defined by their
intersection), as well as their dominant philosophies (e.g., /i-principle). Es-
pecially, the works of Eliashberg, Gromov, and Thurston on both subjects
have been suggesting that there must be something more. Now we know
that it showed at least one of its tail as the theory of Confoliations due to
Eliashberg and Thurston (Section 3).
This exposition aims at reporting the recent development of the inter-
actions between the studies of foliations and contact structures. Especially,
the generations of contact structures and even symplectic structures from
foliations is one of the main topics. A general theory is given as a part of
the theory of confoliations and some important examples are given starting
from Anosov foliations.
However, as contact structures are not yet very familiar to people in the
foliation theory, we begin with a review of the fundamentals of the contact
geometry and topology.

0.2 Definitions and basic notions

Definition 0.2.1 A C°° hyper plane field £ on a (2n — l)-dimensional
manifold M is called a contact structure if £ is locally denned as £ = kera,
where a is a C°° nonsingular 1-form satisfying a A ( d a ) " - 1 ^ 0 everywhere
(i.e. it gives a volume form on M). This condition implies that £ has the
least integrability among codimension one plane fields. The 1-form a is
called a contact 1-form.
In this article, we assume the differentiability of contact plane fields to
be of class C°° unless otherwise specified.
As examples of (local) contact 1-forms

1 n—1 n—1
ai - dz + - ^ (Sid-Vi - Vidxi) or a2 = dz + ^ Xidyi
t=l i=l

are standard ones on the (local) coordinate (z,xi,y\,... ,xn_i,y„_i) .

 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 77

Figure 1. ker[c*2 = dz + xdy]

Remark 0.2.2 1) T h e property a A (da)n~l ^ 0 is preserved even if a is re-

placed with fa, where / is a nonzero smooth function on M. Furthermore,
in the case of dimension (An — 1) (especially in dimension 3), £ itself defines
an orientation of M by a A (da)"-1, which is independent of the choice of
the contact 1-form a. Hence if a manifold M of such dimensions admits
a contact structure, then M is always orientable. W h e n M is already ori-
ented, £ is called positive [resp. negative] if the orientation determined by £
and t h a t of M [resp. does not] coincide to each other. If a positive contact
structure £ is oriented as a hyper plane field, it naturally determines an ori-
entation in the transverse direction. In this case £ is called co-oriented. For
a s t a n d a r d orientation dx A dy A dz with respect to the coordinate (x, y, z),
in the example above, we have a\ A da\ = a<i A da2 = dx A dy A dz, which
shows t h a t b o t h k e r a i and k e r a 2 are positive contact structures.
2) T h e 2-form da gives a symplectic structure on the contact hyperplane
£ p for each point p, which is an area element of each £ p in 3-dimensional
case.
D e f i n i t i o n 0 . 2 . 3 In a 3-dimensional contact manifold, an immersed curve
is called Legendrian if it is tangent to the contact plane field at any point.
Remark t h a t from the definition of the contact structure, there is no integral
surface of the contact plane field.
D e f i n i t i o n 0 . 2 . 4 1) Given a contact 1-form a, one obtains a vector field
Xa which is uniquely determined by the conditions

a(Xa) = 1 and tx0da = 0,

which are equivalent to "a(Xa) = 1 and Cxaa = 0". Xa is called the Reeb
vector field associated with the contact 1-form a, and the flow generated
by Xa is called the Reeb flow Sometimes it is also called the contact flow.
78 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

ker[a;= dz + rVldQ]

&
Legendrian Curves
on Tori { r = const.}

Figure 2.

2) If a vector field X preserves the contact plane field £ = ker a, we call

it a contact vector field. X may not preserve a given contact 1-form a. X
is a contact vector field if and only if there exists a smooth function g such
that LXOL = get.
In the above examples, 4- is the Reeb vector field for both oc\ and
cx-i- As stated below, a Reeb vector field is regarded as a time-independent
Hamiltonian vector field restricted to a constant energy surface. The Reeb
vector field Xa preserves not only £ but also the contact 1-form a and da.
Definition 0.2.5 (Symplectization) For a (2n — l)-dimensional contact
manifold (M, a), the 2-form UJ — d(ta) (t e (0, oo)) is an exact symplectic
structure on the 2n-dimensional manifold W = (0, oo) x M. (W, UJ) is called
the symplectization of (M,a) or of (M, £).
Then the Hamiltonian vector field Xt of the Hamiltonian t with re-
spect to LU restricted to M = {t = 1} is nothing but the Reeb vector
field associated with a. W can be regarded as a connected component
of the complement of the zero section of the real line bundle {1-form
/?;/% = 0} = (TM/t;)*. The primitive tot of u is nothing but the tau-
tological 1-form p on W.
This leads us naturally to the Weinstein conjecture which is a contact
version of the Arnol'd conjecture, which states the existence and an es-
timate of the number of closed orbits of a Hamiltonian vector field on a
symplectic manifold. For the Arnol'd conjecture, see [19]. For the Wein-
stein conjecture, see also [39] and [72].
Conjecture 0.2.6 (The Weinstein conjecture) On a closed contact
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 79

manifold (M,a), t h e Reeb vector field Xa admits a closed orbit.

In this note, unless otherwise stated, we assume every most of objects
(manifolds, submanifolds and plane fields, tangentially and transversely,
.. . ) are oriented or a t least orientable.

0.3 Basic examples of contact structures

Let us look at some basic and important examples of contact structures.

These contact structures have some good properties which are called 'fill-
ablity' or 'tightness'. These properties will be explained later.
E x a m p l e 0 . 3 . 1 ( T h e m o s t b a s i c e x a m p l e ) O n the unit sphere S2n~l
in t h e s t a n d a r d complex euclidean space C n , t h e s t a n d a r d contact structure
( 5 2 n _ 1 , ^ o = k e r a 0 ) is given by a 0 = \Y!i=ixidyi ~ Uidxl. This is also
defined as t h e plane field which is perpendicular t o t h e fibres of t h e Hopf
fibration S2n~l —> C P ™ - 1 . Here Zi = Xi + v/~-l'j/i (i = 1, • • • ,«.) denotes
the s t a n d a r d coordinate on C " . It is easy t o see

a0 A (da0)n~l = -—-——t R dxi A dy\ A • • • A dxn A dyn,

where R = Yl7=i(xi~£r + y*^T~) ^s ^ n e radial vector field on C n , so t h a t ao

defines a contact structure.
This contact structure £o is regarded as t h e projectification of t h e stan-
dard symplectic structure UJQ = Y^i=i ^Xi ^ dyi (or of its primitive Ao =
2 X)r=i xidyi — Vidxi) a n d is again called the standard contact structure.
Notice t h a t each fibre of t h e Hopf fibration is a trajectory of t h e Reeb
vector field Xao.
E x a m p l e 0 . 3 . 2 ( F r o m classical m e c h a n i c s ) T h e canonical symplectic
structure uio = d p A d q of t h e cotangent bundle W = T*V of arbitrary
manifold V (dimV = n) admits t h e canonical primitive Ao = p d q (LOQ =
dao). Here q = (qi,...,qn) denotes an arbitrary local coordinate around
q s V and p = (pi,...,pn) denotes t h e linear coordinate on T*V which
is defined from q. As is well known, a>o and Ao are independent of t h e
choice of local coordinate q o n ^ . Then, for any Riemannian metric on V,
the primitive a o , restricted t o t h e unit cotangent bundle M = Sn~l(T*V),
gives us a contact 1-form ao which is called the Liouville 1-form.
T h r o u g h t h e identification of t h e unit tangent bundle with the unit
cotangent bundle by t h e Riemannian metric, the Reeb flow (fit associated
with t h e Liouville 1-form coincides with t h e geodesic flow of the Riemannian
manifold V. It must be also noticed t h a t each orbit of the geodesic flow is
a solution t o t h e equation of motion of a particle without potential in t h e
80 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

classsical mechanics. Hence in this case, Weinstein's conjecture implies the

existence of closed geodesies on closed Riemannian manifolds.

s\i5v)
the Liouville
contact structure J;0
of a surface V

Figure 3.

Though the Liouville 1-form and the geodesic flow strongly depend on
the Riemannian metric on V, the Liouville contact structure £o is indepen-
dent of it. Identifying the unit cotangent bundle M = Sn~1(T*V) with
the projectification (T*V \ {0})/]R+ of the cotangent bundle, on each point
p e M on the fibre of q € V we have £ 0p = d7r-x(ker[p : T*V -> R] ),
where IT denotes the projection of the projectified cotangent bundle to V
and dn : r p 5 n _ 1 ( T * y ) -> TqV denotes its differential. This construction
shows that the Liouville contact structure £o is defined independently of
the choice of Riemannian metric.
Each fibre of 7r is a Legendrian submanifold of £o, i.e., the fibres are
tangent to £o- In the case dimV = 2, £o is negative with respect to the
natural orientation of M as an 5'1-bundle. This fact will have an importance
in Section 4. Also in the succeeding examples the readers should be careful
about the positivity and the negativity.
Example 0.3.3 (Quantum mechanical example) Let (N,cJ) be a (2n—
2)-dimensional symplectic manifold whose symplectic form represents an
integral cohomology class [w]. Then N admits a complex line bundle C
with a [/(l)-connection V whose curvature form is 2ityJ— \w. Such (£, V) is
unique up to the action of the Gauge group. C is called the pre-quantization
or pre-quantum bundle of (N,w). The connection 1-form is restricted to
the unit circle bundle M to be a connection 1-form a and defines a contact
manifold (M, a). Each fibre is a closed orbit of the Reeb flow. In the case
where (N,u>) = (CP n-1 ,u>o), the above construction gives us Example 0.3.1.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 81

T h e complement of the zero section in the total space of L coincides with

the symplectization of (M,a) (the correspondence of ± ends is opposite).
In the case of n = 2, the total space of the 5 1 -bundle with a non-trivial
euler class on a closed surface E admits a contact structure given by t h e
horizontal distribution coming from an 5 1 -connection with non-vanishing
curvature. In this case, the 5 1 - b u n d l e with negative euler class gives rise
to a positive contact structure and vise versa.
E x a m p l e 0 . 3 . 4 (Strict p s e u d o c o n v e x i t y in s e v e r a l c o m p l e x vari-
a b l e s ) A complex manifold ft is called a Stein manifold if Q, admits a
strictly plurisubharmonic function <j> which is proper and is bounded from
below. For a regular value a of <fi, the sub-level set W = </>-1(( — oo,a\) is
a strictly pseudo convex domain (or a Grauert domain), and its b o u n d a r y
M = dW is a strictly pseudo convex boundary. (Even when <fi is defined
only on a neighbourhood of dW, we call dW strictly pseudo convex.)
T h e n A = — J*d4> gives us a contact 1-form a = \\M on M, which
define a contact structure £ = kera. £ is also defined as £ = TM O J(TM).
T h e strict pluri-subharmonicity of <j> gives us a Kahler structure on W by
UJ = —dJ*d(j), so t h a t ui\^ is a positive symplectic structure on £. aA(da)n~1
gives a positive orientation on M as the b o u n d a r y of W. We will discuss
further this in Section 2.2.
On ft = C n i f w e t a k e < £ ( z i , . . . , z n ) = 4 " 1 £ i < f c < n ||z fc || 2 and a = 1/4,
we have Example 0.3.1. In a more algebraic manner, taking an intersection
of a projective variety V embedded in CPN with a tubular neighbourhood
of the hyperplane C P ^ - 1 , we obtain a contact structure on its b o u n d a r y
d(V \ C P ^ - 1 ) . In this way we obtain a lot of examples of algebraic Stein
manifolds and contact structures on their end.
Contact structures also relate to singularities. Taking the intersection of
a complex surface with an isolated singularity and the £-sphere centred at
the singularity, we naturally obtain a 3-dimensional contact structure. For
example, t h e intersection of the surface W = {(zi, Z2, 23) € C 3 ; z\+z\+z\ =
0} with a singularity at the origin and the sphere S^ of radius e gives us
the Poincare homology 3-sphere with a contact structure, which is given by
dividing t h e left invariant s t a n d a r d contact plane field £0 on the Lie group
S3 by a subgroup of order 120.
T h e strict pseudo convexity is one of important origins for the convexi-
ties of contact structures.
E x a m p l e 0 . 3 . 5 (Invariant c o n t a c t s t r u c t u r e s o n 3 - d i m e n s i o n a l Lie
g r o u p s ) Simply connected 3-dimensional non-abelian Lie groups which ad-
mit a co-compact discrete subgroup T (equivalently to say, unimodular) are
the following 5 types of groups: S3 = SU(2), P~SL(2;R), Solv which is a
82 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

solvable Lie group denned by the suspension of R 2 by a hyperbolic element

in SL(2; Z), the 3-dimensional Heisenberg nilpotent Lie group Nil, and the
universal covering of of the orientation preserving isometry group on the
2-dimensional euclidean space (2-dimensional group of euclidean motions)
Euc(2) .
It is not difficult to see that G is unimodular if and only if [dvol] ^ O e
H3(g; R), where g is the Lie algebra of G and dvol is any nontrivial element
in /\ g* . This implies that for a unimodular 3-dimensional Lie algebra
a A d/3 — f3 A da £ f\3 g* holds for any a,/3 E Q* .
On the dual g* = { left invariant 1-forms on the Lie group G } of a
3-dimensional Lie algebra g, we can define a bilinear form
3
^ : g * ® g * ^ /\Q*=R, {a,p)^aAdp,
which measures the non-integrability of a and (3 in some sense, v is sym-
metric for unimodular g. It is almost clear that v is non-trivial if and
only if g is non-abelian. The symmetric bilinear form v essentially coin-
cides with the Killing form on g in the case of su(2) and psZ(2;R), but
does not in general. Let (p, q, n) denote the type of these bilinear forms,
i.e., p [resp. q] = maxdim(positive [resp. negative] definite subspace), and
n = dim(annihilator). Then, for Lie algebras solv and nil, their Killing
forms have the type (1,0,2) and (0,0,3) while v has (1,1,1) and (1,0,2)
respectively.
Regarding v as a quadratic form on g*, if u{a, a) > 0 [resp. < 0] then
£ = ker(a) defines a positive [resp. negative] contact structure, and if
u{a, a) = 0 then £ = ker(a) defines a foliation on G. These are induced
naturally on T\G because of the left G-invariance. We calculate v for the
case of the Lie algebra psl(2; R). Taking a basis

- ( t : > - a - -G:"o)
of psl(2;R), and let h*, £*, k* be its dual basis of psZ(2;R)*. Prom the
bracket relation on the Lie algebra [k, h] = £, {(., k) = h, and [£, h] = k we
have dh* = -I* A k*, dt = -k* A h*, and dk* = h* A I*, which imply

h* fc*
"(•-•)
h* -1
r0 0
0 -l 0
r
k* 0 0 1
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIPOLDS 83

where we are identifying /\3 psl(2;R)* ^ R by dvol = h* A t A k*. This

table tells that the left-invariant 1-forms h* and £* define negative contact
structures and that k* defines a positive one.
On the other hand, t* — k* defines a foliation which is called an Anosov
foliation associated with the geodesic flow of a surface of constant negative
curvature. Here the geodesic flow is generated by h and is an Anosov
flow(see Section 4). The figure below describes the quadratic form u(a,a)
for psl(2;R) and for solv, in which surfaces drawn there present the light
cone {a 6 g*; v(a, a) = 0}. For the Lie algebra solv, we can choose a basis
X, Y, T with the relations [X, Y] = 0, [T, X] = X, and [T, Y] = -Y, which
also defines a system of coordinates solv* = {xX* + yY* + tT*}.
In Example 0.3.2, if we choose the sphere S2, the torus T2 or_ji hy-
perbolic surface as the base space, we obtain models for G = S3, Euc(2),
PSL(2; M.) respectively. On the other hand, the quantum mechanical Exam-
ple 0.3.3 for these base spaces gives us models for G = S3, Nil, PSL(2; R).

/w/(2;R)* solv*

Figure 4.

As shown in the Figure 4, v is indefinite only for the case of PSL(2; R)

and Solv, in which we will observe an interesting phenomenon induced from
these contact structures and from foliations defined by the null vectors. We
will explain this in Section 4.

0.4 Rigidity of contact structures

Generally, it is a stable (i.e., open) condition under C 1 -topology for a hy-
perplane field £ [resp. a 1-form a] on a (2n — l)-dimensional manifold to be
a contact structure [resp. a contact form]. We can also say that it is rigid
in the sense of following two theorems.
Theorem 0.4.1 (Darboux coordinate) Any point p in a (2n — ^-di-
mensional contact manifold (M,a) has the following Darboux coordinate
84 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

neighbourhood (U;xi,yi,... ,xn-\,yn-i,z):

n-1
a\v =dz + ^2xidyt, p=(0,...,0).
i=l

The proof is done in the following way: We first apply the theorem
of Darboux coordinate to the symplectic structure which is locally defined
by da on the quotient space w.r.t. the Reeb flow </>t. Next, we regard a
neighbourhood U of p in M as an open set of the total space of principal It-
bundles that admit a connection form a with the curvature form da. In the
3-dimensional case, as the Darboux theorem for 2-dimensional symplectic
structure is almost trivial, the readers can complete the proof by themselves.
We can also prove this theorem by applying the symplectic Darboux
theorem to the symplectization, which is higher in the dimension by 1.
Theorem 0.4.2 (Gray, [27]) The 1-parameter family t;t of contact struc-
tures on a (2n — 1)-dimensional closed manifold M is chased by the isotopy
$t defined by

$t = Yt, atAatA ( d a t ) " " 2 = iYt(at A (datT'1).

In other words, £t = ($t)*£o-

Proof. The scheme of this theorem is important for understanding con-
tact structures locally. We particularly explain the 3-dimensional case.
(The same proof applies in higher dimensions.) In principle, if we want to
deform a contact plane ft at the point p, there uniquely exists a direction
in £t (not TPM) that realizes the alteration we need. Using the cylindrical
coordinate, contact forms are presented as a = dz + r2/2d9 (which is equal
to dz + (xdy — ydx)/2). Moving from the origin along a radius in the
direction of 6, the plain field twists on the radius. If we define the isotopy
$t so as to pull back this twist, we should obtain the deformation we want.
Indeed, if we write this condition infinitesimally w.r.t $ t = Yt, we get
at Aat = iYt (at A dat). O
Note that the definition of this vector field Yt depends only on £t and
is independent of the choice of a contact form at- Describing this in a
deformation theoretic fashion, an infinitesimal deformation is considered as
a cross section of £*®TM/t;. To give an identification TM/£ = R and to fix
a contact form a are equivalent. Then, the 2-form da defines a symplectic
structure on £, thus we obtain the isomorphism da : £* —> £. This
induces another isomorphism £* <g> TM/t, —> £, which is more natural, and
we find that infinitesimal deformations correspond to vector fields which
are tangent to the contact plane field.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 85

These results imply that contact forms do not have any local invariant.
Each contact form induces the Reeb flow and its dynamical properties are
important invariants. Particularly, neighbourhoods of closed orbits have
various invariants. However, contact structures (contact plane fields) do
not have even this kind of invariants. Thus, the study of contact structure
is really a global problem. However, it is again important to study the
topology of contact structure by means of fixing a contact form, like in
studying topology of smooth manifolds by means of fixing a Riemannian
metric.
The following lemma explains how a plane field on a 3-manifold deforms
by a flow generated by a vector field which is tangent to the plane field. This
argument has already appeared in the proof of Gray's theorem. This lemma
plays an important role with relation to foliations later (Section 3, 4).
Lemma 0.4.3 Let £ be a plane field of class C1 on a 3-dimensional mani-
fold and Y be a nonsingular vector field that is tangent to the plane filed £.
1) The plane field £ is invariant under the action of the flow generated
by Y if and only if £ is completely integrable. In this case, the plane field £
defines a codimension-one foliation. If the plane field £ is of class C°, it is
integrable, i.e., for each point there exits an integral surface passing through
it. However, generally speaking, the integral surface is not unique!
2) Let us look at the flow from behind in such a way that each flow
line reduces to a point. (We obtain a 2-dimensional view.) The plane
field £ (which is observed to be a line element on the plane) is a positive
contact structure if and only if the plane field £ rotates with a positive
(anti-clockwise) angular velocity. It is negative if it rotates with a negative
(clockwise) angular velocity.
Proof. Take a local coordinate system {x, y,z),0 < x,y, z < 1 satisfying
the following two conditions.
(1) Every line which is parallel to the x-axis is tangent to £.
(2) On the plane x = 0, £ is tangent to (x, y)-plane.
Under these conditions, we may assume that the plane field £ is defined by
the 1-form a = dz + f(x, y, z)dy (where /(0, y, z) = 0) and Y = ^ . Then
a Ada = ^dxAdyAdz. Thus the plane field £ is a positive [resp. negative]
contact plane field if | £ > 0 [resp. | £ < 0] . •

1 3D contact topology due to Bennequin

Bennequin introduced the notion of tightness which is A central and basic

concept in 3-dimensional contact topology. In this section, after looking
86 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

back basic constructions and some existence results in dimension 3 which

were established before Bennequin, we explain the tightness as well as his
solution to the problem which will be stated in the end of the first subsec-
tion. About the proof of Bennequin's main theorem, only a quite rough
framework is described in 1.3 and in 1.4. About the detail the readers
should refer to [6] or [50].

1.1 Existence and construction of 3D contact structures

Martinet showed the following theorem by using a Lickorish's theorem (any
oriented closed 3-manifold can be obtained by the Dehn surgery along some
link in S 3 .)
Theorem 1.1.1 (Martinet, [44]) There exist a positive contact structure
on any oriented closed 3-manifold.
Later Thurston-Winkelnkemper [70] proved this theorem by means of
open book decomposition. Giroux made a more precise and beautiful ar-
gument in terms of '/-essential surfaces' which is equivalent to open book
decompositions ([22]). Any method of proving the existence of a contact
structure directly from the Heegaard decomposition is not yet known. We
will explain an operation, which is called Lutz twist or Lutz modification,
by which we can create a new (?) contact structure from a given one. One
of the basic idea is that if two contact structures with toral boundaries
are both transverse to their boundaries and trace the same linear foliations
on their boundaries, then we can paste their boundaries together to get
a new contact manifold. This idea was used to prove the above existence
theorems.
Theorem 1.1.2 (5 1 -Darboux coordinate) For any knot V which is
transverse to a given contact structure £, there exist a tubular neighbourhood
Ue(T) and a cylindrical coordinate system (r,9,z) satisfying the following
conditions.
(1) Ue(T) = {(r, 0, z);r2 <e,ze R/2TTZ} D T = {r = 0}.
(2) €\uc(r) = ker(cosr dz + s i n r 2 ^ ) .
2

We call U£(T) an Sl-Darboux Tube. Unlike in the case of the usual

Darboux coordinate in Theorem 0.4.1, we can not specify the contact form
in advance. Still we can easily prove this theorem in a similar way.
Definition 1.1.3 (Characteristic foliation) Here we prepare a useful
and important terminology. An embedded (immersed) surface E in M3
and a plane field £ on M defines a (singular) foliation as £|s n TE on E.
We call this the characteristic foliation of E and let £E denote it.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 87

Figure 5. S 1 -Darboux tube

The characteristic foliation of the toral boundary of S^-Darboux tube

Ue(T) is a linear foliation of slope — e = —r2 w.r.t. the coordinate (0, z).
Thus the slope of this characteristic foliation varies with the radius r of
the tube. If the slope is rational, each leaf is compact and the foliation can
be regarded as the trivial horizontal one with respect to some coordinate
change.
Let Vn be a solid torus of radius r (where R — r2) with the contact
structure rj = ker(cosr2<iz + smr2d9), which has the same presentation as
in Theorem 1.1.2. Here the radius R can be arbitrarily large so that r\
rotates along the radius arbitrarily many times.
The characteristic foliation rjsvR on the boundary 8VR = T2 is linear
with slope — tan R. Therefore we can regard the characteristic foliations
on SVH, and <9VR2 the same if R\ = R2 (mod 7r) . Of course this holds for
the 5 1 -Darboux tube UR.
Definition 1.1.4 (Lutz twist) For a knot F in a 3-dimensional manifold
M which is transverse to the contact structure £, replace its 5 1 -Darboux
tubular neighbourhood Ue(T) of with V£+2-K, then we obtain a new contact
structure ^FL(r) = £\M\UC U ^ I V ^ ^ without changing the manifold M =
(M \ U£(T)) U V€+2-K. This operation is called a full Lutz twist or a Lutz
modification. It is possible to replace with Ve+T: instead of V£+2V. This
procedure is called a half Lutz twist. In this note, we call Vv (or V^TT) a
Lutz's tube. These operations do not change the manifold itself.
On the manifold obtained by the Dehn surgery w.r.t. ("'^) 6 SL(2;Z)
along a knot F that is transverse to the given contact structure £, we can
construct a contact structure by replacing the tubular neighbourhood U£(T)
with VR (where R = (as + b)/(cs + d)).
 Y0SHIHIK0 MlTSUMATSU

REPLACE

S'-Darboux Tube UJr)

Figure 6. Half Lutz twist along T

Proof of Martinet's Theorem. Starting from the standard contact struc-

ture (S3,£o), construct a new manifold with a positive contact structure by
means of the Dehn surgery along a transverse link. Thanks to the Lickor-
ish's theorem, it is enough to show that any link on S3 can be arranged to
be transverse to the standard contact structure £o • Two methods are known
to achieve this. It is easily shown by using a classical Alexander's theorem:
any oriented link on S3 can be isotoped C1-close to fibres of the Hopf fibra-
tion, i.e. any closed link can be realized as a closed braid. We can also use
the following lemma, which is more general and well-known in the theory
of contact geometry. This lemma holds because of the non-integrability of
contact structures. •
Lemma 1.1.5 1) Any oriented knot in a contact manifold is C°-approxi-
mated by some Legendrian knot isotopically.
2) Any oriented Legendrian curve is C 1 -approximated by some posi-
tively and negatively oriented transverse curve isotopically (See the proof of
Lemma 0.4-3 and 1.3.5).
Extending these techniques, Lutz also proved the following result.
Theorem 1.1.6 (Lutz, [42]) For any given plane field on S3, there exists
a positive contact structure which is homotopic to the given plane field.
Lutz twists do not change the topology of the manifold. What kind
of change occurs to contact structures? How many contact structures are
obtained from a given contact manifold by means of Lutz twists? In general,
half Lutz twists change the homotopy class of plane field. This change is
described by the 1-dimensional homology class represented by the axial
knot (the axis of the twist) and the datum of its Seifert surface ([51]). How
about the case of full Lutz twists?
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 89

Proposition 1.1.7 Full Lutz twists do not change the homotopy class of
plane field.
Does full Lutz twist change the global topology of the contact structure?
Especially the following problem is very natural to ask.
Problem 1.1.8 A contact structure (S3,£oFL), which is obtained by oper-
ating a full Lutz twist on a standard contact structure (5 3 ,^o) along some
transverse knot, is diffeomorphic to (S3,t;o) or not?
Bennequin's answer in his famous thesis [6] to this problem is "No!".

1.2 Tight vs. overtwisted

Definition 1.2.1 ([6]) A contact structure £ on a 3-dimensional manifold
M is said to be overtwisted ( OT for short) if there exists an embedded
2-disk V (which is called OT-disk henceforth) whose characteristic foliation
£x> admits a periodic orbit. £ is called tight if it is not OT.
Remark 1.2.2 Using the Elimination Lemma 1.3.8, OT-disk is always modi-
fied into a standard form, which has only one singular point of index 1 inside
the periodic orbit.

Over Twisted Disk T> Lu(z,s Tub(. ^

Figure 7.

Once Lutz twist is performed on a contact structure, a periodic orbit

appears on the boundary of an almost horizontal disk in Lutz's tube as
indicated in the above figure, and of course the new structure is OT. The
operation of Lutz twist is similar to that of 'turbulization' on codimension
1 foliations which inserts a Reeb component into a codimension 1 folia-
tion along a closed transeversal. Therefore it is plausible think that tight
structures have less futility and are better structure.
Now, in a word, Bennequin's main theorem is stated as follows.
Theorem 1.2.3 (Bennequin's Main Theorem, [6]) (S 3 ,£o) is tight.
On the other hand, about OT contact structures, there is a striking
result due to Eliashberg. This asserts that the set of OT contact structures
90 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

obeys the /i-principle.

T h e o r e m 1.2.4 (Eliashberg, [9]) 1) For any closed 3-manifold M, the
inclusion
{OT contact plane fields o n M } ^ {plane fields on M}
is a weak homotopy equivalence.
2) The isotopy classification of OT contact structures reduces to the
homotopy classification of plane fields, i.e., to the calculation of [M; S ].
Gray's Theorem 0.4.2 implies that 2) follows from 1). Moreover, taking
Proposition 1.1.7 into account, a full Lutz twist £FL of an OT contact
structure £ is again isotopic to £, i.e., if £ is OT, we can consider it already
full Lutz twisted what million times! Therefore the idea that repeating the
'reverse' process of Lutz twist on a given OT contact structure would bring
it finally to a tight one does not hold. Hence the important (unsolved ?)
following problem comes out.
Problem 1.2.5 On arbitrary oriented closed 3-dimensional manifolds do
tight and positive contact structures exist?
Recently Ko Honda and John Etnyre proved that there exists no positive
tight contact structure on the Poincare homology 3-sphere with reversed
orientation. See [16].
Of course, a step further, one should ask classifying positive tight con-
tact structures on each oriented closed 3-manifold, and further more, the
homotopy type of the space of such structures. However at the moment,
these problems seem still out of reach except in the case of very specific
manifolds like 3-sphere.

1.3 Tightness and Bennequin's inequality

Definition 1.3.1 (Thurston-Bennequin's invariant) For an oriented
Legendrian link F of (S3,t;o) (or, more generally, a homologically trivial
oriented Legendrian link of a contact 3-manifold (M, £)), let r x denote a
link obtained by shifting T in the normal direction to £. Then the linking
number TB(T) = £fc(r,r x ) is called Thurston-Bennequin's invariant of T.
Bennequin obtained his main theorem by proving what is called Ben-
nequin's inequality for a Legendrian knot 1.3.2. This inequality estimates
Thurston-Bennequin's invariant of a Legendrian knot in (5 3 ,£o) m terms
of the Euler number of its Seifert surface. This inequality is obtained from
Bennequin's inequality for a transverse knot 1.3.3.
1.3.2 (Bennequin's inequality for Legendrian knots, [6], [7],[13])
For an oriented Legendrian link T with a Seifert surface S, let /u(T) be the
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 91

rotation number of T along T with respect to a trivialization of £|s as an

R 2 -bundle. Then the following inequality holds:
T£(r)<- x (E)± M (r).
1.3.3 (Bennequin's inequality for transverse knots, [6], [7]) Sup-
pose that an oriented link T with a Seifert surface S is positively transverse
to the contact structure £. (The same goes well in the case where V is neg-
atively transverse.) Let Tx be a link given by shifting F in the direction of
a framing X which is obtained from the restriction of a trivialization o/£|s
to r , then the following inequality holds:
ik(r,rx)<-x(Z).
Remark 1.3.4 We stated these inequalities for the standard contact struc-
ture. In general cases, if T is homologically trivial, we can (not claim but
simply) state the same inequalities by taking the trivialization of £ only
over the Seifert surface E, because then fi(T) and Fx have exact meanings.
In fact, two inequalities still hold for any tight contact structures on
closed 3-manifolds.
Lemma 1.3.5 1) Suppose that the orientation of the contact plane field £
coincides with the one induced from the trivialization (v,T) oft; restricted
to an oriented Legendrian knot T. Let T^ be a knot obtained by shifting
T in the direction of ±v respectively, then they are transverse to £ in the
positive and negative direction respectively (refer to Lemma 1.1.5 ) .

Figure 8.

2) Suppose furthermore that T admits a Seifert surface S. Let X be a

trivialization of £ on S, then the following holds.
TB(T) = ik(r, r x ) = ik(r, rv) = ikir*, r±x) ± ^(r)
This lemma enables us to easily deduce 1.3.2 from 1.3.3.
Theorem 1.3.6 (Bennequin's inequality =» tightness) A contact 3-
manifold (M, £) is tight if it satisfies the inequality 1.3.2.
Proof. By definition, the limit cycle F of £p on any OT-disk V is a
Legendrian knot Y with TB(Y) = 0. Therefore if £ is OT, then we have
o = TB(T) < -x(v) ± M(r) = -l ± M(r),
92 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

which contradicts 1.3.2. •

As we shall explain briefly in 1.4, Bennequin showed these inequalities
for (5 3 ,£o)- On the other hand, if we use the Elimination Lemma stated
below, we obtain the converse of the above theorem, hence these inequalities
turn out to be equivalent to the tightness.
Theorem 1.3.7 (Tight =>• Bennequin's inequality, [13]) If a contact
structure £ on a closed 3-manifold M is tight, then 1.3.3 (, hence 1.3.2)
holds for any homologically trivial oriented transverse link.
The elimination lemma is extremely useful and important in the 3-
dimensional contact topology.
Theorem 1.3.8 (Elimination Lemma, [12], [22]) Let £s be the vector
field on an embedded oriented surface S obtained from the intersection of it
with the contact plane field £ on a contact 3-manifold. Suppose that there
exist nondegenerate singular points P and Q of indices 1 and -1 respectively
and an orbit 7 o/£s connecting P to Q. If the orientation of tangency at
P coincides with that at Q, then the two singular points P and Q can be
eliminated from the singular vector field £s without yielding new singular
points by perturbing £ by a small isotopy in C° in a sufficiently small
neighbourhood 0 / 7 .

Figure 9.

Proof of Theorem 1.3.7. Assume that a positively transverse knot T in

a tight contact manifold (M, £) is homologically trivial and has a Seifert
surface E . As F is transverse to £, £s is non-singular around the boundary
and we assume that £E has the natural orientation which is outward normal
on the boundary. Let us introduce invariants d± for generically embedded
such Seifert surfaces (as well as for closed surfaces). We assume that the
singularities of £s are non-degenerate so that their indices are ±1 according
to that they are elliptic or hyperbolic singularities. We also assume that £
is co-oriented. Now d± are defined as,
e+ = {({positive elliptic point}, h+ = (({positive hyperbolic point},
e_ = (({negative elliptic point}, h- = (({negative hyperbolic point},
d+ = e+ — h+ , d- = e_ — h- ,
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 93

where the signs are given by the orientations of tangency of £ to £ at the

singularities.
Since d £ = T is transverse to £, the relative euler class e(£|s) €
H2(T,, 5E) is defined if we take (£ n TE)|r as a boundary condition. Then
;fc(r,rx) = -(e(£| s ),[£,as])
follows immediately from the definition. Using this, we can easily show
2d+ = - / / c ( r , r x ) + x ( £ ) and 2d- = lk{T,Tx) + X{^) •
Therefore, d- < 0 is equivalent to Bennequin's inequality for transverse
knots.
We show d- (£) < 0 by perturbing E so that the negative elliptic points
are removed. First, we in advance remove every pair of a positive elliptic
point and a positive hyperbolic point of £s connected by an orbit by using
Elimination Lemma. By a usual simple observation we can perturb E so
that there is no connecting orbit between hyperbolic singular points.
Secondly we consider the attracting basin B of a negative elliptic point
P which is the union of the orbits of £s attracted by P, and its boundary.
B is apart from the boundary of E by the assumption on the orientation.
It is almost trivial that B is homeomorphic to a 2-dimensional open disk,
however its boundary can be complicated to some extent.
If the boundary dB is a nonsingular Legendrian loop, then the closure
of B is an OT-disk, i.e., a contradiction. Therefore the boundary dB turns
out to be a Legendrian loop with some singular points. There is no negative
elliptic points on dB, because it is the boundary of an attracting basin.
Now from our assumptions and preparations, it is easy to see that on dB
positive elliptic points and negative hyperbolic points appear alternately.
Thus the negative elliptic point P at the centre of B and a negative hyper-
bolic point on dB can be eliminated. Applying this procedure for P to every
negative elliptic points, we can eliminate them by a C°-small perturbation
without changing G L ( E ) , hence we have G L ( £ ) < 0. •
As we shall explain in more detail, Bennequin's inequality for transverse
knots (and its absolute version) is exactly alike to Thurston's inequality in
the theory of codimension one foliations on 3-manifolds and even has the
similar presentation to that of (generalized) Thom conjecture. To explain
circumstances around them is also one of the main tasks in this article.

1-4 On the proof of Bennequin's inequality for (S3,£o)

In this subsection we only describe the framework of the proof (due to
himself) of Bennequin's inequality for (S3, £o) and explain some features of
94 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

his argument. For details, the readers should refer to his original paper [6].
T h e proof of Bennequin's inequality for a transverse knot consists of three
steps.

F i r s t S t e p For any closed braid, show t h e existence of a special Seifert

surface of minimal genus which is called Markov surface.
S e c o n d S t e p Show Bennequin's inequality for closed braids, which is sta-
ted below, by modifying further a given Markov surface of minimal
genus.
T h i r d S t e p Show t h a t any positively transverse link can be deformed into
a closed braid by an isotopy, preserving the transversality.
In a sense the argument does not relate to contact structure at all ex-
cept for t h e third step. In particular, until then, Bennequin used not t h e
s t a n d a r d contact structure but a Reeb foliation TR as an approximation to
it. We can assume t h a t a closed braid is located in the central core of a
Reeb component of TR and is transverse to the leaves of TR.
If we replace contact structures by foliations in the setting of Ben-
nequin's inequality for a transverse knot, we obtain an inequality which
is known as Thurston's inequality 3.1.2 ([69]) for codimension one foliations
on 3-manifolds. T h e following inequality which is proved at the second step
is nothing else b u t T h u r s t o n ' s inequality for the Reeb foliation. In general,
T h u r s t o n ' s inequality does not hold for foliations with Reeb components.
T h e Reeb foliation, of course, consists of Reeb components, however since
it is a good foliation without extras, we might be able to think t h a t it is
t h e reason why t h e equality still holds.
T h e o r e m 1.4.1 ( B e n n e q u i n ' s i n e q u a l i t y for c l o s e d b r a i d s ) Let
c : Bn —> Z = Bn/[Bn,Bn] be the abelianization of the n-braid group Bn
and £ a Seifert surface of a closed braid (3 representative of an n-braid (3.
Then the following inequality holds:
| c ( / 3 ) | < - X ( E ) + n.
T h e inequality 1.4.1 is proved by replacing a Markov surface with a
better one. This is remarkably similar to the way to show 1.3.7 using
Elimination Lemma. T h e manner of dealing with the characteristic number
d- by proving d_ = x ( ^ ) — c — n made us anticipate what was achieved
later in the argument of symplectic fillings.

2 Fillable contact structures and tightness

In this section, we introduce t h e notion of fillability, which is a generaliza-

tion in t h e symplectic setting of the pseudo-convexity in complex analysis
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 95

of several variables (see Example 0.3.4), induces convexity of contact struc-

ture, especially the tightness.
Differently from previous sections, discussions are made on 4-manifolds.

2.1 Tight contact structure

Generally, it is very difficult to show a contact structure to be tight. So

far, roughly classifying, we know two or three distinct methods. Of course
the first one is based on the work of Bennequin, which we explained in the
previous section. The second one is the method of filling which is the main
theme of this section. The third one is one of the advanced forms of the
second, which was developed by Hofer [32].
We first review some elementary arguments to deduce the tightness in
some cases directly from Bennequin's main theorem. Following proposition
is trivial by the definition of tightness.
P r o p o s i t i o n 2.1.1 1) If (M,£) is tight then the restriction on any subset
N C M (N,£\N) is also tight.
2) If a covering (M,£) of(M,^) is tight then (M, £) is also tight.
3) The standard contact structure £o = ker(ao — dz 4- xdy) on R 3 is
isomorphic to (S 3 ,£o) minus a point, therefor it is tight.
We can regard the contact 1-form ao = dz + xdy, which gives standard
contact structure (R 3 ,£o), as a connection form on a principal R-bundle
R 3 = {(x,y, z)} —> R 2 = {(x, j/)} and it gives the curvature form = dx Ady.
In this case, the contact plane field is nothing else than a horizontal distri-
bution defined by the connection. Therefore quantum mechanical examples
in Example 0.3.3 (some examples in 0.3.5), i.e., the unit circle bundle of
the pre-quantization of a surface, have (R 3 ,£o) or (S 3 ,£o) as their universal
coverings. Hence they are tight by the above proposition.
Also in the case of classical mechanical Example 0.3.2, we set a = ao+ep
which is perturbed from the Liouville form ao by a connection form (3 of a
circle bundle. Then, if the perturbation is small, it is a contact plane field
and is transverse to the fibres of the circle bundle. Moreover, thanks to
Gray's Theorem 0.4.2, during the perturbation the structures stay in the
same isotopy class of contact structure. Such contact structure is tight,
because we can embed its universal covering to (R3, £o) or to (S 3 , £Q), even
though it is slightly more difficult than in the case of S^connection.
In fact these examples have a stronger property 'fillablity' than the
tightness.
96 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

2.2 Fillable contact structure

Let us recall examples in 0.3.4. If a neighbourhood of the smooth bound-
ary M 3 = dW4 of a pre-compact domain W4 in in a complex surface
Q. admits a nice strictly pluri-subharmonic function cp with M = 0 _1 (O)
and 4>~1(—oo,0) C W, W is called a strictly pseudo-convex domain or a
Grauert domain, and the boundary M — dW is called a strictly pseudo-
convex boundary. Here, the function <f> is strictly pluri-subharmonic if it
satisfies Acp > 0 on any local holomorphic curve. In particular, if <j> is
defined on the whole W, then W is a Stein manifold (of finite type).
Then a symplectic structure w = —dJ*d<f> is given on the domain of
4> and is compatible with original almost complex structure J of W, i.e.,
g(u, v) = UJ{U, Jv) gives a J-invariant Riemannian metric. This fact is
equivalent to that 0 is strictly pluri-subharmonic. Consequently we obtain
a Kahler structure. Moreover, A = —J*d(f> gives the contact form a = X\M
on M. This contact structure £ can be also presented as £ = TM n J(TM)
using the almost complex structure J.
Definition 2.2.1 A Grauert domain W is called a holomorphic filling of
the contact structure (M, f) of the boundary. Conversely such contact
structure are said to be holomorphically fillable.
Now, the gradient vector field Z = V</> with respect to the above Rie-
mannian metric satisfies
2.2.2 Condition (C) ; Czui = tu , Z points outward at dW,
and it also follows that iz(w) = A and dX = u>. For instance, in the case
of(S 3 ,£ 0 ) C ft = C 2 we have

<f>(Zl, z2) = \(\\Zl\\2 + \\z2f - 1), Z = \ ]T (x~ + Vl~),

l %
1=1,2

to = ^2 dxiA dfi, a0 = - ^ (xidyi - yidxt).

i=l,2 i=l,2

This situation is described only in terms of symplectic structures without

using complex structures and naturally we get a positive contact 1-form
a = X\M on the boundary M = dW.
Definition 2.2.3 ([14], [72], [7]) A compact symplectic manifold (W,u)
with boundary such that there exists a global vector field Z satisfying the
condition (C) is called a strong symplectic filling of the contact structure
(M = dW, £ = kera) and this contact structure £ is called strongly symplec-
tically fillable. It is also said that W has a contact type boundary (M, £).
Z is called Liouville vector field and A = iz(w) is called Liouville 1-
form. A symplectic structure on an open symplectic manifold W is called a
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 97

completely convex symplectic structure if there exists complete vector field Z

on an open symplectic manifold W such that it satisfies the Condition (C)
and its any orbit intersects with a certain compact subset.
The notion of contact type boundary is originally proposed by Weinstein
as a condition to formulate the Weinstein conjecture.
If we remove the boundary of a strong symplectic filling and extend the
end infinitely using the conformal symmetry of the vector field Z of the
symplectic form around a neighbourhood of the boundary, it becomes com-
pletely convex symplectic structure. (It reminds us that Grauert domain
in a Stein manifold is again Stein.)
As to these fillings, it is important that a boundary has a convexity
and (pseudo-)holomorphic curves can not be tangent to the boundary from
inside. However, to assure this fact and for the discussions of pseudo-
holomorphic curves to show the tightness, the following very weak fillability
is sufficient.
Definition 2.2.4 ([10], [11], [14]) If there exists a compact symplectic
manifold (W,u>) such that w\^ belongs to the conformal class {fda; / > 0}
of the symplectic structure on £ (which is defined by the contact structure
(M = dW, £)), then the contact structure (M, £) is called weakly symplec-
tically fillable or simply fillable, and (W, ui) is called a symplectic filling of

Example 2.2.5 A contact structure £ on the total space M of a 5 J -bundle

over a closed surface E which is transverse to each fibre is fillable. This is
an easy consequence of the following.
First, we take the D 2 -bundle over S associated with the 5 1 -bundle.
Next we take a symplectic form of the base space E, i.e. an area form
Q. Note that we can choose a Thom form <j> on the D 2 -bundle so that it
restricts to the area form on each fibre. Then if we take sufficiently large
positive constant K, a weak filling for this contact structure is given on
(W,w) asw = 4> + Kir*n.
Proposition 2.2.6 1) Strongly symplectically fillable implies fillable.
2) There exists an co-tame almost complex structure J on a symplectic
filling (W,u>) such that it preserves £ invariant (i.e. £ = TM n J(TM))
and maps the Reeb vector field inward inW. ( Such a boundary is called
J-convex boundary).
3) (J-convexity) For such an almost complex structure J, no non-
constant J-holomorphic curve u : D —> W from the unit disk D C C can
touch M at the interior of D.
Unfortunately we do not have room in this article to develop the argu-
ments on pseudo-holomorphic curves. Therefore we put up in this subsec-
98 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

tion with only introducing the following important theorem without proof.
T h e o r e m 2 . 2 . 7 ( G r o m o v - E l i a s h b e r g , [28],[11]) A fillahle contact
structure is tight.

3 C o n t a c t s t r u c t u r e s a n d foliations: f o c u s e d o n t h e t h e o r y o f
confoliations

People have been aware on some similar features between the theory of
foliations and t h a t of contact structures. In 90's, we have come t o pay
more attentions t o such relationes. In this section, we first review some of
these features which are common to b o t h and next give a brief survey of
the theory of confoliations due to Eliashberg-Thurston [15], t h r o u g h which
we can see t h a t there abundantly exist tillable contact structures. See [63],
[26], and [8] for the basics of the foliation theory.

3.1 Common features between contact structures and foliations

It is an i m p o r t a n t topological method which is common to the theories

of foliations and contact structures on 3-manifolds to chase t h e (singular)
vector field, which we also call the characteristic foliation, defined as the
intersection of an imbedded surface and the plane field. Especially in the
foliation theory, the notion of holonomy is the core of the theory. However
the situations around the singularities of such vector fields are rather differ-
ent. T h e characteristic foliation £s of an embedded surface £ and a plane
field £ = k e r a and is given as the singular vector field X, which is defined
by t h e equation Lxdvol^. = a | s . Here, dvol% denotes an area element of E.
Since div X • dvolz = da\s, then we have div X = 0 in the case of foliations,
t h a t is a A da = 0, and div X ^ 0 in the case of contact structures. T h e
images around singularities of index ± 1 are indicated in t h e figure below.
Even around a non-singular point, the difference appears clearly by
perturbing the imbedded surface. In the case of foliations, the picture
does not change by small perturbations, but it does in the case of contact
structures. See Lemma 0.4.3.
We also have various kinds of analogous notions and results between
two theories, which are important backgrounds for the birth of the theory
of confoliations.
Needless to say, we can add much more items to the next table. See [8],
[15], [25], e t c . , and t r y to do it by yourselves.
T h e relations between 3 r d items and 4 t h ones in the table are featured
as one of the main themes in this section.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 99

CONTACT STRUCTURES

focal (div % 0) center (div = 0) saddle, div % 0

FOLIATIONS

focal (div ^ 0 ) center (div = 0) saddle, div - 0

Figure 10.

Dictionary 3.1.1

THEORY OF CONTACT STRUCTURES • THEORY OF FOLIATIONS

limit periodic orbit of OT-disk 1 vanishing cycle
Lutz's tube 2 Reeb component
tight contact structure 3 foliation w/o Reeb comp.
semi-tillable contact structure 4 taut foliation
Bennequin's inequality 5 Thurston's inequality
Ghys-Giroux-Sato-Tsuboi's inequality 6 Milnor-Wood's inequality
a theorem of Giroux 3.1.7 7 Thurston's Thesis
Theorem 2.2.7 tillable => tight 8 Barrett-Inaba's Theorem

First let us review 5 item, Thurston's and Bennequin's inequalities,

whose similarity is already obvious, in the absolute version (i.e., for closed
surfaces).
T h e o r e m 3.1.2 ( T h u r s t o n ' s inequality, [69]) Let M be a closed ori-
ented 3-manifold and T an oriented codimension 1 foliation on M without
100 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

Reeb components. For any embedded closed oriented surface E s of genus

g > 0 in M, we have the following inequality.

|(e(rn[S9])|<|X(S9)l=2ff-2
Here e("7\F) denotes the euler class of the tangent bundle of T and x(E s )
the euler characteristic of E 9 . This means that compact leaves measure
e{r!F) most effectively in the sense of the genus among embedded closed
surfaces representing the same homology class. We may express this as
\\e{rF)\\Th < 1 by using Thurston's norm \\ • \\Th ([69]) on H2(M;Z).
Theorem 3.1.3 (Bennequin's inequality, [6],[13]) Lett; be a tight con-
tact structure on a closed oriented 3-manifold M For any embedded closed
oriented surface E 9 of genus g > 0 in M,

|(c(rO,[S9]>|<|x(S9)|=25-2

holds. This is also equivalent to the inequality ||e(r^)||r/i < 1 •

A contact version of Milnor-Wood's inequality, which is well known as a
criterion for the existence of codimension 1 was found by Ghys-Giroux and
Sato-Tsuboi independently. Moreover, Giroux proved a contact version of
Thurston's thesis [68] minutely.
Theorem 3.1.4 (Milnor-Wood's inequality, [48], [73]) Let p : M ->
E s be an S1 -bundle over a closed oriented surface E s of genus g > 0, whose
euler number is x(p) — (e(p)> P 9 ])- Then there exists a codimension 1
foliations on M which is transverse to each fibre if and only if the following
inequality holds.

WP)I<IX(S9)|=2<7-2 .

The same result is obtained for general Seifert fibrations. It applies also
to the following G-G-S-T's inequality.
Theorem 3.1.5 (Ghys-Giroux-Sato-Tsuboi's inequality, [61], [25])
The same p : M —» E g as above admits a positive contact structure which
is transverse to each fibre if and only if the following inequality holds.

X(P) < ~X(S 9 ) = 2g-2.

See the last note in Example 0.3.3 for directions of inequality signs. The
reason why the inequality shifts from " • • • < 0 " to " • • • < 2g—2 " is that the
horizontal distributions given by contact structures are not necessarily Sl-
connections. Eliashberg-Thurston call such contact structures 'nonlinear
pre-quantizations'.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 101

Theorem 3.1.6 (Thurston's thesis, [68], [40]) Let M be anSl-bundle

over a closed oriented surface and J- a codimension 1 foliation on M. Sup-
pose that T has no compact leaves. Then T can be isotoped so as to be
transverse to each fibre .
Theorem 3.1.7 (Giroux, [25]) Suppose a contact structure £ given on
Sl -bundle M has no Legendrian knot both isotopic to the fibre and with the
rotation number zero. Then £ is isotoped to be transverse to each fibre.
He reached these results by relying on his theory of convex surfaces [22].
We have already remarked that the tightness of contact structures was
induced from the strict pseudo-convexity in the previous section. There is
a result about foliations corresponding to this. This is the last part of the
dictionary above.
Theorem 3.1.8 jGromov-Eliashberg, [28],[ll] A fillable contact structure
is tight.
Theorem 3.1.9 (Barrett-Inaba, [5]) Let M be a compact Levi-flat real
hypersurface of class C°° in a complex surface W and T the induced folia-
tion. Then the foliation T has no Reeb components.
Remark 3.1.10 1) It might be worth noticing that there are further differ-
ences between the theories of foliations and contact structures. In contact
topology we have no analogue of Novikov's theorem, which claims that any
foliation on S3 (or in general on a closed 3-manifold with finite fundamental
group) admits a Reeb component.
2) Related to Reeb components and vanishing cycles, Haefliger's theo-
rem neither has its analogue in contact topology, which asserts that there
are no analytic foliations on the same sort of manifolds. Because of the
rigidity and the openness of being a contact structure, specifying the dif-
ferentiability of contact structures makes no sense, while it has an essential
importance in the theory of foliations.

3.2 Generation of contact structures through perturbations from

foliations: theory of confoliations
It is the heart of the theory of confoliations to produce a contact structure
from a foliation. It enables us to show the existence of fillable contact struc-
tures in certain cases. We explain perturbations of foliations into contact
structures here and the mechanism by which fillable ones are obtained in
3.3 largely according to Confoliations [15].
Theorem 3.2.1 (Main Theorem of Confoliations, [15]) Except for
(S2 x S1,( = {S2 x pt.}), any codimension 1 oriented C2 foliation (M,!F)
on a closed oriented 3-manifold is approximated by positive (and of course
102 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

negative) contact structures as plane fields by arbitrarily small perturbations

in C°-topology, is excluded as {M,T).
By the Reeb stability, if a foliation of a closed oriented 3-manifold has
even a single leaf which is homeomorphic to S2, it is diffeomorphic to '£',
which can never be perturbed into any other foliations nor even into any
contact structures.
This theorem is proven through the following three steps of perturba-
tions of tangent plane fields. It should be noticed that in each steps we can
take perturbations of plane fields arbitrarily small in C°-topology.
First Step (Adjusting foliations) Perturb a given foliation into one
which has sufficiently many holonomies.
Second Step (Generating nonintegrability) Perturb the foliation into
a positive contact structure near the support of the holonomy.
Third Step (Propagation of nonintegrability)
Propagate the nonintegrability to the whole manifold along leaves.
Let us deal with the Second and the Third Steps before the First, be-
cause we see easily what must be done in the First Step after the Second
and Third.
Second Step (Generating nonintegrability) The following proposition
is the key to construct a contact structure from a foliation.
Proposition 3.2.2 (Perturbation into confoliation by holonomy,
[15]) 1) / / a leaf of a foliation T contains a simple loop 7 with non-trivial
linear holonomy, there exists a plane field £1 obtained by slightly perturbing
TT only in a sufficiently small tubular neighbourhood U of 7, which is a
positive contact structure on U and coincides with TT outside U.
2) More generally, let us assume that a simple loop 7 on a leaf of J- has
the holonomy which has contracting parts on both sizes and the supports
of these contractions are sufficiently close to the leaf and on the region
between the two contracting parts the holonomy is sufficiently close to the
identity. Then there exists a small perturbation of TT into £1, which is
performed only in a sufficiently small tubular neighbourhood U ofj, and^i
is a positive contact structure on U and coincides with TT outside U.
Proof. 1) Suppose 7 has an expanding holonomy with non-trivial linear
part. Then we can find a local coordinate (x,y,z), (x € S1 = R/Z) as
follows on a sufficiently small tubular neighbourhood U of 7. The leaf L
corresponds to (x, y)-plane and 7 to x-axis. On U, the leaf looks almost like
the graph of z = cexpax. Indeed, more exactly, we may suppose that the
foliation T\\j is defined by a 1-form a = dz — f(x, z)dx (where / = az + o(z),
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 103

especially -gL > 0 on U). Then we have da — df Adx. Take a bump function
g(y, z) such that

9\M\U=0, g\u<0, /-^f>0,

and put P — gdy. Define a deformation of a by a ( = a + tj3 by using (3

above. By the straight forward calculation, we can see very easily that this
a defines a positive contact structure on U when t > 0 and negative one
when t < 0.
2) Let us outline the proof. Take a similar coordinate as above and
assume that {e < \z\ < 1} is contained in the contracting part.
Then we perform a similar perturbation on U — S1 x (—1,1) x (-1,1)
as above to obtain new plane fields ^kera^ for |i| <C 1. £,t 0 < t ^ 1 is
a positive contact structure on {2e < \z\ < 1} because of more or less the
same reason as above. In the region {\z\ < 2e} £t can even be negative
contact structure. However the negativity is small and bounded by the
nature of the holonomy.
For not too much small t > 0, the curves which are tangent to £t and x =
const, go up and down so as to join the bad region {\z\ < 2e} to the good
region {2e < \z\ < 1} where a good amount of positive nonintegrability is
waiting for to compensate the badness in {\z\ < 2s} from the point of view
of the Third Step. •
The resulting plane field has both the part of foliations and that of
positive contact structures.
Third Step (Propagation of nonintegrability)
Definition 3.2.3 (Confoliation, [15]) A plane field £ of oriented 3-mani-
fold M defined by a non-singular 1-form a is called a confoliation if it
satisfies a A da > 0. For a given confoliation £, its contact part is denoted
by C ( 0 = {x e M;(aA da)x > 0}, and the foliation part by F(f) = { i £
M; (a Ada)x — 0}. Furthermore, C(£) denotes the saturation {x G M; 3j :
[0,1] - • M acurve along £,7(0) € C ( 0 , 7 ( l ) = x) of C(£) by leaves of F{£).
Generally, when a confoliation £ is given, we can diffuse the nonintegra-
bility on C(£) to the outside along leaves of F(£).
Proposition 3.2.4 (Propagation of nonintegrability, [15]) Let B be
a coordinate neighbourhood as in Lemma 0.4-3. Moreover, suppose the fol-
lowing condition.
(3) | £ > 0 on 0 < x < 2e .
We can perturb the function f (so the plane field £) so that it satisfies the
following conditions i), ii), and Hi) by arbitrarily small perturbations on
B' = [e, 1 — e]3 ( = a sufficiently small neighbourhood of dB).
104 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

i) On B" = [2e, 1 - 2ef, % > 0,

ii) OnB,$£> 0,
iii) On B\B', it is same as the original one.
Namely this means that the nonintegrability on {0 < x < 2e} propagates to
B" along curves in leaves.
Of course, the proof is easy. Then if a confoliation £ of a compact
manifold M satisfies C(^) = M, we can p e r t u r b it until it becomes a
positive contact structure on the whole of M by performing the operation
in this proposition for finitely many times.
T h e propagation of nonintegrability along leaves was first achieved by
Altschuler [1] in an analytic method. He used a new kind of heat equa-
tion. His work must have been one of good motivations for the theory of
confoliations.
F i r s t S t e p ( A d j u s t i n g f o l i a t i o n s ) If a foliation (M, T) satisfies t h e fol-
lowing condition (F), we get a contact structure by applying t h e procedures
in the last two Steps.
3 . 2 . 5 C o n d i t i o n (F): There exist finitely many leaves with holonomies
as in Proposition 3.2.2, and any other leaves (i.e., any minimal set of T)
meets the neighbourhoods of such leaves.
From now on, we assume t h a t foliations are of class C 2 because we
need the qualitative theory of foliations. Now what we have to prove is t h e
following, which is a good exercise for the experts on the qualitative theory
of foliations.
P r o p o s i t i o n 3 . 2 . 6 Any T{^ £) * s approximated by a sequence of folia-
tions each of which satisfies (F).
In general, minimal sets are classified into the following 3 types; (1) a
compact leaf, (2) dense type, (3) an exceptional minimal set (EMS). T h a n k s
to Sacksteder's theorem, EMS is very convenient.
T h e o r e m 3 . 2 . 7 ( S a c k s t e d e r , [60]) In EMS, there is a leaf with a non-
trivial linear holonomy.
In the case of type (2), the situations are quite different according
whether the holonomy is trivial or not. If there is a leaf with holonomy,
we can easily find a subpseudogroup of Schottky type, i.e., a pseudogroup
of 1-dimensional local diffeomorphisms generated by 71 and 72, which look
like 71 : [0,1] -> [a, 6], 72 : [0,1] -> [c, d], where 0 < a < f c < c < d < l . This
subpseudogroup has an EMS. T h e n we can apply (the proof of) Sacksteder's
theorem to this EMS to get a linear holonomy.
One the other hand, a foliation of which all leaves have no holonomy
is a bundle foliation or is approximated by a sequence of bundle foliations
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 105

(so called Tischler fibration). Therefore this case reduces to the case where
infinitely many compact leaves pile on.
Since the genus of leaves are positive now, it is exactly easy to pick up
some sheets of leaves discretely in the part of piling compact leaves and to
perturb the foliation so that there are only finitely many compact leaves
and they have linear holonomies or at least such holonomies as in 2) of
Proposition 3.2.2.
In the case where T has infinitely many EMS's, Sacksteder's theorem
prohibits them to accumulate to another EMS, therefore all but finite of
them are trapped by compact leaves.
By these operations, any foliation except for ( is perturbed so as to
satisfy the condition (F).

3.3 Taut foliations and fillable contact structures

Now let us show the existence theorem of semi-fillable contact structures by
using perturbations of foliations into contact structures. Gabai's theorem
is the key from the side of the foliation theory.
Theorem 3.3.1 (Gabai, [20]) Let M be an irreducible oriented closed
3-manifold with H^iM;!^) ^ 0. Given a non-trivial non-divisible element
c € H2(M;Z), there exists a C°° taut foliation T which has a compact leaf
representing c.
Proposition 3.3.2 ([15]) If both positive and negative contact structures
£± sufficiently approximate a taut foliation (M, .F), then ( M U ( - M ) , £+ U
£_) is fillable.
Definition 3.3.3 ([15]) A contact structure (M,£) is called semi-fillable,
if it consists of (some of) connected components of a fillable contact struc-
ture (N, 7?), i.e., (M, £) is not necessarily the whole but a closed open subset
of (N,n). Semi-fillable structures are of course tight by Proposition 2.1.1
and Theorem 2.2.7.
We have the following theorem as a direct corollary.
Theorem 3.3.4 (Existence of semi-fillable contact structures, [15])
On any irreducible oriented closed 3-manifold M other than rational homo-
topy 3-spheres, there exists a semi-fillable contact structure.
Let us prove Proposition 3.3.2 by using (3) of Sullivan's characterization
of minimal foliations.
Theorem 3.3.5 (Sullivan's characterization of minimal foliations,
[62]) For transversely oriented codimension 1 foliation (M,F) on a closed
3-manifold, the following four conditions are equivalent to each other.
106 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

(1) Every leaf intersects with a transverse knot, i.e., is taut.

(2) There is no dead end component.
(3) There is a closed 2-form fl which is positive on each leaves.
(4) There is a Riemannian metric on M such that every leaf is a minimal
surface.
Remark 3.3.6 (3) implies if taut foliation has a compact leaf it represents
a non-trivial homology class.
Proof of Proposition 3.3.2 Approximate a taut foliation (M, T)
(jf (S 2 x S1 ,()) by positive and negative contact structures f±. Let a
be a 1-form which defines the foliation T and put u> = 0. + d(ta). Since
w1 = 2dt A Q A a as is easily calculated, u> defines a symplectic structure
on K x M. Notice that w|r^-CT({o}xM) = ^IT:F > 0 by the construction.
If you take sufficiently good approximations £± of T and sufficiently small
£ > 0, a symplectic manifold (W = [—e, e] x M, w) gives a symplectic filling
of the contact structures £± of the boundary dW = {±e} x M. D

3.4 Further results

Combining the results in this section with some topological constructions
and some techniques to classify tight contact structures on noncompact
manifolds, Eliashberg proved the following theorem.
Theorem 3.4.1 (Eliashberg, [15]) Any foliation without Reeb compo-
nent is approximated by tight contact structures.
By this, we get a bridge from the right of 3rd item of the dictionary 3.1.1
at the top of this section to the left. One hand, we know that the standard
contact structure on S 3 and its isotoped structures approximate the Reeb
foliation. As the Reeb foliation satisfies the relative version of Thurston's
inequality, there is no contradiction, while it is even approximated by OT
contact structures.
Another important topic is 'finiteness'. Expressing Bennequin's and
Thurston's inequalities by the Thurston norm, we see the following finite-
ness theorem.
Theorem 3.4.2 (Finiteness for Cohomology Classes) Let M be a
closed oriented 3-manifold. Then the number of cohomology classes in
H2(M; Z) which can be realized as the euler class of a tight contact structure
or the tangent bundle of a foliation without Reeb components is finite.
Using the monopole equations, Kronheimer and Mrowka proved the
following remarkable finiteness theorem on the homotopy classes as plane
field.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 107

Theorem 3.4.3 (Finiteness for homotopy classes, [38]) For any ori-
ented closed 3-manifold M, there exist only finitely many homotopy classes
of plane fields which contain a fillable contact structure.
So far, mainly the foliation theory served for the study of contact struc-
tures. Now a converse is established. Combining this result with the theory
of confoliations, we get the following theorem as a direct corollary.
Theorem 3.4.4 For any oriented closed 3-manifold M, there exist only
finitely many homotopy classes of plane fields which contain the tangent
bundle of a taut foliation.
This is a really new result even in the foliation theory. We do not know
whether the homotopy finiteness is true or not for tight contact structures
nor for foliations without Reeb components.

4 Anosov flows and bi-contact structures

In the previous section, we introduced a general procedure of perturbing

a foliation into a contact structure, under the name of confoliation. In
the contrast with this, in this section we investigate some special situation
where foliations deforms into contact structures and contact structures con-
verges into foliations.
The most important class is that of foliations and contact structures
associated with Anosov flows on 3-manifolds. Looking from the point of
view of the hierarchy of convexities, this class shows the strongest convex-
ities, i.e., associated contact structures have strong symplectic fillings and
Anosov foliations are highly mixing and taut. (We have already discussed
on the weak fillablity and tightness until the previous section.)
The notion of Anosov flow is generalized into projectively Anosov flows,
respecting the reason why foliations and contact structures are naturally
associated with the flow.
This kind of flow exists on any oriented closed 3-manifolds so that it is
expected to contribute to the study of convexity of structures. However, the
associated integrable plane field does not have differentiability in general,
and thus it does not define a foliation in a usual sense. This pathological
phenomenon happens unavoidably. Moreover the resulting contact struc-
ture can be OT. On the other hand, if we assume the regularity on the
weak Anosov splitting, we get their convexities as well as the classifying
theorems 4.3.4 due to Noda.
As basic references for Anosov flows and foliations, we raise the very
first reference [2] due to Anosov himself as well as [74], [31], and [37].
108 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

4-1 Anosov flows and strong filling

Q u e s t i o n 4 . 1 . 1 ( C a l a b i ) Does there exist a completely convex (or strong-

ly filling) symplectic 4-manifolds which does not come from a complex
structure? More specifically do there exist those with disconnected end
(or boundary)?
T h e first such example to this question was constructed by McDuff [46]
as a convex symplectic structure on [—1,1] x S1T*Y,g. T h e two contact
structures induced on the b o u n d a r y components { ± 1 } x S1T*Y,g were two
really well known ones, classical and q u a n t u m mechanical examples 0.3.2
and 0.3.3, i.e., the Liouville contact structure and the Riemannian connec-
tion.
E. Ghys and the author found a much simpler construction and de-
scription of this example in t e r m s of the dual of the Lie algebra s/(2;R)*
([39], [49]) and it was soon clarified t h a t the same construction applies to
the solvable Lie group associated with a hyperbolic automorphism of the
2-torus T2 (see Example 0.3.5 and Figure 4). As a m a t t e r of fact, these
two are t h e Lie groups which admit a left invariant Anosov flow.
Remark 4-1-2 McDuff's construction was in 'some' sense essentially differ-
ent from ours. According to hers the leaves of the Anosov foliation are
symplectic and it is similar to the construction in §3.3. To the contrary,
our construction makes the leaves Lagrangian. However, if we exchange
stable and unstable (i.e., reverse the flow), symplectic Lagrangian are also
switched, and thus we can say they coincide finally. See Example 0.3.5 and
Figure 4.
D e f i n i t i o n 4 . 1 . 3 A nonsingular smooth flow <f>t on a closed 3-manifold
M 3 is said to be an Anosov flow there exists a </>4-invariant continuous
splitting (Anosov splitting) TM = T</> © Euu © Ess of the tangent bundle
which satisfies the following conditions for some Riemann metric; For some
positive constant c > 0,

to e Euu, Vt > 0, | | ( & M | > exp(ci)|M|,

to G Ess, Vt < 0, \\{<pt)*v\\ > e x p ( c t ) N | .

We set Es=T(f>® Ess {Eu =T4>@ Euu) and call TM = T(j> ® Eu @ Es the
weak Anosov splitting. T h e C r -section theorem ([31]) guarantees t h a t Eu
and Es are plane fields of class C 1 . Therefore Lemma 0.4.3 implies t h a t
they define two foliations Tu and Ts which are called unstable and stable
Anosov foliations respectively. See Figure 11.
T h e o r e m 4 . 1 . 4 ([49]) Let <j>t be an Anosov flow on a closed oriented 3-
manifold M. Then, the 4-manifold W = [—1,1] x M admits a convex
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 109

symplectic structure, i.e., is a strong filling. On the other hand, W has the
disconnected boundary so that it is not a Grauert domain.
Remark 4-1-5 Stein manifold of dime = n (i.e., dimjj = 2n ) carries a
strictly pluri-subharmonic function whose Morse theory shows that the
manifold has the homotopy type of at most n-dimensional CW complex.
In particular, in the case where dime > 2 the boundary (end) is connected.
This holds even for Grauert domains. See [58].
In order to visualize this theorem, let us introduce the notions of bi-
contact structures and of linear perturbations.
Definition 4.1.6 (Linear perturbation) A 1-parameter family of plane
fields {£t} is called a linear perturbation of the foliation £o if it is defined
by a 1-parameter family of 1-forms {at}-e<t<e which satisfies

ao A dao = 0 and - r ( a * ^ dat)\t=o > 0

at
everywhere on the manifold. If we set (3 = -^(at)\t-0 and a = ao, the
second condition (inequality) is equivalent to a A dp + da A j3 > 0.
As an even more special case, we study linear perturbations such that
£t_^0 are transverse to the foliation, i.e., a A (5 ^ 0. Anosov foliations are
exactly in this case. Let us formulate what happens in the case of Anosov
foliations looking from the side of contact structures.
Definition 4.1.7 ( Bi-contact structure) A bi-contact structure on a 3-
manifold M is a transverse pair (£, rf) of contact structures on M with the
opposite orientations .

ft|W * > 1
TP * )

1 Ess

Anosov flow Bi-contact structure

Figure 11.

As indicated in Figure 11, for an Anosov flow 4>t we define plane fields £
and r\ to be those who contain the flow direction T<f> and take the positions
110 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

of ±45° against Eu and Es. Then neither £ nor 77 are preserved by the flow
4>t- Actually they look twisted along the flow in the opposite directions.
Therefore we obtain the following by Lemma 0.4.3.
Theorem 4.1.8 ([49]) The pair of plane fields (£,77) thus associated with
an Anosov flow is a bi-contact structure.
Remark 4-1-9 We have a problem of the differentiability of the weak split-
ting, which has already caused a trouble in Theorem 4.1.8. Even in the case
where Euu or Ess are not smooth, in this dimension the CR section theo-
rem [31] guarantees that Eu and Es are of class C 1 . The definition for a
plane field to be a contact structure has still its meaning even for C 1 -plane
fields and the condition is open. For Theorem 4.1.8, it suffices to look at
the projectified normal bundle to the flow and to take a ^-approximations
of £ and 77 by C°°-plane fields as sections of that bundle.
Proof of Theorem 4-1-4 is outlined in the following.
The linear perturbation of the unstable foliation Tu by the stable foli-
ation Ts

at + tas, kera" = Eu, kera s = Es

gives rise to a convex symplectic structure u> = dX on the 4-manifold W =
[—1,1] x M. Here A is obtained by regarding the family of 1-forms {at} as
a 1-form on W = [-1,1] x M. On the boundary dW = {-1,1} x M we
have contact forms a±\ = au ±as which are the restriction of A and define
£ and 77. (See also Figure 4.)
Origins J Anosov flow

t w\ \
Mx{0) ,
(Afx{-I},Ct-i}
1-1),a*l)

[-1.1]
n
A series of works initiated by Handel-Thurston [29] allows us to ob-
tain new Anosov flows by performing Dehn surgeries along closed orbits of
Anosov flows. Therefore, there are so many Anosov flows other than alge-
braic ones. In Particular, most of graph manifolds admits Anosov flows.
However, a theorem of Plante-Thurston [59] (see below) puts a constraint
on the class of manifolds which admit Anosov flows.
Conversely, the class of foliations whose linear perturbation gives the
primitive of a convex symplectic structure looks also quite restrictive and
limited to Anosov foliations. A partial result is given by using a theorem
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 111

of Inaba-Tsuchiya, which generalizes the theorem of Plante-Thurston to

expansive foliations, i.e., foliations who have the following property ; any
small open transversal can be transformed into a transeversal of a uniformly
fixed size by the holonomies along the leaves.
Theorem 4.1.10 1) (Inaba-Tsuchiya, [34]) A manifold which admit
an expansive foliation of codimension 1 has its fundamental group with
exponential growth.
2) (Plante-Thurston, [59]) In particular, the fundamental group of
a manifold which admits an Anosov flow grows exponentially.
Theorem 4.1.11 ([52]) Let to — dX be a convex symplectic structure on
WA = [—1,1] x M3, which is obtained by a deformation at of a foliation T
on M as X = at- Then, it is a linear perturbation, (3 = a\t=$ is transverse
to a, and the contact structures kera £ and kera_ £ pair into a bi-contact
structure. Moreover, TTI(M) has an exponential growth.
Outline of proof. If a linear perturbation A = a+tfi provides a primitive
of a symplectic structure, i.e., J1 = (dX)2 > 0 , it is not difficult to compute
that the transverse metric expands exponentially along the lines defined by
a A [3 = 0. The the statement follows from the theorem of Inaba-Tsuchiya.

4-2 Projectively Anosov flows and bi-contact structures

Conversely to Theorem 4.1.8, for any given bi-contact structure (£,77) do
we always obtain an Anosov flow <fit as the vector field given by their inter-
section T<f) = £ n n ?
The answer is No! and we should introduce the notion of projectively
Anosov flows.
Definition 4.2.1 (Projectively Anosov Flow,[49]) A nonsingular
smooth flow <fit on a closed oriented 3-manifold M is a Projectively Anosov
flow (or PA flow for short) if the projectification T<pt of the differen-
tial of the flow induced on the projectified normal bundle to the flow
Sl(TM/T(j)) = (TM/T<t>\ 0)/R+ presents the same situation as that of
Anosov flows. Precisely, it means the following.
(1) There are four mutually disjoint continuous sections £\ and £± of
Sl{TM/T(l)) which are invariant under the induced flow T<fit and are
mutually anti-podal two by two.
(2) The orbit of any point which is not on these 4 cross sections is attracted
to £\ when t—»oo and to £± when t—>— 00.
Remark that in this situation, £± and £± define two plane fields Eu and Es
on M which are invariant under the flow (fit • We again call TM = Eu + Es
112 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

the weak Anosov splitting of the PA flow <f>t.

SKTM/-& )

Bi-contact structure «=> Projectively Anosov flow

Figure 12.

The notions of PA flows and bi-contact structures are equivalent to each

other. That is to say, we have the following.
Theorem 4.2.2 ([49], [52]) 1) Any PA flow gives us a bi-contact struc-
ture in the same way as in the case of Anosov flows.
2) The flow (j>t defined from a bi-contact structure (£,77) as their inter-
section is a PA flow.
PA flows exist much more abundantly than Anosov flows. The first
example of non-Anosov PA flow was constructed from an Anosov flow by
modifying it in a neighbourhood of a closed orbit in such a way that the
orbit comes to be totally attracting. This modification was pointed out by
A. Zeghib in 1993, which was a rediscovery of an argument due to Franks-
Willims [17]. Then a definitive example was found on T 3 .
Example 4.2.3 (Propeller construction, [15], [49]) First prepare a
pair of contact structures on T 3 which were introduced in Example 0.3.5.
£' = £fc = ker[a' = cos (kz)dx - sin (kz)dy], (k e N),
r) = £_; = ker[/3 = cos (lz)dx + sin {lz)dy], (I € N).
As they are not transverse to each other, we add a bit of perturbation
a = a' + edz (e > 0) so as to arrange them transverse to each other and
define £ = ker[a]. Then, because ^ ^ £ and -^ 6 r?, £ and 77 are transverse
to each other and we get a bi- contact structure (£,?i). In the case where
k = I, indicated in the following figures, we obtain the resulting (un)stable
foliations which are presented in very simple terms of trigonometric func-
tions.
As the fundamental group (= Z 3 ) of T 3 grows of course as a polynomial
of degree 3, it does not admit Anosov flows. What is even more charac-
teristic here is that the two foliations have compact leaves and that they
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 113

= cos z dx
- sin z dy

Perturb into BC
BC = PA
Weak (Un)Stable ^u
Foliations
caszdx
+ dz/2

Figure 13. Propeller construction-1

ws= cou =
cosz dz + sinz dy sinz dz - cosz dx

Figure 14. Propeller construction-2

coincide with the set of points on which before the perturbation £' and 77
are tangent to each other. Of course weak (un)stable foliation of an Anosov
flow never admit a compact leaf.
To arrange £ and r\ transverse to each other by perturbing £', it is enough
to do it only on the neighbourhood of the points of tangency of £' and r\
(in the case of the above figure, four horizontal T 2 's) by adding certain dz-
component. Especially, we can choose different signs of the coefficients of dz
on each connected component. What thus we get looks like in Figure 14. It
is observed that both foliations Tu and J-s have two compact leaves which
bound so called dead end components. That is to say, we are not allowed to
expect to get taut foliations even assuming the differentiability of the weak
114 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

splitting of a PA flow.
Remark 4-2-4 1) The propeller construction is also applicable to produce
bi-contact structures on any T 2 -bundles over S 1 , if we respect the eigen
directions or the twisting angles of the monodromy and adjust the rotation
angle of propeller.
2) Even on S3 an explicit construction of a PA flow (and at the same
time a bi-contact structure (£,77)) is known, which is due to H. Minakawa.
In this example, the weak unstable and stable foliations are isomorphic to
the standard Reeb foliation, however, so is the stable one only topologically.
To arrange two Reeb foliations in a transverse position is not at all difficult,
however, to get PA flow we have to destroy the transverse differentiable
structure of at least one of two. Soon we will see the reason (Theorem 4.3.1).
As an existence result, we get the following Theorem 4.2.6 as a direct
corollary to Hardorp's thesis and the main theorem of confoliations.
Theorem 4.2.5 (Hardorp, [30]) Any closed oriented 3-manifold admits
a total foliation, i.e., a triad of foliations (J-,Q,Tt) whose tangent planes
TT, TQ, and TTL are linearly independent at each point of the manifold.
Theorem 4.2.6 Any closed oriented 3-manifold admits a bi-contact struc-
ture.
Remark 4-2.7 On S 3 , the situation seems quite confusing.
1) (Foliations) Novikov's theorem says that any foliation on S3 admits
a Reeb component. Therefore even if we get foliations from a PA flow, we
can not expect their convexity.
2) (Contact structures) According to the uniqueness theorem (see [12])
of Eliashberg, positive and negative tight contact structures on S 3 are both
unique up to isotopy. Actually, they are given as the left and right invariant
plane fields of the Lie group 5 3 and they differ by 1 as homotopy class of
plane fields, measured by the Hopf invariant. Therefore they can not pair
into a single bi-contact structure because two contact structures of which
a bi-contact structure consists belong to the same homotopy class of plane
fields. Thus a bi-contact structure (£, rj) on 5 3 consists of at least one OT
structure.
3) (Weak Anosov splitting) In general, we can not assume the differen-
tiability on the weak Anosov splitting Eu + Es of PA flows. Even though
they are 'integrable' {i.e., at any point there exists an integral submani-
fold) as Lemma 0.4.3 explains, the integral submanifolds can be branched.
There exist many such examples. There also exist PA flows whose weak
stable and unstable foliations are without branching and still can not have
differentiability. These are related to the above remarks 1) and 2).
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 115

Figure 15. Irregular projectively Anosov flow

As in the figure on the previous page, prepare a 1-dimensional foliation

on T 2 which has two 2-dimensional Reeb components and perform the
propeller construction starting from it.
By the construction, the original 1-dimensional foliation on T2 gives the
flow lines of the resulting PA flow and the T2 must be a compact leaf.
Computing the holonomy along the boundary loop of 2-dimensional
Reeb components as the Lyapunov exponents of the flow, we get some
contradiction. This implies the resulting weak Anosov splitting is forced to
have branching integral submanifolds. We will see a similar argument in
the proof of Theorem 4.3.1.

4-3 Tightness of bi-contact structures

If we assume some regularity on the weak Anosov splitting of PA flows, we
get convexities both on foliations and contact structures.
Theorem 4.3.1 ([52]) / / a PA flow has its weak Anosov splitting Eu + Es
of class Cl, neither of the foliations Tu nor Ts have Reeb components.
Proof. Proof relies on the Tamura-Sato classification ([64]) of the foliations
which are transverse to a Reeb component.
Let Tu be the unstable foliation indicated in the figure on the right as a
foliation drawn by solid lines. The classification tells us that as the stable
foliation Ts (drawn with broken lines) is transverse to T* there exists a
half Reeb component, a region which looks like the right half of the Reeb
component in the figure. Thus we can find two closed orbits 71 and 72 on
the boundary(corner) of the half Reeb component.
We can compute the linear holonomy of Tu along the orbit of the PA
flow as the Lyapunov exponents of the (un-)stable direction. If we do this
on 71 and 72 for both of Tu and Ts, then we get a contradiction. •
116 Y0SHIHIK0 MlTSUMATSU

Definition 4.3.2 (Regular projectively Anosov flow, [54]) A PA

flow is regular if it satisfies the assumption of the above theorem. Hereafter
in this note, this terminology implies the flow with C°°-splitting unless
otherwise specified.
Even in the case of regular PA flows, as indicated in Figure 14 (Propeller
Construction-2), Tu and Ts may have dead-end components. Therefore, it
may be not reasonable to expect the fillability of contact structures. How-
ever, Theorem 4.3.1 and Eliashberg's theorem 3.4.1 suggests the following.
Conjecture 4.3.3 A bi-contact structure associated with a regular PA
flow consists both of tight contact structures.
In the case of regular PA flows, sometimes not only the convexity but
also even the classification is achieved. In the propeller construction 4.2.3
on T 3 , if we take k = I, exceptionally we get real analytic foliations Tu and
Ts. Takeo Noda proved the following classification theorem concerning this
phenomenon.
Theorem 4.3.4 (Noda, [53]) Any regular PA flow on T 3 is obtained by
the propeller constructions starting from, a linear foliation on T2. The re-
sulting bi-contact structure (£, rf) consists both of tight contact structures
and eventually they are £& and £_/; for some k G N in the classification
theorem due to Giroux and Kanda ([24], [36]).
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 117

His result is in fact far more precise. It classifies associated foliations

completely. That is to say, such a foliation is a composition of the units of
foliations in Figure 13 and 14.
As remarked before, the propeller constructions apply to any other T 2 -
bundles over S1 than T 3 . Noda extended his argument to such cases. Espe-
cially in the case of solvable manifolds which are obtained as the suspension
of T 2 by hyperbolic elements in SL(2; Z), he showed that the similar clas-
sification is possible under the presence of a compact leaf.
For those which have no compact leaves, Noda and Tsuboi further
advanced their argument. They classified regular PA flows on the solv-
manifolds and the unit tangent bundle of hyperbolic surfaces, which are
known to admit algebraic Anosov flows. Let us look around some back-
grounds of this.
Let T,g be a closed oriented surface of genus g > 2 and Tg be its Te-
ichmuler space, i.e., the space of isotopy classes of hyperbolic structures on
it. If we fix a hyperbolic structure h e Tg on E 9 , the unit tangent circle
bundle S^TT.g is determined as a submanifold of the tangent bundle T £ g .
However, since we can also regard this as the projectification of T £ s , we
can take the same space as their unit tangent bundles S1TT,g — S\.TYjg
(i = 1,2) for distinct hyperbolic structures hi,h,2 £ 7g. For each hyper-
bolic structure h e Tg = M.6g~6, the geodesic flow <ph on SlTY,g defines an
algebraic Anosov flow and we obtain the weak (un)stable foliations T^ and
T^ which are transverse to each other.
Now, if two hyperbolic structures h\,hi^Tg are close enough to each
other, then T^ and T"^ are again transverse, and moreover Tshi n T^
defines a 1-dimensional foliation which gives rise to (up to change of pa-
rameter) a flow <fihi,h2- If ^i a n d ^2 are still closer to each other, 4>hxM
defines a PA flow and if again closer defines an Anosov flow. E. Ghys called
such a deformation of the geodesic Anosov flows quasi-Fuchsian deforma-
tion or quasi-Fuchsian flow ([21]).
Theorem 4.3.5 (Noda-Tsuboi, [54]) 1) On a solv-manifold, only the
(unique) algebraic Anosov flow can be a regular PA flow without compact
leaves.
2) On SlTY,g, only quasi Fuchsian flows can be regularPA flows without
compact leaves and eventually they are Anosov.
What happens if we assume only the transversality of the intersection
of two Anosov foliations (associated with possibly different Anosov flows)
is studied by Matsumoto-Tsuboi.
Theorem 4.3.6 (Matsumoto-Tsuboi, [45]) 1) On solv-manifolds, any
transverse pair of foliations without compact leaves are obtained by a simul-
118 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

taneous isotopy from the algebraic Anosov foliations.

2) On S1TT,g there exists a transverse pair of foliations without compact
leaves, which can not simultaneously isotoped to a quasi-Fuchsian pair of
foliations. Eventually they do not define a PA flow.
As seen from the above discussions, the theory of regular PA flows is
now making progress in the framework of foliation theory. On the other
hand, from the point of view of contact structures we have to investigate
irregular ones. For instance, studies on bi-contact structure necessarily deal
with irregular PA flows. It is not difficult to construct bi-contact structures
on S3 which consist of an OT contact structure and a tight one as well as
those which consist both of OT ones.

5 Problems

To close this article, let us raise some open problems which are related to
the interaction of the theory of foliations and that of contact structures.
Some might be nice to attack right now and some others are still in a vague
form.

5.1 Finiteness problems

Problem 5.1.1 Prove Theorem. 3.4-4 without passing through symplectic
geometry, Seiberg-Witten theory, nor J-curves.
This might already have been achieved by Gabai. It seems plausible to
the author that the method in which Eliashberg tried in [12] must work
well in this situation.
Problem 5.1.2 Does the same homotopy finiteness hold
1) for foliations without Reeb components?
2) for tight contact structures?
By virtue of Theorem 3.4.1, 2) implies 1).

5.2 Anosov and projectively Anosov flows

We saw in §4 that an Anosov flow on a closed 3-manifold M induces a
convex symplectic structure on [—1,1] x M.
Problem 5.2.1 Find an obstruction for M to the existence of convex sym-
plectic structure on W4 = [—1,1] x M.
McDuff's result in [46] tells us that M must not be spherical. Do there
exist further obstructions?
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 119

If we assume further more that the symplectic structure on W4 =

[—1,1] x M comes from a linear perturbation from a foliation in the same
way as in §4.1, we know that -K\(M) has an exponential growth.
PA flows in general are still in a chaotic situation. However, likely in
the case of Anosov flows, if we assume the differentiability on the weak
stable and unstable splitting, the situation is not bad as introduced in §4.3.
Problem 5.2.2 In such a situation, is the foliation Anosov?
Problem 5.2.3 Are regular ¥A flows without compact leaf in its weak sta-
ble foliation actually Anosov?
Problem 5.2.4 Are all regular protectively Anosov flow with compact lea-
ves already listed on Noda's table? i.e., obtained by the propeller construc-
tion on T3 or on solv-manifold?
If these classification problems are affirmatively solved, the next (Con-
jecture 4.3.3) follows.
Problem 5.2.5 Are contact structures associated with regular PA flows
always tight?
For general PA flows, so far not much is known.
Problem 5.2.6 For a given 3-manifold M, which homotopy class of plane
fields on M can be realized as a bi-contact structure? Especially how about
in the case of S3 ?
The following problem, which is a bit reduced from above, is also natural
to ask.
Problem 5.2.7 Determine the homotopy classes of plane fields which can
be realized as a transverse pair of foliations. How about for S3H.
On S3, so far only two homotopy classes (in some sense, minimal ones)
are known to contain bi-contact structures.
Coming back to genuine Anosov flows, we have very vague but somewhat
new problems as follows.
Problem 5.2.8 In the convex symplectic structure associated with an Ano-
sov flow, the weak unstable leaves are symplectic and the weak stable ones
are Lagrangian. If we flip the direction of the Anosov flow, stable and un-
stable, i.e., symplectic and Lagrangian, are replaced with each other. Does
this phenomenon have something to do with mirror symmetry?
Problem 5.2.9 Apply the convex symplectic structure associated with an
Anosov flow to show the nonexistence of Anosov flows on certain 3manifolds.
120 YOSHIHIKO MlTSUMATSU

5.3 2-dimensional foliations on J^-manifolds

As we have seen, the study of 3-dimensional contact structures is naturally
related to the study of 4-dimensional symplectic manifolds or complex man-
ifolds. It might be not too crazy to look for some relations between foliations
and 4-manifolds. For example, if we apply the symplectic Thom conjecture
to the weak filling constructed in §3.3, what we get is Thurston's inequality
for taut foliations. The following problems arose from these circumstances.
Problem 5.3.1 Find a topological obstructions or sufficient conditions for
2-dimensional foliation T on a closed oriented 4-manifold W to be a sym-
plectic foliation, i.e., such there there exists a symplectic structure on W
for which each leaf is symplectic submanifold.
Symplectic foliations are minimal in the differential geometric sense.
Therefore we want a stronger criterion than Sullivan's one for minimal
foliations.
Symplectic foliations satisfies the same inequality as Thurston's one for
foliations on 3-manifolds. This is due to so called the symplectic Thom
conjecture ([57]).
Problem 5.3.2 Do minimal 2-dimensional foliations on 4-inanifolds sat-
isfy Thurston's inequality?
Problem 5.3.3 Does there exist a (topological) condition for 2-dimensio-
nal foliations on 4-manifolds which interpolates between symplectic folia-
tions and Thurston's inequality?
These questions are tempting us to ask the following questions.
Problem 5.3.4 Does there exist an analogue of Reeb component in the
theory of 2-dimensional foliations on 4-manifolds?
Problem 5.3.5 Does there exist an analogue of Thurston's thesis 3.1.6 for
S2-bundles over closed surfaces?
The last problem seems to have some intrinsic relation with problems
on symplectic foliations raised above.

Acknowledgments

This article is based on the previous note distributed in the conference,

which was translated from a text prepared in Japanese. Several people did
not grudge so much effort to translate it into English. For this collaboration,
the author would like to express his gratitude to Atsushi Sato, Hiroyuki
Minakawa, Norikazu Hashiguchi, Ryoji Kasagawa, Hiroki Kodama, and
Yasuharu Nakae.
 FOLIATIONS AND CONTACT STRUCTURES ON 3-MANIFOLDS 121

Every figure in this article is taken from the booklet entitled "3-dimen-
sional contact topology" by the same author which is mentioned above and
is written in Japanese, and was published from the Mathematical Society
of Japan.

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37. A. Katok and B. Hasselblatt, Introduction to the modern theory of
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Received November 14, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 127-155

OPERATOR ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM ON

FOLIATED MANIFOLDS

HITOSHI MORIYOSHI
Department of Mathematics, Keio University,
Yokohama, 223-8522, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

Introduction

We shall deliver a series of three lectures on Operator algebras and the

Index Theorem on foliated manifolds. The topics dealt with in each lecture
are as follows:
• Topology of the leaf space MjT of foliated manifolds (M,F).
We discuss topological method to study M/T such as: holonomy
groupoid; groupoid for transformation groups; group C*-algebras; the
Morita equivalence; the X-theory; von Neumann algebras; the modular
theory.

• Analysis on the leaf space M/T. We develop Differential Geometry

on the leaf space M/J-. We shall discuss notions that exploit analysis
method such as: the index of longitudinal operators in X-group; cyclic
cohomology; the pairing between K-theory and cyclic theory; invari-
ant transverse measures and the Ruelle-Sullivan current; the Connes
index theorem on foliated manifolds; the index theorem for Toeplitz
operators on foliated manifolds;

• Towards noncommutative geometry on foliated manifolds. We

discuss a few subjects that will be relevant to the future develop-
ment of Noncommutative Geometry on foliated manifolds such as: the
Godbillon-Vey class and the index theorem; the type II spectral flow
and the Godbillon-Vey class; singular foliations on Poisson manifolds;

127
128 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

Woronowicz's quantum 3-sphere; the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index the-

orem for singular foliations.

1 Topology of the leaf space M/J 7

1.1 Groupoid C* - algebras

Let M be a smooth manifold of dimension p + q and T a foliation of
codimension q on M. To study the geometry of foliated manifolds (M, JF),
the topology of the leaf spaces MjT would be the first concerns to us. In
general, however, the spaces are not equipped with well-behaved topology;
they are often non-Hausdorff spaces and it makes difficult to study them
from topological viewpoint. To overcome the difficulties we shall introduce
a holonomy groupoid, which in some sense resolves the topology of the leaf
space MjT.
Let L denote a leaf of (M, .F), and 7, 7' : [0,1] —> L be continuous
curves on L. We say that 7 is equivalent to 7' if they have the same end
points and induce the same holonomy. The holonomy groupoid G is then
defined to be the set of equivalence classes of curves along leaves:
G = {7 I 7 is a curve along leaves }/ ~ •
Put
s,r:G^M, a( 7 ) = 7 (0), r( 7 ) = 7 ( 1 ) .
Then G is equipped with a structure of topological groupoid with s, r the
source and target maps. The product is simply the composition of curves,
and the inverse element is the same curve with the opposite parametriza-
tion:
7 l' 7_1
• < • < • • > •.
x y z x y
We can also verify that the holonomy groupoid G admits the system of
coordinate neighbourhoods inherited from the foliation structure on M.
Then G is a manifold of dimension 2p + q; however G could be a non-
Hausdorff space. Namely, the holonomy groupoid is a manifold but a non-
Hausdorff space in general case.
Example 1.1 (Kronecker foliation) Let T 2 = R/Z x R/Z be the 2-
dimensional torus and 6 an irrational number. Take a vector field X =
d/dx + 08/dy on T2. The Kronecker foliation T$ on T2 is then defined
by the flow of X. Here we consider the Kronecker foliation as a foliated
bundle: (T2,^) is diffeomorphic to the following space
M = (MxR/Z)/Z, (x,t) ~ (x + l,t + 6)
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 129

with leaves R x {t} (t e M/Z) in M. Since 9 € R \ Q, each leave is

diffeomorphic to R and curves along the leaves are uniquely determined by
the end points up to homotopy. Thus the holonomy groupoid is given by
the following space:

G = (R x R x R/Z)/Z, {x,y,t)~{x + l,y + l,t + 9).

Here the source and target maps s, r : G —> M are:
s(x, y, t) = (y, t), r(x, y, t) = (x, t).
On a foliated manifold (M, J7) we can choose a Riemannian metric along
the leaves and obtain the volume form on each leaf. Given a point x e M,
we denote by Lx the leaf that contains x and set Lx = {7 G G \ s(j) = x).
It is called the holonomy covering jspace of Lx. In fact the target map r
yields the covering projection r : Lx —» Lx. Then we equip Lx with the
volume form induced from Lx, and denote by dfi = {d[ix}xeM the family
of resulting measures on {Lx}xeM- Note that the family d\x is equivariant
with respect to the right translation of an element 7' € G: Lx —> Ly with
s
(7') = V: r(Y) = x- Let CC(G) denote the space of continuous functions
on G with compact support. Here we make an observation. In general G
is not a Hausdorff space. Thus some points in G are not distinguished by
functions in CC(G). However each point admits a neighbourhood that is
homeomorphic to an open set U in R 2 p + 9 . Let CC(U) denote the space of
continuous functions on U with compact support. There exist a natural
inclusion from CC(U) to the space F(G) of functions on G. When G is
not a Hausdorff space, we shall employ the subspace in F(G) generated by
CC{G) and the image of CC{U) assigned from non-Hausdorff points. The
subspace is still denoted by CC{G) in the sequel.
We then introduce a convolution product on CC(G). Given <p, ip €
CC(G), the convolution product is given by

M ) ( a ) = f ip{a0-1)^{0)dtix(0) (a, (3 € Lx).

We also define the involution * on CC(G) such that:

<P*(7) = ^ ( 7 - 1 ) -
Let Hx denote the Hilbert space of L2-functions on Lx. Now we define a
•-representation 7rx on 7ix such that:

[**(¥>)£](<*) = / <p{ap~l)W)diix(fi) (£ 6 Hx, a,0€ Lx).

130 HlTOSHI MOMYOSHI

The *-norm on CC(G) is then given by

IMI = SUp||7Tx(^)||,

where ||7rx(9?)|| denotes the operator norm of Trx(<p) on Hx.

Definition 1.2 Let (M,T) de a foliated manifold. The foliation C*-alge-
bra C*(M,Jr) is the C*-completion of CC{G) with respect to the *-norm
described above.
Remark. If we employ a family of half-densities along the leaves instead of
d[i = {dfj,x}xeM, we obtain a C*-algebra that is isomorphic to C*(M, J7).
Thus it yields a description of C*(M, J-) which is free from the choice of a
Riemannian metric along the leaves; see Baum-Connes [9].
Next we shall explain the crossed product algebra since for a foliated
bundle it is closely related to the foliation C*-algebra. Let T be a discrete
group that acts on a locally compact Hausdorff space X from the right.
Then a topological groupoid G associated to the T-action on X is defined
as follows. Put G = X x T, and set the source and target maps s, r : G —> X
to be

s(x,g)=xg, r(x,g)=x.

We then define a product on G such that

(x,g)(y,h) = (x,gh), (x,g), (y,h) E G

if s(x, g) = r(y, h). Furthermore we define the inverse of (x, g) G G by

{x,g)~l = {xg,g~x).

We denote the above groupoid by X x T henceforth.

We also associate a C*-algebra called a crossed product to the groupoid
X xi T. The construction is similar to that of the foliation C*-algebra. In
general, given a topological groupoid G with a system of Haar measures,
there exists a groupoid C*-algebra C*(G). Thus we can construct the
crossed product as a groupoid C* -algebra C*(X x F). We here describe the
construction as follows.
We introduce a formal unitary element Ug corresponding to g € T. The
product is given by the formula UgUh = Ugh (g,h £ G) as usual. Let
CC(X) be the space of continuous functions on X with compact support.
We then denote by CC(X, T) the space of elements represented as a finite
sum JZgeGa9^9 (a9 e GC(X)). Given elements a — YlgeGas^9' ^ =
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 131

YlheGbhUh, the addition and multiplication are defined by

a + b = J2(ag + bg)Ug,
9

ab = ^2a99(h)Ugh.
g,h

Here g{bh) denotes the function bh(xg), x G X. Moreover we define t h e

involution * on CC(X,T) such t h a t :

V 9 1 9
P u t Gx = {{y,g) £ X x G | yg — x} for x G X, and denote by Hx t h e
Hilbert space of £ 2 -sequences in Gx. Now we define a *-representation irx
on Hx such t h a t :

(nx(a)0(y,h) = ^ag{y)£,(yg,g-1h), (y,h) G GX.

9

The *-norm on CC(X,T) is then given by

II" II = sup||7r x (a)||,

xex
where ||7rx(a)|| denotes the operator norm of 7rx(a) on Jix. The crossed
product C0(X) xi G is defined to be the C*-algebra obtained by the C*-
completion of CC(X, V) with respect to the *-norm above.
We go back to the example of Kronecker foliation (T2,Te)- Let iV be
the fibre R / Z of the foliated bundle and T denote the global holonomy
group acting on N. In this case the rotation by 6 generates the holonomy
group F. Here there exist two C"*-algebras C*{T2,TQ) and C{N) » T arising
from the same foliated bundle. It is then natural to ask the relationship
between them. In fact it turns out that C(N) x T is Morita equivalent to
the foliation C*-algebra C*{T2,Te).
Definition 1.3 Let A and B be C*-algebras. Let K, denote the C*-algebra
of compact operators. We say that A is Morita equivalent to B if A <8> K. is
isomorphic to B®1C.
Remark. The above isomorphism is called a stable isomorphism. The notion
of Morita equivalence of C*-algebras is introduced by M. Rieffel, where it is
called the strongly Morita equivalence. The original definition is concerned
with the Morita equivalence bimodule; see Rieffel [38, 39]. However, it is
known that two C*-algebras are stable isomorphic if and only if they are
132 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

strongly Morita equivalent. Therefore, we introduce the Morita equivalence

here in the above manner.
The Morita equivalence plays an important role in the study of foliation
C*-algebras and topology of the leaf space. We shall explain it with the
following example:
Example 1.4 Let M be a fibre bundle on N. Then M is foliated by the
fibres and admits a foliation T. In this case the foliation C*-algebra
C*(M, T) is isomorphic to C0(N) ® /C, where C0(N) is the algebra of con-
tinuous functions on TV vanishing at infinity. Thus C*(M,J-) is Morita
equivalent to C0(N). Here we note that the leaf space MjT is a well-
behaved topological space. Actually it is homeomorphic to TV. Generally
it is difficult to study the topology of M/'T in a direct way. However this
example exhibits that the foliation C*-algebra is considered as a substitute
of the function algebra of M/F up to the Morita equivalence.
Example 1.5 (Hilsum and Skandalis, [27]) Let (M,!F) be a foliated
manifold and denote by G the holonomy groupoid. Then we choose a open
transversal TV that intersects with all leaves of T. Put

GNN = {7 I *(7), r ( 7 ) G TV }.

Then Gj^ is also a topological groupoid with the same source and target
maps. It then turns out that the foliation C*-algebra C*(M,T) is Morita
equivalent to the groupoid C*-algebra C*(Gjy). The equivalence is realized
quite geometrically by using free groupoid actions of G and G $ on GN —
{7 I s( 7 ) 6 TV }.
Here we sketch the idea by exploiting the following simple example.
Let G be a Lie group, and take closed subgroups H and K of G. Let
H and K act on G from the left and right respectively. We then obtain
topological groupoids H tx G/K and H\G xi K. Exploiting the free action
of H and K on G, we can construct the Morita equivalence bimodule over
C0(G/K) » H and C0(H\G) xi K. The bimodule is basically constructed
from CC(G) with the action of H and K. It then follows that C0(G/K) x H
is the to C0(H\G) x K.
Here we observe that the classifying space B{H K G/K) is the universal
space for a i^-bundle whose G-extension admits an if-reduction. That is
nothing but a G-bundle with both of H and A'-reductions. In the same way
B(H\G xi K) also classifies a G-bundle with both of H and K-reductions.
Therefore the spaces B(H K G/K) and B{H\G x K) are homotopy equiv-
alent to each other. That explains a geometrical significance of the Morita
equivalence for topological groupoids.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 133

1.2 K-theory for Banach algebras

As we observed that the leaf space MjT is not a well-behaved topological
space in general. But there is a way out to study the topology of MIT
exploiting the foliation C*-algebras. In this section we shall explain the
tool to investigate the topology of the leaf space M/F working on the
C*-algebras, that is X-theory.
Let A be a Banach algebra with unit and Mk{A) denote the algebra
of matrices with components in A. There exists a natural inclusion into
Mk+n{A) such that:

We then denote by M^A) the direct limit of Mk{A) with the above in-
clusions. Let P(A) denote the set of idempotents e G M00(A), i.e., e2 = e.
Then P(A) admits the direct-sum operation given by

eo
®ei =
(o0e°1)-
We then introduce an equivalence relation on P(A). Given eo, e\ G P(A),
they are equivalent to each other if eo is connected with e\ by a continuous
path in P(A). Note that direct sum is well defined on the quotient space
P{A)/ ~ .
Let GLk{A) denote the group of all invertible elements in Mk(A). here
exists a natural inclusion into GLk+n(A) such that:

•~(s9-
Here we denote the identity matrix by 1.
Let GL00(A) be the direct limit of GLk(A) with the above inclusions.
We then introduce the direct-sum operation for GL00(A) by

»««-(?«)•
Given go, gi € GLoo(A), they are equivalent to each other if go is connected
with gi by a continuous path in GLoo(A). Note also that direct sum is well
defined on the quotient space GLoo(A)/ ~.
Definition 1.6 Let A be a C*-algebra with unit.
1) The group K<${A) is the Grothendieck group of the semigroup P(A)/ ~.
The addition is given by the direct-sum operation defined above.
2) The group Ki(A) is the quotient space GL^A)/ ~. The addition
is also given by the direct-sum operation defined above.
134 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

Remark. 1) Given C*-algebras A, B with unit and a homomorphism p :

A —> B, it naturally defines a induced homomorphism p* : Ki(A) —> Ki(B)
(» = 0,1).
Let C([0,1], A) be a continuous functions on the interval with values in
A. Given homomorphism po, pi : A —> B, po is called homotope to pi if
there exist a homomorphism p : A® C[0,1] —> B such that po i% = pi (i =
0,1). Here to, <-i : C([0, 1],.4) —» .4 denote the restrictions to 0 and 1,
respectively. Then the induced homomorphisms (po)*, (pi)* coincide with
each other.
2) When A is not unital, we construct an algebra A+ by adjoining the
unit. There exit a surjective homomorphism 7r : A+ —> A. We then define
the K-group KZ(A) to be kemf[Ki(A+) -> Ki{A)}.
Here we state a couple of important properties of the K-theory.

1) The Morita equivalence Let A and B be C*-algebras. If A is Morita

equivalent to B, then K*(A) is naturally isomorphic to K„(B).

2) The six-term exact sequence Given a short exact sequence of C*-

algebras
0 •I > A > B > 0

there exists the six-term exact sequence

K0(l) - ^ ^ K0{A) - ^ ^ K0(B)

Ki(B) < Ki(A) < Ki(I)

3) The B o t t periodicity Let C0(Rn) be the algebra of continuous func-

tions on R™ vanishing at infinity. For arbitrary C*-algebra A the K-
group Ki+n(A) is isomorphic to Ki(A ® C 0 (R n )). Here we consider
the degree of if-group modulo 2.

1.3 Relation to the topological K-theory

Let I b e a compact Hausdorff space and C(X) denote the C*-algebra of

continuous functions on X. We recall that the topological if-group K*(X)
is defined as the Grothendieck group of isomorphism classes of complex
vector bundles on X. Let E be a complex vector bundle on X. Since X is
compact, we may assume that £ is a subbundle of a trivial bundle M x C n
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 135

for sufficiently large n. Chosen a metric on the trivial bundle, we can asso-
ciate an idempotent e € Mn(C(X)) to E taking the orthogonal projection
onto E. Here we identify an element in Mn(C(X)) with a function on X
with values in M n (C). Thus e is a family of the orthogonal projections
onto the fibre Ex at each x E X. We observe that the construction de-
pends on the choice of the embedding into the trivial bundle. However, the
corresponding class is independent of the choice when we pass over to the
if-group. It is further known that the corresponding is an isomorphism
between the .RT-group for C(X) and the topological if-group.
Theorem 1.7 (Swan) Let X be a compact Hausdorff space and C(X)
denote the algebra of continuous functions on X. There is a natural iso-
morphism between K*(C(X)) and K*(X).
The above theorem claims that K*(C(X)) is identified with K*(M)
and that the K-theory for C*-algebras contains the theory of topological
AT-group. For foliated manifolds (M,!F), the topological K-group of the
leaf space MjT is not defined directly. Instead we can exploit the X-group
K*(C*(M, T)) of C*-algebra as the K-group for MjT.
Let X be a locally compact Hausdorff space and G a compact Lie group
that acts on X. Also in this case we can construct the crossed product
C0(X) x G and consider the K-group of C0(X) x G. On the other hand
there exists a equivariant K-theory for the space with G-action. Due to P.
Green [25], it is known that these theories are equivalent to each other:
Theorem 1.8 (P. Green) Let X be a locally compact Hausdorff space
and G a compact Lie group that acts on X. There exists a natural iso-
morphisms between K*(C0(X) x G) and the equivariant K-group KQ{X).
Therefore the K-theory for C*-algebras contains also the equivariant
-ftT-theory.

1.4 Foliation and the von Neumann algebras

In §1.1 we defined the foliation C*-algebra for foliated manifold {M,T).
We can also define the von Neumann algebra out of the function algebra
on the holonomy groupoid. Let TL = {HX)X^M be the Hilbert bundle such
that Tix = L2(LX). We then take measurable sections £ = (£x), V =
(nx) of H. Denote by Lx the leaf that contains x e M. A family of
ls
operators A = {AI)L^M/T called a random operator if it is a measurable,
that is, the function M 9 x — t > (Ai, x £ Xl ^x)x is Lebesque measurable for
any £, 77, where ( , ) x denotes the inner product on "Hx. Recall that
a compactly supported continuous function tp on the holonomy groupoid
G yields a family of operators (7rx(<p)) on Ji. We can verify that it is a
136 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

random operator also. Put

||A||=ess.sup||ALJ,
x€M

where ||-Az,.J| is the operator norm. The foliation von Neumann algebra
W* (M, T) is then defined to be the weak completion of bounded random
operators with respect to the above norm.
It is well known the von Neumann algebras are classified into three
classes: type I, II and III. A von Neumann algebra M is called a factor if
the center Z(M) consists of the scalar multiplies of the identity operator.
A factor plays an important role in the theory of von Neumann algebras.
For instance it is known that von Neumann algebras on separable Hilbert
spaces are decomposable into direct integrals of factors. With foliation von
Neumann algebras W* (M, T) factors are characterized by quite geometrical
properties.
Proposition 1.9 Let (M,ZF) be a foliated manifold. The foliation von
Neumann algebra W*(M, T) is a factor if and only if all bounded measur-
able functions on the leaf space MjJ- are constant functions, that is, the
foliation is ergodic.
Any von Neumann algebra M is canonically decomposed to the direct
sum Mi ®MH®MIH of von Neumann algebras, where Mi, Mu, Mm
are of type I, II, III, respectively. The type classification is also translated
into geometrical properties.
Theorem 1.10 Let (M,!F) be a foliated manifold. The foliation von Neu-
mann algebra W*{M,J-) is of:
1) Type I if and only if the leaf space M/F is isomorphic to the standard
Borel measure space;
2) Type II if and only if there exists an invariant transverse measure and
it is not of type I;
3) Type III if there exists no invariant transverse measure.
Example 1.11 The foliation von Neumann algebra of fibre foliation is of
type I. Also with the Reeb foliation on T2, it is of type I.
For the Kronecker foliation To (0 € K \ Q) on T2 the foliation von
Neumann algebra W*{T2,J:e) is of type II, and it is isomorphic to the
unique hyperfinite factor of type HOQ.
Let X be a closed Riemann surface of genus > 2 with hyperbolic met-
ric. Let M denote the unit sphere bundle of TX. Then M admits a weakly
stable foliation T of codimension 1 from the geodesic flow. Then the folia-
tion von Neumann algebra W* (M, J7) is of type III. In fact it is the unique
hyperfinite factor of type IIIi.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 137

Given a von Neumann algebra M, we set

M+ = {xeM\x = y*,ye M}.

A mapping

w:M+ -> [0,+oo]

is called a weight if it satisfies:

i) w(x + y) = w(x) + w(y), x,y e M+;

ii) w(Xx) — \w(x), A > 0.

A weight r is called a trace if it satisfies:

T(U*XU) — T(X), x £ M+

for any unitary element u € Ai.

When a foliated manifold (M, T) admits a transverse invariant measure
dv, we can verify that a trace r on W*(M, J-) is given by

r{tp) = I (p\Mdndv.
JM

Here we consider <p e CC{G) as a random operator as is explained previ-

ously. Also we identify a point x e M with the constant curve at x. Thus
M is considered as a subset of the holonomy groupoid G and <P\M denotes
the restriction to M.
Next we shall discuss the modular theory (the Tomita-Takesaki theory)
of type III von Neumann algebras. When there is no invariant transverse
measure on (M, T), the foliation von Neumann algebra is of type III ac-
cording to the above theorem. Given a type III von Neumann algebra M
and a weight w on A4, it is known that there exists 1-parameter family of
automorphisms on A4 called the modular automorphisms. That is a re-
markable result with type III von Neumann algebras, which is a part of the
Tomita-Takesaki theory. Here we do not discuss the deep result for general
type III von Neumann algebras; however, with the foliated von Neumann
algebras the theory can be understood rather clearly.
Let us explain the construction of the modular automorphisms for the
foliated bundles for the sake of simplicity. It is not difficult to develop it
to general foliations. Let (M, T) be a foliated bundle over X with the fibre
N. Thus there is a holonomy homomorphism p : 7Ti(X) —> Diff(Af), and
M is isomorphic to X x N. Here X is the universal covering space. Recall
p
138 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

Example 1.1 of the Kronecker foliation. The holonomy groupoid is then

given by

G=(IxIxJV)/ %

where (x,y,t) ~ (xg~1,yg~1, p(g)t) e X x X x N, g £ ^\{X). Then we

choose a volume form dfi induced from X and an arbitrary volume form dv
on N. When the foliation von Neumann algebra is of type III, there is no
invariant volume form (measure) on N with the action of p. On the other
hand we choose a volume form on M and take the pullback to X x N which
we denoted by dX. We then obtain a function
dfi x dv
=
^ -^x—
on X x N. It is the Radon-Nykodim derivative of two measures. We then
define the automorphisms (at)ten by

for <p € CC(G). Although ip is not an element of W*(M, J7), the element
iplt(p%l)~lt belongs to W*(M, T), and we can verify that the above formula
defines the modular automorphisms on W*(M, T). In §3 we shall dis-
cuss the close relationship between the modular automorphisms and the
Godbillon-Vey class.
Then we can consider the crossed product W*(M, T) xCTR. The Tomita-
Takesaki theory tells us the property of the crossed product. It follows that
W* (M, J") x a R is a type II von Neumann algebra and hence there exist
a trace r on it. On the other hand it is easy to verify that there is the
dual action a of M on W*(M, J-) xCT R. The trace T is not invariant with
<T, however, it satisfies the relative invariance under a:

Toat = e"tT (t€R).

We further construct the crossed product W*(M, J7) xCT R x^ R. Due to the
Takesaki duality theorem it follows that W* (M, T) x a R x ^ R is isomorphic
to W*(M,J-) ® C, where C denotes the algebra of all bounded operators
on the Hilbert space. Therefore, we can reduce the investigation of type
III von Neumann algebras to that of type II von Neumann algebras, which
are easier to handle due to the existence of trace.
Thus the crossed product W* (M, T) x a M is the first clue to study
type III von Neumann algebras. We claim here that it is still realized as
a foliation von Neumann algebra. Let TMjT be the normal bundle of the
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 139

foliation J- and Q denote the principal K + -bundle of the determinant line

bundle of TMjT. It then follows that
~ . dim N
Q = Xx A TN+,
p

where f\dimNTN+ denotes the principal R + -bundle of /\dimNTN This is

also a foliated bundle and the foliation is denoted by Ta- The codimension
of T0 is dim A'' + 1. The conclusion is that W*(M, T) MCT R is isomorphic
to the foliation von Neumann algebra W*(Q,Jr0). Furthermore the dual
action a on W*(Q, T0) is nothing but the principal action of K+ on Q. The
trace r on W*(M, T) xCT M is also identified. Let (£1,^2, . . . , t ? ) be a local
coordinate of N, and tq+i denote the coordinate in the fibre direction of
the bundle f\dimNTN+. Then the {q + l)-form
= Utldt2---dtq\
\ U+i J
on A l m TN+ is invariant under the induced action of Diff(Ar). Thus
we obtain a transverse invariant measure on (Q,f0) and the trace T on
W*(Q,J70) from dv. The relative invariance of r follows from straightfor-
ward computation.

2 Analysis on the leaf space M/J-

In this section we explain how to develop Differential Geometry on the

leaf space. More precisely we discuss the Index Theorem of differential
operators on the foliated manifold (M, F). As mentioned in §1 the K-
theory is suitably generalized on the leaf space. It is then reasonable to ask
what are natural geometrical objects in the K-theory. In the following we
explain that the index of longitudinal elliptic differential operator is realized
as an element in the X-group of the foliation C*-algebra.

2.1 The index in K-group

Let M be a compact manifold and T an elliptic differential operator on M.
Then it is a Fredholm operator and the index is defined by
Ind T = dim ker T - dim cokerT.
Here we explain that the index is considered as an element of the K-group
of the C*-algebra K, of compact operators. Choose a Riemannian metric
on M and denote by TL the Hilbert space of L2-functions. Since M is
140 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

complete, a formal selfadjoint differential operator on M extends uniquely

to a selfadjoint operator D on H. Due to the Stone Theorem we then obtain
a 1-parameter family of unitary operators {eltD}teR- The fundamental
result is the following [40, p. 63] [45]:
Proposition 2.1 Let M be a closed manifold and D an elliptic differential
operator on M.
1) Given a rapidly decreasing function / on R, the operator

f(D) = [ f(t)eitDdt
JR
is a smoothing operator and admits a C°°-kernel function k : M x M —> C;
2) The above construction extends to a homomorphism
p : C 0 (R) -» /C
so that p(f) = f(D). Here K. is the C*-algebra of compact operators on H.
Proposition 2.1 holds also for complete manifolds with bounded geom-
etry. We refer the reader to [40, p. 63], [45] with the details.
Given an elliptic differential operator D and an involution e such that
eD + De = 0. The Dirac operators on even-dimensional manifolds satisfies
the condition. Let Z2 be the cyclic group of order 2 and Z2 act on R by
the reflection e{x) = — x (x e R). Let a = foUe + f\U€ be an element of
the crossed product C 0 (R) xi Z2. Here Ue and Ut are the formal unitary
elements corresponding to the identity e and the generator e G Z2. We
often suppress the formal unitaries and denote them by 1 and e. We then
obtain a homomorphism:
p : C 0 (R) x Z 2 ^ K
such that
p(foUe + hUe) = f0(D) + f1(D)e.
Definition 2.2 We call the homomorphisms
p : C 0 (R) -» K
and
p : C 0 (R) xi Z 2 -»/C
the index homomorphism determined by the elliptic differential operator D.
Exploiting the index homomorphism p, we can generalize the index for
longitudinal elliptic operator on foliated manifolds. But before proceed-
ing further we explain the relation between the Fredholm index and the
homomorphism p.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 141

We first recall that Kt,(C0(R) x Z2) is isomorphic to the if-group of a

point. In fact the generator of KQ(C0(R) XI Z2) = Z is given by the formal
difference of projections ex and ey.

(1+x)2 1-x2 _ _ 1
eI-e1eif0(Co(K)xZ2)=Z, e x = ^ , ; 22 . ++ - n , 22>e, ei =
2(l+z ) 2(l+2 )f
Also recall that the generator of Ki(C0(R)) = Z is given by :
x—i
u-l€#i(C 0 v „,
x +1
Definition 2.3 1) For an elliptic differential operator D with an involution
epsilon such that eD + De = 0, the (even) index of D is:
Ind D = p(ex) - p(ei) € KQ(K) = Z. (1)

2) For an elliptic differential operator D the (odd) index of D is:

Ind D = p{u) - p{\) e Ki(K). (2)
Remark. For /C we have K\ (K.) = 0 and nothing is interesting with the odd
index. However, we can consider various C*-algebras in various geometric
situations. For instance, if we consider a T-covering space M, the C*-
algebra of T-invariant operators on M appears. As is explained later, if
we consider a foliated manifold (M, J 7 ), the foliation C*-algebra appears.
In each case, given a suitable differential operator D, it yields the index
homomorphism form C0(R) x Z2 or CD(R) to a suitable C*-algebra A.
Accordingly the index of D is defined as an element of KQ(A) or K\(A)
following Definition 2.3. Since Ki(A) could be nontrivial, the odd index is
not necessarily vanish in general.
Now we examine Definition 2.3 is compatible with the Fredholm index
for elliptic operators. First we introduce the following C*-algebra:

m
A = < I , e C „ ( R ) ® M 2 ( C ) : a, d-even, c, d-odd functions

We have an isomorphism a : C 0 (R) xi Z2 —> A given by

CT CT £
(/) = [fodd fev J . () = (0 _1

Here f™(x) = (f(x) + f(-x))/2 and f°dd(x) = (f(x) - f(-x))/2 for / e

C 0 (K). We then choose continuous functions ip, ip o n ® such that:
i) if is an even function and ip is an odd function;
142 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

ii) 0 < <f(x) < l ( i e R), ip(0) = 0, <p(±oo) = 1, ip2 = tp(l - if) .

Via the isomorphism sigma, the generator in KQ(A) corresponding to ex —

ei e K0(Co{R) xi Z 2 ) is given by:

po-piew), p« = ( 1 7 $ ) . * = (2!)- (3)

T h u s we obtain Ind D = p{po)-p{pi)- Suppose t h a t s u p p ( l - y ) is contained

in a small neighbourhood of 0 e R. We then have

= =
p(po) (o l) P(P^

on the eigenspaces of D with eigenvalues A ^ 0, and

on k e r l ? . Since KQ(IC) is identified with Z by the rank of projections, we

obtain

p(po) ~ p(pi) = Tr[p(po)\ ker D - p{p\)\ k e r D ] = d i m k e r £ > + - d i m k e r D " .

Therefore the Fredholm index is recaptured from our definition of the index.

2.2 Cyclic cohomology group

Next we shall explain the cyclic cohomology theory, which plays the role
of the de R h a m theory to the ordinary manifolds. We t h e n introduce t h e
pairing between the if-group and the cyclic cohomology group. T h e pairing
t u r n s out to be a quite strong method to detect the index of operators in
the i<T-group.
Let A be an algebra over C with unit. Define C™(A) to be the space
of (n + l)-multilinear maps r on A into C satisfying the following cyclic
condition:

r ( a 0 , a i , • • • , a„) = ( - l ) n r ( a n , a 0 , • • • , a n _ i ) (a t e A).
-1
We have t h e coboundary m a p b : C™ („4) —> C*(A) such t h a t
n-l
br(a0,ai,--- ,an) = ^ ( - l ) / c T ( a 0 , • • • ,akak+i,--- ,an)

+ (-l)™r(ana0,ai,-• • ,a„_i).

It is easy to see t h a t b2 = 0.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 143

Definition 2.4 The cyclic cohomology H^(A) is the cohomology group of

the cochain complex (C^(A), b).
Example 2.5 Let T : A —> C be a trace on A. Since it satisfies the
condition
br(a,b) = r(ab) — r(ba) = 0,
it is a cyclic 0-cocycle on A.
From T we further obtain a cyclic 2m-cocycle r on the matrix algebra
Mn(A) with components in A. Let a(fe) = ( a ^ ) £ Mn(A), where a^fc) € X
denotes the (i, j')-component of the matrix a^k\ We then define f to be
r(a(01,»(11,-,.(J"»)= £ '"(-a.^l.-.-K)-
Example 2.6 We present a cyclic 2-cocycle on C°°(T2). Since T 2 is an
abelian Lie group, it admits invariant vector fields X and Y with [X, Y] = 0,
and the dual 1-forms dx and dy. The exterior differentiation is given by
d = dxdx + dydy, where dx and 9y denote the differentiation along X and
y , respectively. We then have a cyclic 2-cocycle

r ( a 0 , a i , a 2 ) = / 2 a0daida2
JT

dxdy[ao(dxai)(dYa2) - ao(dYai)(dxa2)}
JTr2<
JT

on C ° ° ( T 2 ) .
E x a m p l e 2.7 Put A = CC°°(E x R). Let fc G .A act on L2(1R) with k a
kernel function. Let x and — act on L 2 (K) such that a; is the multiplication
dx
by x and that — is the differentiation in x. We then define derivations d\
dx
and 02 on .4 such that
(<9ifc)£=[x,/c]£ = (zfc-fcx^

i dx i dx i dx
2
where k e A and £ e L (R). Note that di and 9 2 commute with each
other. We then have a cyclic 2-cocycle
r ( a 0 , a i , a 2 ) = Tr (a0(diai)(d2a2) - a0{d2a1)(dia2)) •
Here Tr is given by

Tr(fc) = / k(x,x)dx.
144 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

2.3 The pairing between K-theory and cyclic cohomology

Let A be an algebra with unit. We shall discuss the pairing between if* (.4)
and HC* (A) obtained basically from the evaluation of elements in A with
cyclic cocycles.
Definition 2.8 The pairing ( , ) between K^A) and HCj(A) (i = j
mod 2) is defined in such a way that:

i) Given e G K0(A) and r G HC2m{A), it is

(e,r) = r(e,e, ••• ,e);

ii) Given u G KX{A) and r G HC2m+1(A), it is

(U,T) = T(U~1 — 1, w — 1, • • • , u — l , u — 1).

It is remarkable that the values of evaluation above depend only on the

classes of e, u and r.
Remark. In the above definition we omitted the normalizing constant ap-
peared in Connes [16]. The constant will be important when we introduce
the stabilizing operator S.
Example 2.9 Let A be C°°(T2) and r the cyclic 2-cocycle on Mk(A) such
that

r ( a o , a i , a 2 ) = / 2 dxdyTi (a0(dxai)(dYa2) - ao(dYai)(dxa2))

JT

for ai € Mk(A). Here we consider that a^ is a smooth function on T2 with

values in Mfc(C). The derivations <9x and dy are extended naturally to act
on such elements, and Tr means taking the trace at each point of T 2 . We
also consider that a^ are operators acting on the space C°°(T 2 ,C ) of all
Cfc-valued smooth functions on T2. The derivations are then given by the
following form:

(dxa)£ = (Xa - aX)£, (dya^ = (Ya - aY)£

for a e Mk(A) and £ G C°°(T 2 ,C A: ), where X and Y denote the differen-

tiations considered as operators acting on C°°(T2,Ck). In other words, we
have

d\a = \X,a\, dya = [Y, a].

 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 145

Let e e Mk{A) be an idempotent. It then follows that

T(e,e,e)= / dxdy Tr (e[X,e][Y,e] - e[Y,e][X,e])

JT2

= [ dxdyTx(e(Xe-eX)(Ye-eY)-e(Ye-eY)(Xe-eX))
JT2

= dxdyTr([eXe,eYe] -e[X,Y}e).
JT2

When we put eZe = V'z for vector fields Z on T 2 , we finally obtain

r(e,e,e)= / dxdy Tr ([Vx, Vy] - V [ x ,y])

JT2

= f2 dxdyTi(RXtY),
JT

where R denotes the curvature tensor with respect to the covariant differen-
tiation V = ede on the vector bundle E on T2 which is given by the image
of e. Recall that the first Chern class c\(E) is represented by Tr (^-R).
Thus, the above equality amounts to

( e > r ) = — T (e,e,e) = / 2 ci(E).

2TI- V ' ' 2TT JT

E x a m p l e 2.10 Let A and r be the algebra and the cyclic cocycle in Ex-
ample 2.7. Let e be a projection in A of finite rank. Recall that T is given
by

r ( a o , a i , a 2 ) = Tr {a0[x,a1}[- — ,a2\ - ao[- — ,ai}[x,a2}

By a similar computation to the previous example, we obtain

/ , _ /. Id . I d .
r(e, e, e) = Tr \exe, e-—e\ — e\x, - — \e
V i dx i dx

Note that Tr ([exe,el-^e]) — 0 since exe,e\-^e € A. Observing the

canonical commutation relation [x, \j^.] = i, we thus obtain

•r(e, e, e) = Tr (—ie) = —irk (e).

If we pursue the analogy of the previous example, we can consider that

r(e, e, e) evaluates the noncommutative curvature with the projection e.
146 HlTOSHI MOMYOSHI

2.4 The Counts index theorem for longitudinal elliptic operators

Let M be a closed manifold and J- a foliation on M of dimension p. Suppose
that there exists an invariant transverse measure v on {M,T). Due to
Ruelle-Sullivan [42] we obtain the current CRS of degree p such that:

u> = > / av 1 pito.

CRS ii JTi
JTi JViX{t}
JViX{t}

for a differential p-form w on M. Here we take the foliation chart U = {Ui =

Vi x Ti}j 6 / such that Tj is a transversal to T, and choose the partition of
unity {pi)i£i subordinate to U. Then JVxrt\ denotes the integration along
the leaves Vi x {t} (t e Tj), and JT dv is the integration with respect to v.
Since v is holonomy invariant, the current CRS is closed. Moreover CRS
induces a linear map:

C R S - . ^ ^ ^ R

for the complex fi(^-") of longitudinal differential forms. It also satisfies that
CRs(d'u>) = 0, where d' denotes the exterior differential along the leaves.
Suppose that (M, !F) admits an invariant transverse measure v. We then
obtain the trace T : C*{M,F) -> C on C*{M,T) exploiting the Ruelle-
Sullivan current CRS and the leafwise measure dp,:

r du
(</?) =^2 / PUfdvjr.
i JTi JVixit]

Here ip is a continuous function on the holonomy groupoid G with compact

support.
E x a m p l e 2.11 Consider the Kronecker foliation f e o n M = ( l x K/Z)/Z,
(x,t) ~ (x + l,t + 6). Recall that the holonomy groupoid is given by

G = ( l x l x R/Z)/Z.

Note that the standard volume form dt on R / Z yields an invariant trans-

verse measure for (M,Tg). We then identify C*(M,Te) with the C*-
completion of the algebra of kernel functions such that:

i) k : R x R x R/Z -> C is continuous;

ii) k(x + l,y+l,t + 6) = h(x,y,t), {x,y,t) e R x R x R / Z and
iii) fc has compact support when it is considered as a function on (R x R x
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 147

Then the trace is defined by

r(fc) = / dt I k(x,x,t)dx.
Jm/z Jo
Take a closed foliated manifold (M, J-) of even-dimensional leaves. Sup-
pose that there exists a family of longitudinal Dirac operators on (M, J7).
Let D = {Di)LeM/jr denote the family of longitudinal Dirac operators
Di that is lifted to the holonomy covering L from each leaf L. Then we
can apply the construction in Proposition 2.1 to D to obtain the index
homomorphism

p:C0(R) xZ2-^C*(M,f).
Hence we define the index of the longitudinal Dirac operator D to be

I n d D = p(ex) - p(ei) € K0(C*{M,F)).

It is completely similar to Definition 2.3. Then the index theorem due to
Connes for the longitudinal Dirac operator on (M, !F) is stated as follows:
Theorem 2.12 (Connes index theorem on foliated manifolds [15])
Let M be a closed manifold and T a foliation on M. Suppose that there
exists an invariant transverse measure v on (M, T). It then follows that:

Here f denotes the Ruelle-Sullivan current associated to v, and

A (zj^Rr) € ^(-T7) is ^e A-form associated to the Riemannian curva-
ture form Ryr along the leaves.

2.5 The Toeplitz index theorem for longitudinal elliptic operators

In the above theorem we assumed that the leave are of even dimension.
There exists as well an index theorem on foliated manifolds of odd-dimen-
sional leaves. In the following we shall describe the index theorem on the
Kronecker foliation.
Let TB be the Kronecker foliation on M = (R x R/Z)/Z. Here 9 6 R \ Q .
Recall that C*(M,Jrg) is identified with the C*-completion of the algebra
of kernel functions k : M x R x E / Z -> C in Example 2.11. Note that
with t 6 R/Z fixed such a function k(x,y,t) is considered as the kernel
function of a operator kt that acts on the Hilbert space L 2 (R x {t}). Let
148 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

D — (Dt)tem/z be the longitudinal elliptic operator on (T2,Te) such that:

i dx
on the holonomy covering R x {i}. Furthermore, we define a family F = (Ft)
such that Ft is the Hilbert transformation on each L 2 (R x {£}):

ay) dy.
£—0 IT J x-y
|x-y|>£

' 1 + Ft
Thus F is constant in t e R/Z. Let P — ( — - — ) be a family of projec-
tions. Here we take a C°°-function
if : M = (R x R / Z ) / Z -> C \ {0}.
Then we make the pullback of ip to R x R/Z and let <p act on L 2 (R x {£})
Thus the operator T^ = y~xPtp is defined, which is called the Toeplitz
operator given by <p. It then turns out that the operator
ip~1Pip- P

yields an element of KQ{C*(M, To)). It is called the index of Toeplitz

operator Tv. We have the following theorem (see also [21]).
Theorem 2.13 Let {M,Te) be the Kronecker foliation. We take a ex-
junction
</?:M->C\{0}
and consider the index of Toeplitz operator Tv
ip-ipip-PeKoiC'iM,^)).
It then follows that

T^Ptp - P) = —- / ip~ldipdt
2iri Jrp2

where r is the trace on C*{M,Te) defined previously.

We shall illustrate the theorem to calculate the index for ip{x,t) =
2
e 2-ni(6x-t) W e first o b s e r v e ^ f ) = ip(x + l,t + 9). On each L (R x {t})
we have

[(^PV-P)flOO = lim£ / ^ « ( M ) 4
\x-y\>e
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 149

Thus the kernel function k(x, y, t) of <p 1Ptp - P is given by

./ ,v _ * <P~Hx,t)((p(y,t) - <p(x,t))
2-K x —y
Since <p is a C°°-function, k(x,y,t) is continuous at the diagonal set
{(x,x,t) I x £ R}, and it follows that k(x,x,t) = 6. Thus we obtain

T(<p-lP<p -P)= I dt f 9dx = 9.

JR/Z JO

On the other hand we can verify

dipdt = 9.
2ni JT2

Strictly speaking, the element (p~lPip — P belongs to not C*(T2, Tg) but
the foliation von Neumann algebra W*(T2,J:e)- However, we can modify
the argument and construct an element in C*(T2,Te) that yields the index
of Toeplitz operator Tv.

3 Toward noncommutative geometry on foliated manifolds

In this section we discuss a few topics related to noncommutative geometry

due to A. Connes.

3.1 The Godbillon- Vey cyclic cocycle and the modular automorphisms
Let X be a closed Riemann surface _of genus > 2. We consider X as the
quotient of the universal covering X that is the hyperbolic space. Put
T = m(X). Then the group T acts on X isometrically. Let T also act on
S 1 via orientation preserving diffeomorphisms. The diagonal action of T on
X x S1 then define a foliated bundle
M = (X x 5 1 ) / r .
The holonomy groupoid is given by
G = {X x X x Sl)/Y.
Recall that the foliation C*-algebra C*(M,J-) can be constructed from
functions k : X x X x S1 —>C such that:
i) k : X x X x Sl —> C is continuous;
ii) k(x-y,yy,t-y) = k(x,y,t) for 7 6 T ;
150 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHl

iii) k has compact support when it is considered as a function on (X x

x x s^/r.
Let w : C* (TV, f ) - > C a weight given by

}{k) = /
w{ k{x,x,t)dtdx.
JM(V)
lM(V)

Here M(T) denotes the fundamental domain with respect to the T-action
o n X x S 1 . Then we choose the hyperbolic volume form dfi on X and the
standard volume form dt on Sl. We also choose a volume form on M and
take the pullback to X x TV. It is denoted by dX. We then obtain a function

dfx x dt

on X x TV. The modular automorphisms (o~t)tem is then defined by

for (p G CC{G). We can verify that the modular automorphisms (extern a l s o

preserves the foliation C*-algebra C*{M,T).
We then define a cyclic 2-cocycle that is associated to he Godbillon-Vey
class. For the details we refer to Moriyoshi-Natsume [34].
Definition 3.1 The Godbillon-Vey cyclic cocycle on C*{N,F) is

T(a0,ai,a2) = / dxdt (a o [0,ai][0,a 2 ] - a0[</>,ai][<£,a2]),

JM(T)

where <j> = logi/> and <f> = d(j)/dt.

Let D = {DI)L<ZM/F be the family of longitudinal Dirac operators lifted
to X x TV. The index I n d D e K 0 (C*(M,^ : ')) can be defined via the index
homomorphism

as is observed in §2. We then have the following:

T h e o r e m 3.2 ( M o r i y o s h i - N a t s u m e [34]) Letr the Godbillon-Vey cyc-
lic cocycle defined as above. We denote by gv the Godbillon-Vey class of
the foliated bundle M. It then follows that

(e,r) = — / gv,
**Jx
where (e, T) is the pairing between the K-theory and the cyclic cohomology
group.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 151

We observe the similarity of the form of the Godbillon-Vey cocycle and

the usual curvature given by the covariant derivative. Thus the above
theorem exhibits that the Godbillon-Vey number of the foliated bundle of
M can be understood as the noncommutative curvature with respect to two
derivations derived from the modular automorphisms on C* (M, F).

3.2 Noncommutative geometry for singular foliations

Let us review briefly the definition of quantum SU(2) due to Woronowicz
[46]. Recall that

The quantum SU(2) is a deformation of the function algebra C(SU(2)).

Precisely that is the universal C*-algebra C(SMC/(2)) generated by two
elements a and 7 satisfying the following equations:

2 „ /i7a = a7
a a + \x 77 = 1 ^7* a = aj* (4)
a*a + 7*7 = 1
7*7 = 77*
for - 1 < \x < 1. When fi = 1, C(S^U{2)) is exactly isomorphic to the
function algebra C(SU(2)). There is another way to construct C{SfJJ{2)).
Let C(T) be the function algebra of 1-dimensional torus T and K. denote
the C*-algebra of compact operators. It is then obtained as an extension
given by the following exact sequence:
0 • C{T)®K, > C{SllU{2)) > C(T) • 0. (5)
According to Sheu [43] the C*-algebra C(5Mf7(2)) is considered as a defor-
mation quantization whose infinitesimal deformation is the Poisson struc-
ture on SU{2). He also understand the structure of C(5 M f/(2)) from the
viewpoint of singular foliation induced by the Poisson structure. Roughly
speaking it is stated as follows. We first consider SU{2) as S 3 , and the join
of S1:
S3 = (5 X x [0,1] x S 1 ) / - ,
where (x,0,y) ~ (x',0,y') if y = y', and {x,l,y) ~ (x',l,y') if x = x'.
There is no equivalence relations otherwise. Let D be the unit disk {z €
C : \z\ < 1}. Then 5 3 is also realized as the quotient of
(D x S1)/ ~,
152 HlTOSHI MORIYOSHI

where (z,y) ~ (z',y') if z = z' € 3D. Thus S3 is foliated with leaves Ly =

{(z,y) : \z\ < ljjygs 1 outside the singular set T = {(z,y) : |z| = 1 } / ~.
From the construction we easily obtain the following short exact seaquake
of function algebras:

0 • C0(D x S1) > C(S3) • C{T) • 0. (6)

o
where D = {z £ <C : \z\ < l). Then we can consider that the short exact
sequence (5) is obtained as a deformation of the above exact sequence. It
is thus interesting to study C{SilU{2)) as a singular foliation C*- algebra.
o
In fact, outside T we have nonsingular foliation on S3 \ T = D x S1.
Equip S3 \T with leafwise complete metric, we can develop the index
theorem for longitudinal operators. Even in the case of a single leaf, the
index theorem turns out to be the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem
[3] for manifolds with cylindrical ends. The eta invariant then appears
as the evaluation of the index with a relative cyclic cocycle derived from
the Heaviside function with cutoff on the boundary. The index theorem
for general singular foliations is thus considered as a family version of the
Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem.

References

1. M. Atiyah, Elliptic operators, discrete groups and von Neumann alge-

bras, Asterisque, 32 (1976), 43-72.
2. M. Atiyah, R. Bott and V.K. Patodi, On the heat equation and the
index theorem, Invent. Math., 19 (1973), 279-330.
3. M. Atiyah, V.K. Patodi and I.M. Singer, Spectral asymmetry and Rie-
mannian geometry I, Cambr. Phil. Soc, 77 (1975), 43-69; II, 78
(1975), 405-432; III, 79 (1976), 71-99.
4. M. Atiyah and W. Schmid, A geometric construction of discrete series
for semisimple Lie groups, Invent. Math., 42 (1977), 1-62.
5. M. Atiyah and G. Segal, The index of Elliptic operators II, Ann. of
Math., 87 (1968), 531-545.
6. M. Atiyah and I. M. Singer, The index of elliptic operators on compact
manifolds, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc, 69 (1963), 422-433.
7. M. Atiyah and I. M. Singer, The index of Elliptic operators I, Ann.
of Math., 87 (1968), 484-530; III, 87 (1968), 546-604; IV, 93 (1971),
119-138; V, 93 (1971), 139-149.
8. M. Atiyah and I. M. Singer, Index theory for skew-adjoint Fredholm
operators, Publ. Math. IHES, 37 (1969), 305-326.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 153

9. P. Baum and A. Connes, Leafwise homotopy equivalence and rational

Pontriagin classes, in Foliations, (Tokyo 1983), Adv. Stud. Pure
Math., 5, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1985, 1-14.
10. P. Baum and A. Connes, Chern character for discrete groups, in A
Fete of Topology, Academic Press, Boston, 1988, 163-232.
11. P. Baum, A. Connes and N. Higson, Classifying space for proper actions
and K-theory of group C* -algebras, Contemporary Math., 167 (1994),
241-291.
12. P. Baum and R. Douglas, K-homology and index theory, Proc. Symp.
Pure Math., 38 part 1 (1982), 521-628.
13. N. Berline, E. Getzler and M. Vergne, Heat kernels and Dirac opera-
tors, Springer-Verlag, New York-Berlin, 1992.
14. B. Blackadar, ^-theory for operator algebras, Mathematical Sciences
Research Institute Publications 5, Springer-Verlag, New York-Berlin,
1986.
15. A. Connes, A survey of foliations and operator algebras, Proc. Symp.
Pure Math., 38 (1982), 521-628.
16. A. Connes, Noncommutative differential geometry I, II, Publ. Math.
IHES, 62 (1986), 257-360.
17. A. Connes, Cyclic cohomology and the transversal fundamental class
of a foliation, in Geometric Method in Operator Algebras (H. Araki
and E. G. Effros, eds.), Pitman Research Notes in Math. Series, 123
(1986), Longman Scientific and Technical, 52-144.
18. A. Connes, Noncommutative Geometry, Academic Press, 1994.
19. A. Connes and H. Moscovici, The I?-index theorem for homogeneous
spaces of Lie groups, Ann. of Math., 115 (1982), 291-330.
20. A. Connes and H. Moscovici, Cyclic cohomology, Novikov conjecture
and hyperbolic groups, Topology, 29 (1990), 345-388.
21. R.G. Douglas, S.Hurder and J. Kaminker, The longitudinal cocycle and
the index of Toeplitz operators, J. Func. Anal., 101 (1991), 120-144.
22. E. Getzler, Pseudo-differential operators on supermanifolds and the
Atiyah-Singer index theorem, Comm. Math. Phys., 92 (1983),
163-178.
23. P.B. Gilkey, Invariance theory the heat equation, and the Atiyah-
Singer index theorem, 2nd ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton-Ann Arbor-
London-Tokyo, 1995.
24. I.Q. Gohberg and M.G. Krein, The basic propositions on defect num-
bers, root numbers and indices of linear operators , Amer. Math. Soc.
Transl., 13 (1960), 185-264.
25. P. Green, Equivariant K-theory and crossed products, Proc. Symp.
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Pure Math., 38 part 1, (1981), 337-338.

26. N. Higson, An approach to Z/k-index theory, Inter. J. Math., 1 (1990),
189-210.
27. M. Hilsum and G. Skandalis, Stabilite des C* -algebres de feuilletages ,
Ann. Inst. Fourier, (Grenoble) 33 no. 3, (1983), 201-208.
28. F. Hirzebruch, Topological methods in algebraic geometry, Springer,
1966.
29. S. Hurder, Eta invariants and the odd index theorem for coverings,
Contemp. Math., 105 (1990), 47-82.
30. G.G. Kasparov, The operator K-functor and extensions of C* -algebras,
Math. USSR Izv., 16 (1981), 513-572.
31. G.G. Kasparov, Lorentz group: K-theory of unitary representations
and crossed products, Sov. Math. Dokl, 29 (1984), 252-260.
32. S. Kobayashi and K. Nomizu, Foundations of Differential Geometry
1,11, Interscience Publ., 1963, 1969.
33. H.B. Lawson and M-L. Michelsohn, Spin Geometry, Princeton, 1989.
34. H. Moriyoshi and T. Natsume, The Godbillon-Vey cyclic cocycle and
longitudinal Dirac operators, Pacific J. Math., 172 (1996), 483-539.
35. R.S. Palais, Seminar on the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, Ann. of
Math. Studies 57, Princeton, 1965.
36. V.K. Patodi, An analytic proof of the Riemann-Roch-Hirzebruch theo-
rem for K'ahler manifolds, J. Diff. Geom., 5 (1971), 251-283.
37. G. Pedersen, C*-algebras and their automorphism groups, Academic
Press, 1979.
38. M. Rieffel, Applications of strong Morita equivalence to transformation
group C*-algebras. Operator , Proc. Symp. Pure Math., 38 part 1,
(1981), 299-310.
39. M. Rieffel, Morita equivalence for operator algebras , Proc. Symp.
Pure Math., 38 parti, (1981), 285-298.
40. J. Roe, Elliptic operators, topology and asymptotic methods, Long-
man, 1988.
41. J. Roe, Coarse cohomology and index theory on complete Riemannian
manifolds, Memoires of AMS 497, 1993.
42. D. Ruelle and D. Sullivan, Currents, flows and diffeomorphisms, Topol-
ogy, 14 (1975), 319-327.
43. A.J-L. Sheu, Quantization of the Poison SU(2) and its Poisson ho-
mogenous space - The 2-sphere, Commun. Math. Phys., 135 (1991),
217-232.
44. I.M. Singer, Some remarks on operator theory and index theory , Lect.
Notes in Math., 575 (1977), 128-138.
 O P E R A T O R ALGEBRAS AND THE INDEX THEOREM 155

45. M. Taylor, Pseudo-differential operators, Princeton, 1982.

46. S.L. Woronowicz, Twisted SU(2) group: An example of noncommu-
tative differential calculus, Publ. R.I.M.S., 23 (1987), 117-181.

Received May 7, 2001.

This page is intentionally left blank
RESEARCH PAPERS
This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 159-183

D I S T R I B U T I O N A L B E T T I N U M B E R S OF T R A N S I T I V E
FOLIATIONS OF CODIMENSION ONE

J E S U S A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z
Departamento de Xeometria e Topoloxia, Facultade de Matemdticas,
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain,
e-mail: [email protected]

Y U R I A. K O R D Y U K O V
Department of Mathematics, Ufa State Aviation Technical University
12 K. Marx str., 450025 Ufa, Russia,
e-mail: [email protected]

Let T be a transitive foliation of codimension one on a closed manifold M. This

means that there is an infinitesimal transformation X of (M, F) transverse to the
leaves. The flow of X induces an M-action on the reduced leafwise cohomology
H(JF). By using leafwise Hodge theory, the trace of this action on each H {J7) can
be defined as a distribution 0\. on R, which is called distributional Betti number
dis '
because it is kind of a finite measure of the "size" of H (J7). So the corresponding
distributional Euler characteristic, Xdis(-^r)i ' s a distribution on K too. This is
relevant because H(JF) may be of infinite dimension, even when the leaves are
dense, and its Euler characteristic makes no sense in general. The singularity at 0
of Xdisf-^) ' s expressed in terms of the Connes' A-Euler characteristic, where A is
the holonomy invariant transverse measure of T induced by the volume form dt on
E. Moreover the whole of Xdis(^) ' s computed by showing a dynamical Lefschetz
formula.

1 Introduction

Let M be a closed manifold and J- a smooth foliation on M of codimension

one. As usual, let 3£(M, T) C X(M) denote the Lie subalgebra of infinites-
imal transformations of (M, J 7 ), and 3L(T) C 3E(M, J") the ideal of vector
fields tangent to the leaves. For any X € X(M, J7), the corresponding flow
maps leaves to leaves, and will be denoted by Xt : (M, J-) —> (M, J ) , t 6 R.

159
160 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

The foliation J- is called transitive when

TXM = {X(x) | X G X(M,F)} .
Since
TXT = {r(i) I y e x(^)},
we get that T is transitive if and only if there is some X G X{M,!F)
transverse to the leaves; i.e.,
TXM = RX(x)®Txf
for all x G M. Then the orbits of Xt, t G M., are non-singular and transverse
to the leaves. Note that
X(M,T)/X(T)^R (1)
if the leaves are dense, which is the most interesting case.
The leafwise de Rham complex of T, {Q,(T),djr), is the the restriction
of the de Rham complex of M to the leaves; i.e., it is given by the smooth
sections of the exterior vector bundle f\ TT* over M. Its cohomology is
called the leafwise cohomology of T, and will be denoted by H{T). More-
over (ft(.F), dp) is a topological complex with the C°° topology, and H(T)
is a topological vector space with the induced topology. It is well known
that H(F) may not be Hausdorff [14]. So it is interesting to consider its
quotient over the closure of the trivial subspace, which is called the reduced
leafwise cohomology of T, and is denoted by H{Jr) in this paper.
Consider a Riemannian metric on M such that X is of norm one and
orthogonal to the leaves. So all flow orbits are geodesies of speed one
orthogonal to the leaves. This is what is called a bundle-like metric on M.
Consider the induced Riemannian structure on the leaves, and let djr, Ayr
be the leafwise coderivative and leafwise Laplacian on fi(jF), which are the
restrictions to £l(F) of the coderivative and Laplacian on the leaves. The
kernel H(f) of Ayr is the space of harmonic forms on the leaves that are
smooth on M. The L2 inner product on M induces a Hilbert space structure
in the space L2Q.(T) of square integrable leafwise differential forms on M.
Consider Ayr as an unbounded operator in L2Sl(T) with domain Q.{F),
and let Ajr be its closure. It is well known that A^r is symmetric on M
when the metric is bundle-like (see, for instance, [5, 16]), so A^r is a self-
adjoint operator. Let LI be the orthogonal projection L2fl(!F) —> ker A^r.
By [3], LI has the restriction H : fl(.F) —» H(f), and there is an orthogonal
decomposition

n(F) = H{T) © imdjr © im<^ ,

 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 161

which can be called a leafwise Hodge decomposition. In particular, the

inclusion H(!F) C kerdjr induces an isomorphism

H{F) % H{T) , (2)

whose inverse is induced by the orthogonal projection II : kerdjr —> Ti(T).
For any function / e C£°(R), define an operator Af on Q(T) by the
formula

Af = n o f x; • f{t)dtou,
Jw
and let Aj denote its restriction to Q,l(T). Our first main result is the
following.
T h e o r e m 1.1 For any function f G C£°(R), the operator Af is of trace
class, and the functional f ^Tr [Af j defines a distribution /3^is(T) on R
for each i.
The distributions Pdis{F) depend only on T and the class of X in
X(M, T)IX{!F) (Lemma 2.3); thus, when the leaves are dense, they depend
only on T up to linear isomorphisms of R by (1).
The usual dimension of the spaces H (T) can be infinite even when
the leaves are dense [1, 2, 3]. So the Euler characteristic of H(F) can
not be denned, and thus a leafwise Gauss-Bonnet theorem makes no sense
in the usual way. This is surely a reason of the poor role played by the
reduced leafwise cohomology in foliation theory, which should be similar to
the important role played by de Rham cohomology of closed manifolds.
To have finite leafwise Betti numbers, they must be defined in another
way, by using the another kind of dimension ("exotic dimension"). A solu-
tion was given by Connes for foliations with a holonomy invariant transverse
measure A [8, 9]. In our case, A is the transverse Riemannian volume el-
ement, which corresponds to dt on R. This A is used to make kind of an
average on M of the "local dimension" of the space of square integrable
harmonic forms on the leaves at each degree i, giving the finite A-Betti
numbers /3 A (^), and thus a A-Euler characteristic XA (•?"")• The technical
difficulties of this idea are solved by using the noncommutative integration
theory of Connes. But, if the leaves are not compact, the forms of our space
~H(J-) are not square integrable on the leaves because they are smooth on
M. So, a priori, the A-Betti numbers are not directly related with the
reduced leafwise cohomology.
Now we give another "exotic" solution to the above problem. Observe
that, for / € C£°(R) supported around 0, the operator Af is kind of a
162 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

diffusion of the orthogonal projection II : fi(.F) —> W(J r ). So the germ of

/3jis(jT) at 0 can be considered as a finite measure of the size of Til(T),
and thus of H (T) as well. For this reason, the germs at 0 of the distri-
butions PdisiJ7) could be called distributional Betti numbers. But, for the
sake of simplicity, the whole distributions PldiS{^) will be called the distri-
butional Betti numbers of J7, even though they should be better considered
as Lefschetz numbers away from 0. We also define the distributional Euler
characteristic of T by the formula

xdis(^) = E t - i y / ^ m •
i

The following theorem describes the singularity of Xdis (•?"") at 0 in terms

of Connes' A-Euler characteristic XK(J-)- SO Connes' A-Betti numbers are
really strongly related with the reduced leafwise cohomology. The similar
result was obtained in [18] when the flow is isometric.
Theorem 1.2 In some neighbourhood ofO in R, we have
Xdis(^") = X A ( ^ ) • <5o ,
where 8Q denotes the Dirac measure at 0.
Recall that a closed orbit c of length I of the flow Xt on (M, T) is called
simple when
det(id - XI • TXT* -» TXT*) ^ 0
for any x e c. The following theorem proves, for this type of foliations, a
conjecture stated by Deninger in [10]. Under some additional assumptions,
it was proved in [11, 18].
Theorem 1.3 Assume that all closed orbits of the flow Xt on (M,T) are
simple. Then we have
oo
XdUF) = ]T^(c) ]>^ sign det (id - X*(c) : TXT* -> TxT*j • 5ki{c)
c fe=l

on M.+ , where c runs over all primitive closed orbits of the flow Xt, 1(c)
denotes the length of c, and x is an arbitrary point of c.
Of course, in Theorem 1.3, a symmetric formula for Xdis(-^r) also holds
inK_.
Observe that, if dimW i (.F) = &(?) < oo, then /3^S(J") is a smooth
measure whose value at 0 is 0l(F) dt. On the other hand, when Tt(!F) is of
finite dimension, its Euler characteristic can be defined :
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 163

But, by Theorems 1.2 and 1.3, the distributional Euler characteristic

Xdisl-T7) is trivial if it is smooth, obtaining the following.
Corollary 1.4 / / dim H( T) < oo, then Xd\s(J~), Xh{f) and x{F) vanish.
Theorem 1.3 also has the following consequence.
Corollary 1.5 Assume that all closed orbits of the flow Xt on (M,T) are
simple. If dim H' (J7) < oo, then, for any I G R,

V - ^ r sign det (id -Xf: TXF -+ TXF) = 0 ,

where c runs over all closed orbits of the flow Xt of period I, /J,(C) denotes
the multiplicity of c, and x £ c is an arbitrary point.
When the dimension of T is two and the leaves are dense, it is possible
to relate directly each distributional Betti number with the corresponding
A-Betti number because we obviously have
Pi(F) = P\{F) = 0 , dimW°(J-) = l , dimW2(J-)<l.
So Theorem 1.2 has the following consequence.
Corollary 1.6 Assume that T is of dimension two with dense leaves. Then
the singular part o//3j is (.F) around 0 is PXiF) • <5o for each degree i.
It is possible that the statement of Corollary 1.6 holds in general. In-
deed, a proof could be given by finding appropriate heat kernel estimates
on the leaves. So we propose the following.
Question 1.7 For each degree i, is it true that the singular part o//3^is(^r)
around 0 is /3\(7") • 60?
If this question has an affirmative answer, then dim'W(Jc) = oo when-
ever j3\{T) ^ 0. This would mean that the existence of non-trivial square
integrable harmonic i-forms on the leaves implies the existence of non-trivial
harmonic i-forms on the leaves that are smooth on M. Similar results were
shown in [1, 3], where integrable harmonic i-forms on the leaves are used
instead of square integrable ones, which are much easier to find.
Let RL be the curvature of the leafwise metric, and Pf(i?/,/27r) £ QP(J-)
the leafwise Euler form, p = dim J?7. The product Pf(i?£,/27r) A A is a
differential form of top degree on M. In particular,

Pf(i?L/27r) A A = i K?{x) UJM{X)

lux
if T is of dimension 2, where Kjr is the Gauss curvature of the leaves
and UJM is the volume form on M. Then Theorem 1.2 and the foliation
Gauss-Bonnet theorem from [8], which computes XAC-^OI have the following
consequence.
164 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

Corollary 1.8 We have

Xdis(-F) = 50- [ Pf(i?L/27T) A A

JM

around 0. In particular, if J- is of dimension two, then

Xdis(^) = So • — / Kjr{x)uM(x)
2TI" JM

around 0.
Corollary 1.8 seems to be a powerful tool to produce examples of folia-
tions with dense leaves on closed Riemannian manifolds with dimH l (J-) =
oo; specially, if Question 1.7 has an affirmative answer.
There are obvious versions of these results with general coefficients,
which were not considered here for the sake of simplicity.
This type of foliations are just Lie foliations of codimension one. So this
is a particular case of our work on distributional Betti numbers for arbitrary
Lie foliations [4]. It is worth to explain this particular case here because the
arguments are much easier to understand, and moreover the codimension
one case is relevant for Deninger's approach to Riemann Hypothesis [10,11].
Finally, let us mention that our results are somehow related with the
study of transversely elliptic operators for Lie group actions [6, 23, 20, 9,
15, 17].

2 Distributional Betti numbers

2.1 Leafwise homotopies

A C°° foliation map / : (M,T) —> (M, T) induces a homomorphism of
topological complexes, / * : £l{T) —> fl^J7), by pulling-back differential
forms. Then it also induces homomorphisms of graded topological vector
spaces, / * : H(T) -+ H{T) and / * : H{T) -> H(T).
Two maps C°° maps / , / ' : (M, F) —> (M, T) are said to be leafwise
homotopic if there is a C°° homotopy between them, hs : (M, J-) —> (M, T),
s £ / = [0,1], such that each curve s H-» hs(x), x G M, is contained in a
leaf. Such a homotopy is called an leafwise homotopy, and the notation
/ ~F f will be used. Then the usual construction of an homotopy of
de Rham complexes produces a linear continuous map k : 0(J r ) —> fl(J-),
homogeneous of degree —1, such that

/ * - / ' * = k o dT + d? o k. (3)
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 165

Moreover k depends continuously on the homotopy hs with respect to the

C°° topology. We get

f~ f/^ t r = r* •• K(F) ^ H(T) ,

7
\ /* = /'* : H{T) -> H(T) ,
and thus

/ ^ / ' ^ n o f = n o / ' * : H(T) -> H(T) (4)

by the isomorphism (2).

2.2 Smoothing operators

Let LJM denote the Riemannian volume element of M, and LJJ: the Rieman-
nian volume element of T. A smoothing operator on fl(T) is a linear map
P : Q(T) —> £l(T), continuous with respect to the C°° topology, given by

(Pa){x) = / k(x,y)a(y)ujM{y) , a € tt(T) ,

JM

where k € C°°{/\TT* M f\TT) is called the smoothing kernel of P. So

k(x,y)e/\TT*®/\TTy = Horn ( / \ T ^ * , / \ T ^ ) , (a:,y) e M x M .

Any smoothing operator P is of trace class, and we have

T r P = / trk(x,x)u>M(x) , (5)

where k is its smoothing kernel.

Let £l(T)' be the dual space of Q(T); i.e., the space of continuous linear
functionals £l(T) —* M, equipped with the weak dual topology (or topology
of pointwise convergence). Let C(Q(T)', Q{T)) denote the space of continu-
ous linear operators fl(T)' —> £l(T), equipped with the topology of bounded
convergence. Consider also the C°° topology on C°° (A TT* IE1 A TT). The
following result is well known.
L e m m a 2.1 A continuous operator in 0,(T) is smoothing if and only if it
extends to a bounded linear operator Q,(T)' —> £l(T). Furthermore the map

£(n(T)',n(T))^C°°(/\TT*M/\TT^ ,

which assigns its kernel to each operator, is an isomorphism of topological

vector spaces.
166 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

Of course, Lemma 2.1 can be stated in terms of Sobolev spaces Wk£l(F)

of leafwise differential forms; in particular, a continuous operator in VL(F)
is smoothing if and only if it extends to a bounded operator WkQ,(T) —>
Wl£l{F) for a l l M .
A special type of smoothing operators on fi(.F) can be constructed as
follows. A subspace V C X(M) is called transitive if
TXM = {Z{x) \ZeV}
for all x € M. Since M is compact, it easily follows that there exists a
finite dimensional subspace W C X{T) such that
TXT = {Z{x) \ZGW}.

Then V — W © RX C X(M, T) is a finite dimensional transitive subspace.

Fix an Euclidean metric on V so that X has norm one and is orthogonal
to W. Then the following result was shown in [22].
L e m m a 2.2 (Sarkaria) For any f € C£°(V), the operator

P= f Z{-f{Z)dZ
Jv
on tt(J-) is smoothing, and its smoothing kernel depends continuously on f
(with respect to the C°° topologies).

2.3 Proof of Theorem 1.1

For each Z £ W and t e K , the maps
((1 - s)X)t o(Z + stX)i : (M, F)-+(M,F), sel,
define a leafwise homotopy between Xt o Z\ = (tX)\ o Z\ and (Z + tX)i.
So
n o z{ o x; = n o (z + tx)\ •. n(f) -»n(f)
by (4).
Now take any / e CC°°(M) and any g e C™(W) with Jwg(Z)dZ = 1,
and let

Bf=f Z\ • h(Z) dZ : fi(^) -» fi(^) ,

Jv
where h € C™{V) is given by h(Z + tX) = f(t)-g(Z) for Z e W and t e R.
By Lemma 2.2, such a Bj is a smoothing operator whose smoothing kernel
depends continuously on /i, and thus on / . We also have

Af=Uo I [ Z{ o X* • f{t) • g(Z) dtdZon = UoBfoU.

Jw JR
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 167

On the other hand, it was proved by the authors in [3] that II : Q(F) —>
f2(J7) is continuous, and has an extension to a bounded linear operator on
every Sobolev space of leafwise differential forms, and thus to Q(^ 7 )'. So,
by Lemma 2.1, the operator Af = II o Bf o II is smoothing. Moreover
its smoothing kernel depends continuously on Af, and thus on Bf. In
turn, Bf depends continuously on its smoothing kernel, and thus on / .
So the smoothing kernel of Af depends continuously on / . It follows that
Af is a trace class operator, as well as each A, , and their traces depend
continuously on / by (5). Therefore each /3^is is a distribution.

2-4 The dependence of the distributional Betti numbers

L e m m a 2.3 The distributional Betti numbers depend only on T and the
class of X inX{M,T)/X{T).
Proof. Suppose that V e X{M, J7) defines the same class as X in
X{M,F)/X{F). Then, for all t,
(X+s(Y-X))t:(M,F)^(M,F), sGl,
is an leafwise homotopy between Xt and Yt- So

n o / x:-f(s)ds = Uo [Y;-f(s)ds (6)

by (4).
Take another bundle-like metric on M so that Y is of norm one and
orthogonal to the leaves, and let II' : Q(J-) —> Ti'(J-) be the correspond-
ing orthogonal projection onto the corresponding leafwise harmonic forms.
Then

n ' : H{T) 5 n'{T) (7)

by (2).
For any / e CC°°(R), let

B} = IT o f Ys* • f(s) ds o IT : fl(T) -> fi(.F) ,

JR

and let B? denote its restriction to ^(T). Then the distributional Betti
numbers /%lis, determined by J-, Y and the new bundle-like metric, are given
by </?£„/) = T r ( B f ) .
168 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

By (6), (7), and since 11,11' are projections, it follows that

Tr (A.f) = Tr (u o f X* • f{s)ds : SV{F) - • &{?))

= Tr (u o f Y* • f(s) ds : Sl^F) -» n\T)

= Tr (II' o f Y; • f(s) ds : ft*(.F) -> ft* (.F)

= Tr(s}i)) .
Therefore /3^is = /%\s as desired. •

3 The distributional Euler characteristic and functions of

the leafwise Laplacian

3.1 A family of smoothing operators

Let UB(M) be the space of uniformly bounded Borel functions on R. Since
the operator Dy = dj? + 5? is essentially self-adjoint in L2S7(.F), the Spec-
tral Theorem defines a "functional calculus map"
UB(R) -> End(L 2 ft(J r )) , <>
/ ^ <j>{Djr) ,
2
where End(L ft(jF)) denotes the bounded linear endomorphisms of LP$l(T).
Let A be the set of functions <£ : R —> C that extend to entire functions
on C so that, for each compact subset X c l , the set of functions x >-* <p(x+
iy), y € K, is bounded in the Schwartz space <S(R). Such an A is a Frechet
algebra, and, in fact, a module over C[z]. This algebra contains all functions
with compactly supported Fourier transform, and functions x >—• e~tx with
t > 0. By [21], the above functional calculus map, given by the Spectral
Theorem, restricts to a "functional calculus map" A —> End(fi(.F)), which
is a continuous homomorphism of C[2;]-modules and of algebras.
Let Xi,..., xp, j / i , . . . , yq be foliation coordinates on a foliation patch U;
i.e.,
(xi,...,xp,2/i,...,yg):t/-^RpxR9
is a diffeomorphism so that the slices R p x {*} correspond to the plaques
of T in U. Then the differential forms
dxj = dxix A . . . A dxir ,
for multiindices / = ( i i , . . . ,ir) with 1 < i\ < ... < ir < p, form a base
of fl^lu) as C°°([/)-module. An operator B in ^(.T7) is local when, for
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 169

any a e ^(.F) and any x e M, the value (Ba)(x) depends only on the
germ of a at x, and thus B defines an operator B\u in Q,{T\u) for any
open subset U C M. Recall that a leafwise differential operator B in £l(T)
is a local operator in fi(.F) such that, for arbitrary foliation coordinates
x\,..., xp, 2/1,..., yq on any foliation patch U, with respect to the C°°(U)-
base dxj of fl (J-\u), the restriction B\u is given by a matrix whose entries
are linear combinations, with coefficients in C°°(U), of the leafwise partial
derivatives
Qk Qk
dxK kl
dx ... dxpp '
for multiindices K = (fci,..., kp) e N p , where k = k\ + ... + kp. Now, a
family {Bt | t £ R} of leafwise differential operators is called smooth when,
for any foliation patch U with foliation coordinates x i , . . . , xp, y i , . . . , yq, in
the corresponding expression of Bt\u, the above coefficients of the partial
derivatives dk/dxK depend smoothly on t (they are C°° functions on!7xR).
The support of such a family is the closure in R of the set of points t with

P r o p o s i t i o n 3.1 Let <j> € A and let {Bt \ t e R} be a smooth compactly

supported family of leafwise differential operators in Q(J-). Then

B= (jx*toBtdt\o4>(DT)

is a smoothing operator in J1(F) whose smoothing kernel depends continu-

ously on <fi and {Bt | t € K}.
Proposition 3.1 follows from Lemma 2.1 by showing that, for any k,l,
there are some N and C such that

\\B : WkCl{F) -> W'fi(.F) || < f (I- dl)N4>(0 e™ d£ . (8)

J&
The proof of (8) is omitted here because it is rather technical. It is given
in our work [3] with more generality.
Observe that Theorem 1.1 is a direct consequence of Proposition 3.1.
In fact, by Proposition 3.1, for / G C^°(M) and t > 0, the operator

Bt,/= [ X*s-f(s)dsoe-tAr

on £l(J-) is smoothing and its smoothing kernel depends continuously on / .

Hence Af = HoBtj oil satisfies the same properties. This also shows that
170 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

the operator

A'f = f X* • f(t)dtoU = BtJ oII

Ju
is smoothing with smoothing kernel depending continuously on / , and we
have Tr(A'f) = T r ( ^ ) since II is a projection.

3.2 The distributional Euler characteristic and the leafwise heat

operator
Let Btfl denote the restriction of Btj to Ql(J-) for each degree i.
L e m m a 3.2 For any f G C~(R), we have TrB(tJ -> T r ^ as t -> oo.
Proof. Note that

BtJ -A'f= f X*s • f(s) ds o (e~tA- - II)

Ju
= [ X*t • f(t)dtoe~Ar o (e-(*-D^ -if) .
v
Ju '
t 1 A r
On the other hand, by [3], the operator e - ( - ) J — n has a continu-
ous extension Sl{T~)' -» Sl{T)', and converges to zero in C(Q(T)',Cl(F)')
(equipped with the topology of bounded convergence) as t —• oo. There-
fore Btj — A'f converges to zero in £(J7(^r)',fi(^-")) as t —> oo, and thus its
smoothing kernel converges to zero by Lemma 2.1, and the result follows.
•
For the sake of simplicity, it is worthwhile to use the supertrace notation.
Consider ^(J 7 ) as a Z2-graded space:

where n+(T) = neven(T) and Sl~(f) = fiodd(^"). For any Z2-homogeneous

operator P on fl(J-), let P± denote its restrictions to fi±(^r). If moreover
P is of trace class and Z2-degree zero, its supertrace is defined as
Tr s (P) = T r ( P + ) - T r ( p - ) .
In particular,
(Xdis(^),/)=Trs(A/)
for all / G C~(R).
Choose an even function in A, which can be written a s m tp(x2).
Then, for t > 0 and / G C~(R), let

C U / = / ^a* • / ( s ) <** ° t ^ A ^ ) 2 : fi(.F) - fi(-F) •

 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 171

In particular, Btj = Ct^j when tp(x2) = e~x / 2 .

Lemma 3.3 TrsCt^j is independent oft.
Proof. It is similar to the proof of the corresponding result in the heat
equation proof of the usual Lefschetz trace formula [7, 13]. We have

±'
dt
s
-Tr C ^t f = 2Trs(fx*- f(s) ds o A ^ o $\tA^) or/>(tAj:)\

= 2Tr ( I X* • f(s) dsod^oS^o ?// (tA%) o i/> (tA

>£
- 2Tr ( f X* • f(s) dsod+°5fO tf (tA^) o xj) (fA~)

+ 2Tr ( / X; • f(s) ds°5r°d+o ^' (tA+) o V (tA+)

- 2 Tr ( / X ; • / ( s ) ds o 5+ o d~ o V' (*A~) o V (tA")

On the other hand, since the function x \—> ip'(x2) is in .4, we have

Tr ( f X* • f(s) dsodf°5$° V' (t&$) o ^ (<A±)N)

= Tr ( d£ o /" Xs* • f(s) ds o V' (tA±) o ^ (iA£) o <5±

= Tr (V> (tA%) o5%od^o f X* • f(s) ds o -0' (tA%)

= Tr ( f X*s • f(s) ds o V' ( i A | ) o ^ (iA£) o 5% o d*

= Tr ( /" Xs* • / ( s ) ds o «&± o d£ o 1/;' (*A|) o V ( * A | ) j ,

where we have used the well known fact that, if A is a trace class operator
and B is bounded, then AB and BA are trace class operators with the
same trace. Therefore ^ T V C * ^ , / = 0 as desired. •
The following result follows directly from Lemmas 3.2 and 3.3.
Corollary 3.4 We have

TrsBti/ = (Xdis(n/)
for anyt>0 and f G C~(R).
Like in [21, p. 463], choose a sequence of smooth even functions </>m £ A,
which we write as <j>m{x) — ipm(x2), with </>m(0) = 1, and whose Fourier
172 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

transforms (f>m are compactly supported and tend to the function <p(x) =
e~x I"1 as m —* oo (in the topology of the Schwartz space <S(R)). Without
loss of generality, we can also assume that, for each N and C,

J | (id - <?£)" (<M£) - fa)) | e°m d£ - 0 (9)

as m ~> oo. Consider the operator

Ct,m,f = Ctti>mJ = f X* • f(g) dg o Vm(*A^) 2

JG

on Q(jc-).
L e m m a 3.5 For any t > 0 and f € C^°(K), we have

Tr s C t , m ,/ - TrsBtJ = (xdi.(^),/)
as m ^ oo.
Proof. Combining (9) and (8), we get that

Ct,mj — Btj —» 0
in ^ ( ^ ( J 7 ) ' , Q(!F)) as t —> oo. By Lemma 2.1, it follows that the smoothing
kernel of Cttmj converges uniformly to the smoothing kernel of Btj, and
the result follows. •

3.3 Description of the smoothing kernels

According to the structure of Lie foliations [12, 19], the foliation T can be
described as follows. There is a finitely generated subgroup T C M that
acts on the right in some manifold L such that:

• M is diffeomorphic to the orbit space L x r K of the right T-action on

M = L x l given by

(x, s) • 7 = (a; • 7, s + 7) , (x, s) £ L x M , 7 e T;

say M = L x r l . Thus the canonical projection 7r : M —> M is a

covering map.
• The leaves of the lifting T of T to M are the fibres L x {£}, t £ K, of
the second factor projection D : M —> R.
• The flow of the lifting X of X to M is given by Xt(x, s) — (x,t + s),
t e M.
 DISTRIBUTIONAL BETTI NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 173

Let Q, Q denote the holonomy groupoids of T, T respectively. Since the

leaves of J", T have trivial holonomy groups, we have
Q = {(x, y) € M | x, y lie in the same leaf of J7} ,

G = <(x,y) e M x,y lie in the same leaf of T (fiber of D) > .

Thus Q, G are^C00 submanifolds o f M x M and M x M, respectively. More-

over it x n : Q —> (7 is a covering map whose group of deck transformations
is
Aut (g -> g) = Aut(Tr) = r ,
where a € Aut(7r) corresponds to a x a G Aut (g —» g). Let s,r : g —> M
the source and the range projections, which are the restrictions of the factor
projections M x M —> M.
Recall the definition of the global action of the convolution algebra

in Q,(!F). For any

* e C™ (<3,r* f\TF* ® s* /\TT} , a e n(.F) ,

the element k • a G fi(^ r ) is given by

(k-a)(x) = k{x,y)a{y)u)jr{y) , x£M,

where Lx is the leaf of T through x € M.

Consider the lifting of the fixed bundle-like metric on M to M and
its restriction to the leaves of T. Let w^j denote the Riemannian volume
element of M, and UJ^ the Riemannian volume element of T. We also have
a global action of any

keC°°(g,r* f\TF*®s* f\TT) ,

supported in an /^-neighbourhood of the diagonal M = A C g for some

R > 0, on the space USl{T) of uniformly bounded differential forms in
Cl(T): For any ex £ UCl^J7), the element k • ex E U£l(^F) is given by
174 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

By [21], if h is a bounded Borel function on R such that its Fourier

transform h e C£°(R), then the operator h{Dp) on £1{T) is represented by
some element of
Cc°° (g, r* f\ TT* ® s* f\ TT

Moreover, it follows from the proof of Assertion 1 in [21, p.461] that, for
any function h in the Schwartz space <S(R) with supp/i C [—R, R], the
operator h(Djr) on £l(T) is represented by a leafwise smoothing kernel on
Q supported in the ^-neighbourhood of the diagonal M = A C §._ _
The map 7r x 7r : Q —> Q^ restricts to a diffeomorphism TT X TX : L x L —>
Z- x L for any leaf L of T (L = ir(L)). Hence, the lift of the leafwise
smoothing kernel of h{Djr) to Q is supported in the .R-neighbourhood of
the diagonal M = A C Q, and thus defines an operator h (-D^.) on UQ, [T).
It is clear that the diagram

USI(T\ ^ l u n (*)
(7TXX)* (7TX7r)*

Q(T) ^^ n( •n
commutes.
Since <fim is compactly supported, the operator i/)m(iA^-)2 is represented
by a leafwise smoothing kernel

km,t e C ~ ( s , r* / \ T . T ® s* /\ TT) .

The action of kmj on fi(jF) defines the operator ipm(tAjr)2 in fi(jF): For
any a G 0(J r ), we have

(ipm(tAjr)2a) (x) = (fcm,t -a)(x) = / kmtt{x,y)a(y)ujjr(y) , xeM.

This operator is equal to the operator ipm(tAjr)2 in fi(^") defined by the

Spectral Theorem.
Let km<t be the lift of km%i to G, which is also supported in the R-
neighbourhood of the diagonal M = A C Q for some i? > 0. For /? e
E/fi ( TI, we have

2
(Vm ( ^ ) /?) (i) = / fcm,t(x, y) /3(j/) w^(ji) , x e M .
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 175

For any / € C£°(R), consider the operator

Ct,m,f = f X* • f(s) ds o </>m(iA^)2 : USl (.?) -» UQ ( > ) .

Obviously, Ct,mj o 7r* = IT* O Ct,m,f on ^T).

Lemma 3.6 For any f e C^°(M), £ > 0 and m, the operator Ct,mj is
a smoothing operator whose smoothing kernel Ct,mj is supported in an R-
neighbourhood of the diagonal in M x M for some R > 0, and

ct,mj({x, u), {y, v)) = X*__u o fem,t((x, v), (y, v)) • f(v - u) (10)

for (x, u), (y,v) G L x K = M.

Proof. For a e Ufl (F), we have

(Ct,mja) (x, u)

= ( X* • f(s) ds o 4,m (tAf)2aj (x, u)

= J X; (ipm (tA^f a ) (x, u + s)- f(s) ds

= / ^-u / km,t{(x,v),(y,v))a(y,v)u>f(y,v)) -f(v-u)dv

JU \JLX{V} J

= L K-u okm>t({x,v),(y,v))a(y,v) • f(v - u)w^(y,v) ,

JM

by using the change of variable s = v — u. Hence Ct,mj is defined by the

smoothing kernel given in (10), and the result follows. •
For each (x, u) € M, let [x, u] = TT(X, V). It is easy to see that the kernels
Ct,mj and ctimj are related by the formula

([x,u],[y,v]) = ^2ct,m,f({x,u),(y-'Y,v + j)) , (11)

where we use the identity

via the map n. The sum in (11) is finite because Ct,m,f is supported in an
.R-neighbourhood of the diagonal i n M x M for some R > 0.
176 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

4 Distributional Euler characteristic and Connes' Euler

characteristic

T h e goal of this section is t o prove Theorem 1.2.

L e m m a 4 . 1 Given R > 0, there is some neighbourhood U of 0 in R so
that
TT:{{V,V) | (y, u) e Bf((x, u),R) , v - u e U} - • M

is injective for any (x,u) € M, where Bp((x,u),R) denotes the ball of

radius R and centred at (x,u) in the leaf L x {u}.
Proof. Since M is compact, there exists a compact subset K C M with
n(K) = M. Note t h a t , if t h e statement holds for (x, u) G K, then it holds
for all {x,u) e M.
Assume t h e result is false. T h e n t h e r e exist sequences (xi, Ui), (y,, Vi) G
M , and a sequence 7i G T with (xi,Ui) G K, 7 4 ^ 0, and such t h a t {y%,Vi)
and [\)i • 7i, Uj + 7i) approach B~((xi,Ui), R) in the sense t h a t t h e distance
between t h e t e r m s of this sequences t o this set converges t o zero.
Since K is compact, we can assume t h a t there exists limj(a;;,Ui)i =
{x,u) e M. Hence, (yi,Vi) and (y; • 7i,«i + 7») approach t h e relatively
compact set B^.((x, u), R). It follows t h a t , for infinitely many i, t h e points
(J/J, Vi) and (t/j • ji, Vi + 7;) lie in some compact neighbourhood Q of
Bp((x, u), R); thus Q • 7 J (~) Q =£ 0 for infinitely many i. This implies t h a t
there exists some 7 € T such t h a t 7i = 7 for infinitely many i. In particular,
7^0.
On t h e other hand, since(yj, Uj)and(yi -ji, v, + 7i) approach B^x, u),R),
which is relatively compact, we can assume t h a t there exist
\im(yl,vl) , lim(yi • 7 ; , ^ + -yt)
% i

in B^((x,u), R). Therefore, if lim^j/j, v^) = {y,v), then

{y, v) G L x {u} , (y • 7, v + 7) = lim(yj • 7 ^ «, + 7 i ) 6 i x {u} ,

yielding z; = u = v + 7, and thus 7 = 0. T h e result follows from this

contradiction. •
L e m m a 4 . 2 For each m, there is a neighbourhood U of 0 in K such that
the map IT is injective on the support of cttmj({x,u), •) for all (x,u) G M
if t is small enough and the support of f is contained in U.
Proof. For any fixed R > 0, choose some neighbourhood U of 0 in M
satisfying t h e statement of L e m m a 4.1. For any m , we have
supp (F (X I-> ipm (tx2))) = Vt • supp (F {x >-> ipm (x2))) ,
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 177

where F denotes the Fourier transform. So, since supp (F (x H-> (f>m (z 2 )))
is compact, it follows that
R R
supp (F (x i-> ipm (tx2))) C
2"'"2~
if t is small enough, for each m. Thus the leafwise smoothing kernel of
rpm (*A^) is supported in the ^-neighbourhood of the diagonal A c Q,
and the leafwise smoothing kernel of tpm (tA^) is supported in the R-
neighbourhood of the diagonal A C Q- From Lemma 3.6, we get
supp(c t i m i / ((x,u),-)) C {(y,v) | (y,u) € B^((x,u),R) , v - u e U)

for any (x, u) € M if t is small enough, and the result follows by Lemma 4.1.
•
By noncommutative integration theory [8], the holonomy invariant
transverse measure A defines a trace on the von Neumann algebra of T',
which can be shortly described as follows. The twisted convolution algebra

Cc°° (S, r* /\ TF ® s* / \ TT)

is contained in the (twisted) von Neumann algebra W* {T, /\T!F*), and,

for any
k e Cc°°(g,r* l\TF* ® s* /\TT) ,

the trace TTA(A;) is finite and given by the formula

Tr A (fc)= / trk([x,u},[x,u])coM([x,u}). (12)

Now fix U as in Lemma 4.2, and let / € C£°(R) with supp/ C U.

Proposition 4.3 For all t > 0, we have
TrsCUmJ = /(0) • TrliPm(tAr)2 . (13)
s
Proof. Recall that Tr C t , m j / is independent of t by Lemma 3.3, and
TrsAipm(tAjr)2 is also independent of t by [21]. So we need only prove this
statement for a single t.
If t is small enough, we have

TrsCt,mi/= / trs(cttmj([x,u},[x,u])ujM([x,u\)
JM

tr s (c t , m ,/((:r, u), (x, u))) CJ^ (X, U)

J M
178 J.A. ALVAREZ LOPEZ AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

JM

=/(0) • / tTs(km,t([x,u],[x, U]))CJM{[X,U})

JM

= /(0) • TrA</>m {t&f)2

by (11), Lemma 4.2, Lemma 3.6 and (12) since
km,t G Cc°° (g, S* f\ TF ®r* f\ TT) .

•
Now we recall some facts on Connes' Betti numbers. The family
{Pi,L | L is a leaf of T} ,
where each Piti is the orthogonal projection onto the space of square in-
tegrable harmonic i-forms on L, defines a projection Pt in the twisted fo-
liation von Neumann algebra W* {T, [\TT*). As in [8], one can define
A-Betti numbers /3A(.F) as
P\{F) = Tr A Pi .
Then the A-Euler characteristic of T is

i
Using the corresponding supertrace notion, this formula can be rewritten
as
XKif) = Tr s A P ,

where P = ^ t ^ . By [21], we have that Tr A (tpm (tAp) J is independent

of t, and

TrA(^m(tA^)2)^XA(^) (14)

as m —>- oo for alH > 0 (independently of m!).

Proof of Theorem 1.2. Fix a neighbourhood U of 0 in R as in Lemma 4.2.
Let / 6 C£°(R) with supp/ s U. Combining Proposition 4.3, Lemma 3.3
and (14), we have

TrsCt,mJ = /(0) • TrsA ( > m (tA?)2) - /(0) • XA(F) (15)

as m —> oo for any t > 0.

 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 179

Fix any e > 0. From Lemmas 3.5 and 3.3, it follows that
|TrsCt,m,/-Tr8flt,/|<e
for any t > 0 if m is large enough. But

1rs5t,/ = (Xdis(n/>
for any t > 0 by Corollary 3.4. So
\TrsCttrnj-(Xdis(F)J)\<e (16)
for any t > 0 if m is large enough.
From (15) and (16), it follows that
|(Xdis(n/)-/(0)-XA(^)|<£
foranye > 0, yielding Xdis(^) = XA(F)-5O on U sincee > 0 and / € C%°(U)
are arbitrary. D

5 Localization theorem

Theorem 5.1 The distribution Xdis(^") is supported in the set of all s G M

such that Xs has a fixed point in M.
Proof. Let V be an open subset in R such that Xs has no fixed points
for all s G V. We have to prove that Xdis^) — 0 on V. Note that the fact
that Xs has no fixed points for all s G V is equivalent to
Xs(x,u) ^(x-j,u + -y)
for any s G V, 7 G V and (x, u) G M.
One can prove an analogue of Lemma 4.2, asserting that there exists a
neighbourhood U of 0 in K such that, for any SQ G K and for each m, if
/ G C^°(U + s 0 ), then 7r is injective on the support of ct,mj((x,u), •) for
(x, u) G M if £ is small enough. i,From this, it follows that, for each m, if t
is small enough, then, for any [x,u] G M, either
Ct,mj{[x,u],[x,u\) = 0

or

Ct,m,f{[x, u], [X, U\) = Ct,m,f{{x, U), ( l • 7 , U + 7 ) )

for some 7 G rn(C/ + so)- In the latter case, such a 7 is uniquely determined
by (x,u).
Take s0 G V and some neighbourhood [/ of 0 as above, satisfying also
U + SQ C V. Since so is an arbitrary point of V, it is enough to show
180 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

that (xdis,/) = 0 for any / e C°°(U + s0)- Then, by Lemma 3.5 and
Corollary 3.4, it is enough to show that Tr s Ct,m,/ — 0 for each m and t
small enough (depending on m).
We have

TrsCt,mi/= / tTs(ct,mj([x,u],[x,u]))u>M({x,u\)
JM

-L JM
tr s (ct,m,f((x, u), (x--y,u + 7))) UJ^(X, u)

-L tr s [X* o km,t((x,u + 7), (a; • 7 , u + 7))) • /(•y) w^(x,u) ,

JM
for the appropriate choice of 7 € T, where we use the identity
/\T(VIV)F* = / \ T{y.7tV+7) F*

given by the diagonal action of 7 on M.

Since supp/ C U + So, we can consider only those [x,u] e M with
7 6 U + so for some choice of 7 € T with (x • 7, u + 7) in the support of
Ct,m,/. Thus 7 € V, yielding
(x • 7, u + 7) ^ (x, u + 7)
by assumption. It follows that
km,t((x, U + J),(X-J,U + 7)) -^ 0

as t —» 0 uniformly on (x,u) € M. Since Tr s C t , m ] / is independent of t, we

get Tr s C t i m ! / — 0 for each m, as desired. •

6 The Lefschetz trace formula

The goal of this section is to prove Theorem 1.3.

By Theorem 5.1, in order to evaluate

TrsCtim,/= / trscttmJ([x,u},[x,u})ivM([x,u})
JM
asymptotically as t —> 0, it is enough to integrate over small neighbourhoods
of closed orbits.
As in the proof of Theorem 5.1, take a neighbourhood U of 0 in K such
that, for any s o € K and for each m, if / e C£°(U + so), then IT is injective
in the support of ct,m,f{(x,u), •) for all (x,u) € M if t is small enough.
Let s 0 be the period of some closed orbit of X. There exist finitely
many closed orbits with the period in U + SQ. Hence, the neighbourhood
 DISTRIBUTIONAL B E T T I NUMBERS OF TRANSITIVE FOLIATIONS 181

U can be chosen so that so is the only period that belongs to so + U, and

thus only this period may be in supp/. Take a closed orbit of period So,
and let c be the corresponding primitive closed orbit with length I — 1(c);
thus so = kl for some integer k > 0. We also get that I € T, and
(x, u + I) = (x • I, u + I) , (x, u + kl) = (x • kl, u + kl)
if [x, u] is in c. So x is a fixed point of the action of I on L, and there are no
other fixed points of elements of T n (SQ + U) in some open neighbourhood
W of x in L because all X-orbits are simple. Note also that
7r({z} x [0,/]) = c
and
7r : {x} x (0,1) —> c
is a C°° embedding. Moreover 7r(W x [0,1]) is an open neighbourhood of c
where there are no other orbits of period in so + U, and
TT-.W x(0,l)^ M
is a C°° embedding.
Denote by
fct e C°° (<J, r* / \ TT* ®s* /\ TiF)
the leafwise smoothing kernel of the leafwise heat operator e _ t A ^ . Then,
since km<t(x, •) converges to kt(x, •) as m —-> oo, by Lemma 3.6, it is enough
to compute the asymptotics as t J. 0 of

/ tr s (x; o kt ((y,v + kl), (y -kl,v + kl))) • f(kl)uj^(y,v)

V
JWx[0,l] '

= f(kl)- f J tT*(xh°h{{v,v + kl),{y-kl,v + kl)))wWiV(y)dv,

where u>w,v is the restriction of LJ^ to W x {v} = W, and we use the identity

given by the diagonal action of kl on M. But, by [7, 13], the integral

J^ tr s (X*kl o & ((y, v + kl), (y -kl,v + kl))) uw,v(y)

converges as t J, 0 to
signdet (id - Xku : T{x,v)(W x {v}) -» T(XtV)(W x {v})) ,
which is independent of v, and the proof is finished. •
182 J.A. ALVAREZ L O P E Z AND Y.A. KORDYUKOV

References

1. J.A. Alvarez Lopez and S. Hurder, Pure-point spectrum for foliation

geometric operators, preprint, 1995.
2. J.A. Alvarez Lopez and G. Hector, The dimension of the leafwise re-
duced cohomology, preprint, 2000.
3. J.A. Alvarez Lopez and Y.A. Kordyukov, Long time behaviour of
leafwise heat flow for Riemannian foliations, preprint dg-ga/9612010,
1996, to appear in Compositio Math.
4. J.A. Alvarez Lopez and Y.A. Kordyukov, Distributional Betti numbers
for Lie foliations, preprint, 2000.
5. J.A. Alvarez Lopez and P. Tondeur, Hodge decomposition along the
leaves of a Riemannian foliation, J.Funct. Anal., 99 (1991), 443-458.
6. M.F. Atiyah, Elliptic operators and compact groups, in Lecture Notes
in Mathematics, 401, 1-93. Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New
York, 1974.
7. M.F. Atiyah and R. Bott, A Lefschetz fixed point formula for elliptic
complexes I, Ann. of Math., 86 (1967), 374-407.
8. A. Connes, Sur la theorie non-commutative de I 'integration, in
Algebres d'operateurs, Lecture Notes in Math. 725, Springer Verlag,
1979, 19-143.
9. A. Connes, Noncommutative differential geometry, Publ. Math., 62
(1986), 41-144.
10. C. Deninger, Some analogies between number theory and dynamical
systems on foliated spaces, Doc. Math. J. Extra Volume ICM98, 1
(1998), 163-186.
11. C. Deninger and W. Singhof, A note on dynamical trace formulas,
manuscript, 2000.
12. E. Fedida, Sur les feuilletages de Lie, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris. Ser.
A-B, 272 (1971), A999-A1001.
13. P.B. Gilkey, Invariance Theory, the Heat Equation and the Atiyah-
Singer Index Theorem, Publish or Perish Press, Berkeley, 1984.
14. A. Haefliger, Some remarks on foliations with minimal leaves, J. Diff.
Geom., 15 (1980), 269-384.
15. Y.A. Kordyukov, Transversally elliptic operators on G-manifolds of
bounded geometry, Russ. J. Math. Ph., 2 (1994), 175-198.
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on foliated manifolds, in Analysis and Geometry in Foliated Mani-
folds, Proceedings of the VII International Colloquium on Differential
Geometry, Santiago de Compostela, 1994, 113-136, World Scientific,
Singapore, 1995.
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17. Y.A. Kordyukov, Noncommutative spectral geometry of Riemannian

foliations, Manuscripta Math., 94 (1997), 45-73.
18. C. Lazarov, Transverse index and periodic orbits, Geom. and Funct.
Anal, 10 (2000), 124-159.
19. P. Molino, Geometrie globale des feuilletages riemanniens, Proc. Ned-
erl. Acad. Al, 85 (1982), 45-76.
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plexes, Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo, 34 Suppl. 9 (1985), 165-175.
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Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc, 102 (1987), 459-466.
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Soc. Japan, 30 (1978), 687-696.
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Received November 3, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 185-195

CIRCLE AT INFINITY INFLUENCES ON THE

S M O O T H N E S S OF SURFACE FLOWS

SAMUIL ARANSON
Department of Applied Mathematics, Nizhny Novgorod
State Technical University
24 Minina Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603600, Russia,
e-mail: [email protected]

EVGENY ZHUZHOMA
Department of Applied Mathematics, Nizhny Novgorod
State Technical University
24 Minina Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603600, Russia,
e-mail: zhuzhomaQfocus.nnov.ru

Let M be a closed hyperbolic surface of negative Euler characteristic and A the

universal covering space of M. Let Soo be the circle at infinity of A. Then there
exists a continual set U 6 Soo with the following property. Suppose a flow / ' on M
has a semitrajectory ft such that a lift I of ft has an asymptotic direction defined
by a point of U; then / ' is not analytic and has a continual set of fixed points.
Moreover, / ' has neither nontrivially recurrent trajectories nor closed transversals
nonhomotopic to zero. The set U is dense and has zero Lebesgue measure on
Soo. Given any point a & U, there exists a C°°-flow on M and the corresponding
covering flow / on A such that some semitrajectory of / has an asymptotic
direction defined by the point a.

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to consider some aspects of Anosov-Weil's

theory. Most generally by the theory of Anosov- Weil one understands the
study of asymptotic properties of curves with no self-intersections lifted
to the universal covering, and their 'deviation' from the lines of constant
geodesic curvature that have the same asymptotic direction (see reviews [4]
and [15], Chapter 10).
Throughout the paper M is a closed surface of negative Euler charac-

185
186 S. ARANSON AND E. ZHUZHOMA

teristic x(M) < 0. Let A be a hyperbolic (or Lobachevsky) plane, which

is a simply connected complete Riemannian 2-manifold of constant nega-
tive curvature — 1. For A, we use the Poincare disk model \z\ < 1 of the
complex 2-plane endowed with the metric ds = 2\dz\/(l — \z\ ). The circle
5oo = dA — (\z\ = 1) is called the circle at infinity. The geodesies of A are
Euclidean circular arcs orthogonal to SQQ . We shall suppose that endpoints
of any geodesic are ideal points belonging to the circle at infinity.
Any M can be thought of as the orbit space A/T, where T is a discrete
group of isometries of A acting freely on A. The group T is isomorphic to
the fundamental group of M. The natural projection ir : A —> A / r = M
is a universal cover.
Suppose /* is a flow on M and / is a covering flow on A. Let Z* be a
positive (negative) semitrajectory of /* and Z a semitrajectory of / which
covers l^. If 7 tends to a unique point of Sex,, say a, as t —•» ±oo, we shall
say that I has an asymptotic direction defined by a. Sometimes we shall
say that l^ has an asymptotic direction whenever some lift of Z* (and so
every lift) has an asymptotic direction. The point a € Soo is called a point
achieved by fl. Denote by Aji C Soo the set of points achieved by all flows
on M.
The main result of the paper is the following theorem.
T h e o r e m 2.1 Let M be a closed surface of negative Euler characteristic
and Soo be the circle at infinity of the universal covering space A of M.
Then there exists a continual set U{IJol h{M)) C Aji with the following
properties. Suppose a flow /* on M has a semitrajectory Z± such that a lift
I has an asymptotic direction defined by a point of U(IJol h(M)); then
fl is not analytic and has a continual set of fixed points. Furthermore, /*
has neither nontrivially recurrent semitrajectories nor closed transversals
nonhomotopic to zero. The set U(IJol ^(M)) is dense and has zero Lebesgue
measure on S ^ .

Note that due to the papers [2] and [10], given any point of Ug =
U{IJolh{M)), there is a C^-flow /* which satisfies theorem 2.1 (see also [3],
where a C°°-flow /* with a preassigned smooth invariant measure was con-
structed) .

1 Preliminaries

A foliation F on M is called irrational if the following conditions hold:

- F has a finite number of singularities.

 CIRCLE AT INFINITY 187

- every one-dimensional leaf of F is dense on M.

- F has no fake saddles.

It follows from the definition that any singularity s of F is of saddle

type i.e., some neighbourhood of s is a union of saddle sectors divided by
separatrices. The index of s is equal to ind s = 1 — ^ p , where v(s) > 1 is a
number of separatrices of s. Recall that s is called a fake saddle if v{s) = 2.
Denote by If0i(M) the set of irrational foliations on M. The following
lemmas are needed for the sequel.
L e m m a 1.1 Let M2 be a closed orientable surface of genus g > 2. There
exists an irrational foliation T on M2 such that any singularity of T has
negative index and there are at least two singularities of half-integer index.
Proof. According to the paper [8], there exists an irrational foliation
.F3 i on the projective plane P2 with four singularities: three thorns and
one tripod. Let p : S2 —> P2 be a double covering, where S2 is the 2-sphere.
By the Path Lifting Theorem, there is a covering foliation T§^. on S2. It
is easy to see that TQ^ has six thorns ri\, . . . ,n% and two tripods t\, £2-
Since F$t\ is irrational and p is a double covering, ^6,2 is irrational as well.
Fix a natural number g > 2 and take a set £29-4 C S2 of 2g — 4 points
(if g = 2, then £29-4 = 0) so that these points belong to pairwise disjoint
leaves and no points on separatrices of the foliation .7-6,2 • Calling every
point of E29_4 a singularity (a fake saddle which has exactly two saddle
sectors), we get the new foliation denoted by !F'& 2- By the choice of E2 g -4,
T'§ 2 is a highly transitive foliation.
Let q : M2 —* S2 be a branched double cover having the branched set
S2 S -4Uf =1 {n,} with every point of branched index 2. Since S2 s -4Uf =1 {ni}
belongs to the set of singularities of T'& 2 , it follows that there is a foliation
T' on M2 that is a lift of T'§2 under q. The singularities of T' are six
fake saddles q~l(ni), ... ,q~1(ne), and four tripods belonging to <7_1(£i),
q~l(t2), and 2g — 4 Morse's saddles each of the index —1. Note that the
index of a tripod equals —0,5.
Since q is a branched double cover, J7' is a highly transitive foliation.
Deleting the fake saddles, we get the desired foliation T on M2. •
Another way to obtain irrational foliations with singularities of half-
integer negative index is to apply Theorem 2 [13] where irrational foliations
are invariant foliations of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms. Denote by
IJol(M2) the set of irrational foliations on the surface M2 which have only
singularities of negative index. Denote also by IJol h{M) C IJol(M) the
subset of foliations having singularities of half-integer index. By Lemma 1.1
188 S. ARANSON AND E. ZHUZHOMA

We recall that a geodesic lamination on M is a non-empty closed sub-

set of M which is a disjoint union of simple (without self-intersections)
geodesies. Given an irrational foliation T € IJol(Mg), one can constructs
a special geodesic lamination called a geodesic framework.
Consider a leaf L of T € IJol(Mg) which is not a separatrix. Then both
positive and negative semileaves of L have asymptotic directions [12]. Let
L be any lift of L to A. Then the ideal endpoints a{L), w{L) of L belongs
to Sao and a(L) ^ w(Z-) because the index of every singularity is negative.
Let g(L) be the geodesic with the endpoints a(L), UJ(L). This geodesic is
called a geodesic corresponding to L. The geodesic 7r(g(L)) = g(L) does not
depend on a lift of L and is called a geodesic corresponding to the leaf L.
Since L is a simple curve (i.e., with no self-intersections), g(L) is a simple
geodesic. Hence the topological closure clos[g(L)] of g(L) is a geodesic
lamination, Lemma 3.1 in [9]. This geodesic lamination is independent
of the choice of L because any leaf of T is dense in Mg. The geodesic
lamination

clos[g(L)} d^f G(F)

is called a geodesic framework of T.

Lemma 1.2 Let T € IJol(Mg) and let G(J-) be the geodesic framework of
the foliation J-. Then G(J-) is a minimal geodesic lamination consisting of
nontrivially recurrent geodesies, each dense in G(J-). Moreover, any ideal
endpoint of a lift of every geodesic g £ G(F) is irrational, i. e. not a fixed
point of an element of the Fuchsian group T.
Proof. Since any leaf of T is dense in Mg, it follows that any geodesic of
G(T) is nontrivially recurrent and dense in G(F). Hence, G{T) is a minimal
geodesic lamination i.e., it has no proper non-empty sublaminations.
Due to [7], any ideal endpoint of a lift of every geodesic g e G{!F) is
irrational. •
Lemma 1.3 Let T e IJol(Mg) and let G{T) be the geodesic framework of
the foliation T. Given any geodesic g e G(^ r ) and closed geodesic go, the
intersection g n go is nonempty.
Proof. Due to [12], there is either a leaf L or generalized leaf L (denoted
by the same letter) such that g(L) — g. Further, any component of Mg —
G{F) is simply connected because T is an irrational foliation (see also [9]
Chapter 4). Combining this with the density of g in G{!F), we get the
desired result. •
Recall that any component of Mg — G(J-) is an ideal polygon (see, e.g.
[9]), Figure 1.
 CIRCLE AT INFINITY 189

Figure 1. An idea! polygon.

Let 51, g2 be adjacent sides of an ideal polygon P c M | - G(JF). Take a

cutting segment S through gi, g2 so that some subsegment (o, b) C S flint P
and geodesies rays gt C gi, g} C g2 with the initial points _a € S D gu
b € E n g2 respectively form an ideal triangle denoted by T(£,gi,g2), see
Figure 1. This triangle is called a tail triangle of P formed by the adjacent
sides gi, g2 and the cutting segment E.
L e m m a 1.4 Let G(F) be the geodesic framework of a foliation T €tfoi (M£)
and P an ideal polygon of G{T). Then every tail triangle of P is dense
in G(F).
Proof. Let T{Y,,gt,g2) be a tail triangle of P formed by adjacent sides
glt g2 of P and a cutting segment E. Then T(T,,gi,g2) is bounded by
geodesies rays g? C gi, g2 C g2• It follows from Lemma 1.2 that both gx
and gt are dense in G{F). This concludes the proof. •

2 P r o o f of t h e m a i n t h e o r e m

Let I be an irrational foliation on M that satisfies the conditions of Lemma

1.1 i.e., any singularity of T has negative index and there are at least two
singularities of half-integer index. Denote now by IJolJl(M) c J / o i ( M ) t h e
subset of suchfoliations on the surface M. Let f be a lift of T on A. Then
any sernileaf L* of T that is not a separatrix goes to infinity and has an
asymptotic direction <r(I ± ) 6 Soo [12]. Denote by A{T) C Soo the set of
points that are achieved by semileaves of T. By definition, put

U(IJoUh(M)) = y ALF), where T ranges over IJolyh(M).

190 S. ARANSON AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Due to [12], [ / ( / ^ ( M ) ) ^ .
T h e o r e m 2 . 1 Let M be a closed surface of negative Euler characteristic
and SQO be the circle at infinity of the universal covering space A of M.
Then there exists a continual set U{l7ol h{M)) C Afi with the following
properties. Suppose a flow fl on M has a semitrajectory l^ such that a lift
I has an asymptotic direction defined by a point of U{I7olh{M)); then
/ * is not analytic and has a continual set of fixed points. Furthermore, /'
has neither nontrivially recurrent semitrajectories nor closed transversals
nonhomotopic to zero. The set U(IJol h(M)) is dense and has zero Lebesgue
measure on S^.
Proof. W i t h o u t loss of generality one can assume t h a t M is a closed
orientable surface M% of genus g > 2, otherwise we pass to a double (non-
branched) cover. To simplify m a t t e r s denote U{IJol h{M)) = Ug. For t h e
reader's convenience, we divide t h e proof into steps. T h e end of proof of a
step will be denoted by o. We keep t h e notation of Section 1.
S t e p 2 . 1 Take T € IJol h{M^) and let G{T) be a geodesic framework of
the foliation T. Then G(J-) has at least two ideal polygons with odd number
of sides.
Proof of Step 2.1 Since T has at least two singularities with a half-
integer index, it immediately follows t h a t there are a t least two saddles,
say s\ a n d S2, with odd number of separatrices each. Let s i and S2 be
lifts of s\ a n d S2 respectively. Then t h e corresponding lifts of separatrices
define t h e ideal vertices of t h e ideal polygons with odd number of sides, o
S t e p 2 . 2 Let G{!F) be the geodesic framework of a foliation T G IJol h{Mg)
and £ a geodesic segment which is transversal to G f (^ r ), int E n G(JF) ^ 0.
We consider £ to be a segment endowed with some normal orientation.
Then given any geodesic g £ G{T) endowed with a natural parametrization
9 : R —> g, there is a sequence of parameters U € R such that ti —> oo as
i —> oo, 0(ti) n S / 0 , and the index of intersection g D E at the point 9(ti)
equals (-1)*, i £ N.
Proof of Step 2.2 By Step 2.1, there is an ideal polygon P C G(.F)
with o d d number of sides. By Lemma 1.2, any positive ray g+ of g is
dense in G{T), and thus dP C clos g = G(^"). Taking into account t h a t
number of sides of P is odd, it follows t h a t there is a cutting segment E12
intersecting two adjacent sides 51, 52 G dP of P a t t h e points m i e <7in£i2,
77i2 € 52 n £12 respectively such t h a t

1. int PC\ ( m i , m 2 ) = 0.
2. There is a sequence of parameters t\ € R with 0 ( ^ ) —• m\ U m.2 as
 CIRCLE AT INFINITY 191

i —> oo.
3. The index of intersection g n S 1 2 at the point 9^) equals (-1)*, % € N
(see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The tail triangle T ( S 1 2 , g i " , f l J )

Let gt C 3i (i = 1,2) be the geodesic rays which form together with S i 2

the tail triangle T ( £ 1 2 , gt, gt) of P, Fig. 2. By Lemma 1.4, T(Ei 2 , gf,gt)
is dense in G(.F). Hence, T(TZ12> gf, gt) intersects S. To conclude the
proof, it remains to apply the theorem on the continuous dependence of
geodesies of G(T) on initial conditions, o
S t e p 2.3 Suppose a flow f on M% has a semitrajectory l+ such that a lift
I + ofl+ has an asymptotic direction defined by a point a(l ) S Ug; then f
has no closed transversals nonhomotopic to zero.
Proof of Step 2.S Assume the contrary. Then there is a closed simple
transversal T of / ' which is nonhomotopic to zero [5]. It is well known that
there exists a closed simple geodesic 30 which is freely homotopic to T. ^
By the condition, there is a semileaf L+ of some irrational foliation
r € IJot<h(M) and the lift L+ of L+ such that a(l+) = cr(L+) ^ a. If L+
does not belong to an a-separatrix of a saddle, then L+ belongs to a leaf
denoted by L. If L+ belongs to an a-separatrix of some saddle, say s, then
we denote by the same letter L a generalized leaf containing L+ (any of
two generalized leaves of s which contains L + ) . Let G{T) be the geodesic
framework of JP and g(L) € G(T) the geodesic corresponding to L. Fix a
natural parametrization 8 : R —> g(L).
Let I be the lift of L containing L+ and g(L) the geodesic on A cor-
responding to X". Then a+(g(L)) = a. Note that due to Lemma 1.3, g(L)
192 S. ARANSON AND E. ZHUZHOMA

intersects go- By Step 2.2, there is a sequence of parameters U € M. such

that ti —> oo as i —> oo, 9(ti)r\go ^ 0, and the index of intersection g(L)(lgo
at the point 9{ti) equals (— l) 1 , i € N. Hence there is a sequence of ~gi of
lifts go which satisfy the following properties (see Figure 3):

1. g(L) intersects 'gi at a unique point, say m*.

2. The topological limit of geodesies gt equals a.
3. The index of intersection g~(L) n ~gi at m, equals (—1)\

Since the geodesic go is freely homotopic to T, it follows that 'gi is a

corresponding geodesic of some lift Ti of T for every z G N, i.e., 7^ and Ti
have the same ideal endpoints on S^. By item 2,1 intersects Tj beginning
with i > io for some io sufficiently large, see Figure 3.

Figure 3. The sequence of gi.

By item 3, the index of intersection I n Ti, i > io is equal to ( — l) 1 .

Hence, / + must intersect T in opposite directions, which is impossible, o
As a consequence of Step 2.3, /* has no nontrivially recurrent semitrajec-
tories and trajectories, otherwise / ' would have a closed simple transversals
nonhomotopic to zero (Lemma 1.2.3 in [5]), which is impossible.
S t e p 2.4 Suppose a flow /* on Mg has a semitrajectory l+ such that a lift
I ofl+ has an asymptotic direction defined by a point a(l ) € Ug; then /*
has a continual set of fixed points. Moreover, the uj-limit set of l+ consists
of fixed points.
Proof of Step 2.4 Assume the contrary, i.e., the set of fixed points of / '
is not continual. The w-limit set w(Z+) of l+ is not a unique fixed point
because I has an asymptotic direction. Hence, u>(l+) contains at least two
 CIRCLE AT INFINITY 193

points. It is well known (see, e.g., [5]) that an w-limit set of any positive
semitrajectory is a connected set. Combining this with our assumption, we
get that co(l+) contains a one-dimensional trajectory, say l\.
Let S\ be a transversal segment through a point a € h, a £ int S\. Then
l+ intersects S\ infinitely many times because o £ w ( I + ) . As a consequence,
there is a closed simple transversal T intersecting Z+, Corollary 1.1.2 [5].
Since I has an asymptotic direction, T is not homotopic to zero. This
contradiction with Step 2.3 concludes the proof, o
Step 2.5 Suppose a flow / ' on M^ has a semitrajectory l+ such that a lift
I of l+ has an asymptotic direction defined by a point ail ) £ Ug; then / '
is not analytic.
Proof of Step 2.5 Assume the contrary. Denote by Fix{ft) the set
of fixed points of / ' . According to [1], pp. 38-39, Fix(ft) contains a
finite number of isolated points, a finite number of non-isolated points S,
which are endpoints of curves formed by fixed points, and closed curves,
and nonclosed curves with endpoints in S. Outside of S, these curves of
Fix(ft) are analytic, pairwise disjoint, and have no self-intersections. As a
consequence of this description, Fix(fl) is a compact set.
By Step 2.4, the w-limit set of l+ is a compact subset of Fix(ft). The
description above of Fix(fi) shows that l+ tends spirally to a closed contour
nonhomotopic to zero because I has an asymptotic direction. Hence, a{l )
is a rational point. This contradicts Lemma 1.2. o
To conclude the proof it remains to show that Ug has zero Lebesgue
measure. Following [11], we shall call a geodesic g c A transitive if given
any intervals U\ and Ui C 5 ^ , there is a map 7 6 T such that one ideal
endpoint of 7(5) belongs to Ui and the other ideal endpoint of 7(5) belongs
to 1/2- Denote by TR(T) C S^o the set of the points a € 5oo with the
following property: given any other distinct point b € Sooi the geodesic
joining a, b and directed from b to a is transitive. Myrberg [14] proved that
the Lebesgue measure of TR(F) is equal to the Lebesgue measure of Soo.
In particular, Soo — TR(T) has zero Lebesgue measure.
Step 2.6 Ug C Soo —TR(T). In particular, Ug has zero Lebesgue measure.
Proof. In fact, it was proved by Hedlund [11] that any geodesic with
an endpoint in TR(T) is transitive. So, if we assume that there is a point
a € Ug n TR(T), then a is an endpoint of a lift g~ of some geodesic g €
G{T), where T £ 77o( h(Mg) is an irrational foliation. Obviously, g has
self-intersections because 7j is transitive. This contradicts the fact that a
geodesic lamination consists of geodesic with no self-intersections. •
194 S. ARANSON AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to D. Anosov, V. Grines, R. Plykin, A. Stepin

and A. Zhirov for useful discussions. We thank a referee for useful remarks
which helped us to correct many errors.
The research was partially supported by the INTAS grant 97-1843 and
RFBR grant 99-01-00230.

References

1. D.V. Anosov, On the behaviour of trajectories, on the Euclidian and

Lobachevsky plane, covering trajectories of flows on closed surfaces, I,
Izvestia Acad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat., 51 (1987), no 1, 16-43 (in
Russian); Transl. in: Math. USSR, Izv., 30 (1988).
2. D.V. Anosov, On the behaviour of trajectories, on the Euclidian and
Lobachevsky plane, covering the trajectories of flows on closed surfaces,
II, Izvestia Acad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat., 52 (1988), 451-478 (in
Russian); Transl. in: Math. USSR, Izv., 32 (1989), no 3, 449-474.
3. D.V. Anosov, On the behaviour of trajectories, in the Euclidian and
Lobachevsky plane, covering the trajectories of flows on closed surfaces,
III, Izvestia Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Mat., 59 (1995), no 2, 63-96 (in
Russian).
4. D.V. Anosov, Flows on closed surfaces and behaviour of trajectories
lifted to the universal covering plane. Jour, of Dyn. and Control Sys.,
1 (1995), 125-138.
5. S. Aranson, G. Belitsky and E. Zhuzhoma, An Introduction to Qual-
itative Theory of Dynamical Systems on Surfaces, Amer. Math. Soc,
Math. Monogr., Providence, 1996.
6. S. Aranson, I. Bronshtein, I. Nikolaev and E. Zhuzhoma, Qualitative
theory of foliations on closed surfaces, J. Math. Sci., 90 (1998), no 3,
2111-2149.
7. S. Aranson and E. Zhuzhoma, Maier's theorems and geodesic lamina-
tions of surface flows, Jour, of Dyn. and Contr. Sys., 2 (1996), no 4,
557-582.
8. P. Arnoux and J.C. Yoccoz, Construction de diffeomorphismes pseudo-
Anosov, C. R. Acad. Sci., 292 (1981), 75-78.
9. A.J. Casson and S.A. Bleiler, Automorphisms of Surfaces after Nielsen
and Thurston, London Math. Soc. Student Texts, Cambridge Univ.
Press, 1988.
10. C. Gutierrez, Smoothing continuous flows on 2-manifolds and recur-
rences, Ergod. Th. and Dyn. Sys., 6 (1986), 17-44.
 CIRCLE AT INFINITY 195

11. G. Hedlund, Two-dimensional manifolds and transitivity, Ann. Math.,

37 (1936), no 3, 534-542.
12. G. Levitt, Foliations and laminations on hyperbolic surfaces, Topology,
22 (1983), no 2, 119-135.
13. H. Masur and J. Smillie, Quadratic differentials with prescribed singu-
larities and pseudo-Anosov diffeomorphisms, Comment. Math. Helv.,
68 (1993), 289-307.
14. P.J. Myrberg, Ein Approximationssatz fur die Fuchsschen Gruppen,
Acta Math., 57 (1931), 389-409.
15. I. Nikolaev and E. Zhuzhoma, Flows on 2-dimensional manifolds, Lec-
ture Notes in Math. 1705, Springer Verlag, 1999.

Received June 7, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 197-211

E N T R O P I E S OF H Y P E R B O L I C G R O U P S A N D SOME
FOLIATED SPACES

ANDRZEJ BIS
Wydzial Matematyki, Uniwersytet Lodzki,
ul. Banacha 22, 90-238 Lodz, Poland,
e-mail: [email protected]

PAWEL G. WALCZAK
Wydzial Matematyki, Uniwersytet Lodzki,
ul. Banacha 22, 90-238 Lodz, Poland,
e-mail: pawelwalSmath. uni. lodz. pi

1 Introduction

Hyperbolic groups in the Gromov's [9] sense play an important role in geo-
metric group theory (see Grigorchuk and de la Harpe [8] and the references
there). In particular, any non-elementary hyperbolic group has exponential
growth and the compact boundary of positive finite Hausdorff dimension
(see, Ghys and de la Harpe [6], pp. 126 and 157). Also, a hyperbolic
group G (generated by a finite symmetric set S) acts on the boundary of
its Cayley graph X = C(G, S) via Lipschitz quasi-conformal maps (ibidem,
p. 127). Roughly speaking, if (xn) is a sequence of elements of G repre-
senting a point £ of dX and g £ G, then g(£) is a point of dX represented
by the sequence (g • xn). The dynamics of this action is of great interest.
For instance, it has been shown (see Coornaert and Papadopoulos [3]) that
this action is finitely presented, i.e. it is semiconjugate to a subshift of
finite type in such a way that the fibres of the conjugating map are finite of
bounded length and the equivalence relation determined by this map (two
points are related whenever their images are equal) is another subshift of
finite type. Also, one can consider the topological entropy h(G, S) of this
action in the sense of Ghys, Langevin and Walczak [7]. Let us recall at this

197
198 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

point that the entropy of a group action, as well as the related geometric
entropy of a foliation, generalizes the topological entropy of a continuous
transformation in the sense of Bowen [1]. For readers' convenience, suitable
definitions are given in Section 2.
Given a finitely generated group G and a finite symmetric generating
set S, one can consider its rate of growth gr(G, S) defined as the rate of
growth of the cardinality of the families of these elements of G which can be
expressed as words of given length in the alphabet S (see Section 3 for more
details). It seems that the numbers h(G, S) and gr(G, S) should be closely
related. In fact, we expect that they should be equal as it happens in the
case of free groups (compare Section 5) when the Cayley graph is just a tree.
The graph of an arbitrary hyperbolic group, even for a good generating
set, is not a tree and has some "unwanted" links. These links provided
technical difficulties which did not allow us to get the expected equality
in general. However, their role becomes less and less significant when the
scale is enlarging. This drove us to introduce a technically complicated
notion of the rate of growth gr rel (G, 5; fi, r) relative to some bounds [i and
T depending on the geometry of G. For free groups, this relative rate of
growth coincides with the standard one and this is in fact the reason for
which the equality mentioned above holds in this case (see Section 5 again).
The use of these bounds allowed us to overcome difficulties mentioned above
and to prove the following.
Theorem 1 The topological entropy h(G, S) (with respect to a finite sym-
metric generating set S) of a hyperbolic group G acting on its ideal boundary
lies between the exponential rate gr rel (G, S ; / / , T ) of growth of G relative to
suitable bounds fi and T, and the exponential rate gr(G, S) of growth of G
(with respect to the same generating set):

gr rel (G, 5; M, T) < h(G, S; dG) < gr(G, 5). (1)

The precise description of the bounds mentioned in the Theorem can

be found in Section 5 which contains also the proof of the Theorem and
some final remarks. As was mentioned before, the notion of the topological
entropy of a group action is recalled in Section 2. The same Section contains
also a definition of geometric entropy of foliations which is used in Section
6, where we apply the Theorem to some foliated spaces and prove the
following.
Corollary 1 Let M be a compact Riemannian manifold with a hyperbolic
fundamental group TT\ (M) = G. Let S be a finite symmetric set generating
G, M be the universal covering of M, X = (dG x M)/G and TQ he the
foliation of X obtained by suspending the natural action of G on dG x M.
 ENTROPIES OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 199

Then, the entropy h{Tc) of TG (with respect to the Riemannian metric

along the leaves obtained by lifting the Riemannian structure of M) satisfies
the inequalities

- • gr rel (G, S, fi, T) < h{TG) < I • gr(G, S), (2)

a b
where a (resp., b) is the maximal (resp., minimal) length of free homotopy
classes of curves corresponding to generating elements ofiri(M), while fi
and T are the same as in (1).
Finally, we define the exponential rate of growth relative to given bounds
in Section 3 and we provide a short review on hyperbolic groups and spaces
in Section 4.

2 Entropy

Let G be a finitely generated group of homeomorphisms of a compact metric

space (X, d) and 5 be a finite symmetric (e 6 S, 5 - 1 = S) set generating
G. Equip G with the word metric d$ induced by S and let B(n), n £ N,
denote the ball in G of radius n and centre e. Two points x and y of X are
said to be (n, e)-separated (e > 0, n e N) whenever

d{gx, gy) > e

for some g 6 B(n). Since X is compact, the maximal number N(n,e) of
pairwise (n, e)-separated points of X is finite. Also, there exist finite (n, e)-
spanning subsets of X: A subset A of X is (n, e)-spanning whenever for
any y e X there exists x G A such that
d(gx,gy) < e
for all g £ B(n). Let N'(n,e) denote the minimal cardinality of an (n, e)-
spanning subset of X. Similarly to the case of classical dynamical systems
(compare, Walters' book [12], p. 169), the families N(n,e) and N'(n,e)
of functions have the same type of growth (see Egashira's paper [4]), more
precisely, they have the same rate of exponential growth and the topological
entropy h(G, S, X) of G (w.r.t. 5) can be defined by the formula

h(G,S,X) = lim limsup — log N(n, e) = lim limsup — log./V'(n,e).

e e
*^ n—>oo ^ *® n—>oo n

Note that If G = Z and S = {±1}, then h(G,S,X) coincides with the

double of the Bowen's [1] topological entropy of the map / : X —> X
corresponding to the integer 1.
200 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

If all the maps of G are Lipschitz and X has finite Hausdorff dimension,
then h(G,S,X) is finite for any S (compare, Ghys et al. [7], Prop.2.7).
Also, if h(G,S,X) = 0 for some S, then h(G,S',X) = 0 for any other
generating set S'. Therefore, one can distinguish between groups of positive
and vanishing entropy without referring to generating sets.
The same construction can be applied to finitely generated pseudogroups
of local transformations of a metric space X.
Also, the entropy of a foliation T of any compact Riemannian manifold
M can be defined. We shall follow Langevin et al. [11]. The definition
there is slightly different than that of Ghys e al. [7] but provides us with
the same notion of entropy (called geometric).
Let us consider a good covering U of M by charts distinguished by T,
and a corresponding complete transversal T (compare, for instance, Candel
and Conlon's book [2]). Given e > 0 sufficiently small and R > 0, let us
say that two points x and y of T are (R, e)-separated whenever there exists
a leaf curve 7 : [0,1] —> Lx originated at one of them (here, x) of length
'(7) < R a n d such that its orthogonal projection 7 : [0,1] —> Ly to the
other leaf (this time, Ly, the leaf through y) satisfies the inequality

d(7(l),7(l))>£
whenever its origin 7(0) belongs to the plaque through y of a chart of U
which contains both x and y. (Here, d denotes the Riemannian distance on
M.)
Denote by N(R, e,J-) the maximal cardinality of a subset A of T such
that any two its points are (R, e)-separated in the above sense. Let

h(J-) = lim lim sup N(R, e, F)

and call h(T) the geometric entropy of T. Note that h{T) depends only on
the Riemannian structure on M. The covering U involved in the definition
plays only an auxilliary role. The value of h{T) does not depend on the
choice of U.
The geometric entropy of a foliation T can be compared to entropies of
its holonomy pseudogroups corresponding to all good coverings by distin-
guished charts. If U is such a covering, Tiu is the corresponding holonomy
pseudogroup, and Su is the set of all elementary holonomy maps corre-
sponding to overlapping charts of U, then Tin acts on a suitable (built of
connected transversals T\j C U, U G U) complete transversal Tu equipped
with the Riemannian structure inherited from M, Tu carries the Rieman-
nian distance, and the entropy h(Hu, Su,Tu) can be considered. With this
 ENTROPIES OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 201

notation the equality

/i(JF) =sup——— • h(Hu,Su,Tu),

where U ranges over the family of all good coverings of M and A(U) denotes
the maximal diameter of plaques of charts of U, holds (see Ghys et al. [7]).
Since the notion of holonomy extends directly to arbitrary foliated spaces,
Candel and Conlon [2] proposed to use the last equality as the definition of
a geometric entropy of any foliated space.

3 Growth

Let us keep the notation of the previous section and recall that the expo-
nential rate of growth of G (with respect to S) is defined as

gr(G, S) = lim - l o g i V ( n ) = lim - log N0(n),

n—>oo n n—>oo n
where N(n) = jj=B{n) and No(n) = #S{n) is the cardinality of the sphere
S(n) of radius n and centre e. Also, if e > 0 (note that e is hereafter
rather large than small !) and iV~o(n;e) is the maximal cardinality of an
e-separated subset A of S(n), then

g r ( G , S ) = lim - log N0(n;e).

n—>oo n
In fact, iV0(n;e) < iVo(n) and, if A is such a subset of S(n), then
UxtzAB(x,e) D S{n) and, therefore, N0(n;e)N(e) > N0(n) for any n € N.
Moreover, if m e N and Ak, k = 1,2,..., are maximal e-separated
subsets of S(mk), then for any n e N and any x € An we can find a
sequence (xo,xi,- • -xn) of elements of the group G for which Xk € Ak,
xn = x, XQ = e and d(xk,Xk+i) < m + e for all k < n. To construct such a
sequence one can begin with xn = x, join x to e by a geodesic segment 7X,
find the point x'n_1 of intersection of 7X with the sphere S((n — l)m) and
a point x n _ i G An-i D ^ ( x ^ j j e ) , and continue by the induction. If y is
another point of An, (yo,yi,... ,yn) is a corresponding sequence and k is
the maximal natural number such that Xk =yk, then d(xk+i,Vk+i) > e-
Therefore, No(mn, e) can be defined as the maximal cardinality of a
subset A of the sphere S(mn) which satisfies the condition
(*) If x and y belong to A, then there exist sequences (xo,x\,... ,xn)
and (j/o, 2/i, • • •, 2/n) of elements of G such that Xfc, j/fc G S(krn), x 0 = j/o = e,
x n ^ x, y n =I y,
rf(^j.a;j+i)irf(l/j,l/j+i) < m + e, j = 0, ...,n- 1, (3)
202 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

y
S(km) 'S((k+l)m) S(nm)

Figure 1.

and d(xk+i, Vk+i) > e when k is the maximal index for which Xk = yk-
To define our relative growth we shall modify (*) by introducing an
additional factor A in (3):
Let us fix m € N, e > 0 and A e]0,1[, and denote by No(n;m,e,A)
t h e maximal cardinality of a subset A of S(mn) satisfying t h e following
condition:
(**) If x and y lie in A, then there exist sequences ( x o , x i , . . . i „ ) and
(yo,J/i, • • • ,yn) of elements of G such t h a t Xk, yk £ S{km), XQ = j/o = e ,
xn :rr x, yn = y,

d{xj,Xj+i),d{yj,yj+i) <T = m + \e

for all j and (/(xfc+i^fe+i) > e when A: is the maximal index for which
Xk = Vk (Figure 1).
T h e number

g r r e l ( G , S ; m , e , A) = l i m s u p logNo(n;m,e, A)
n—>oo TYITI

will be called the exponential rate of growth of G relative to m, e and A.

Finally, if LI :]0, l [ x K + —> N and T :]0,1[—> R+ are arbitrary functions, t h e n
we define the rate of growth of G relative to fj, and r by

g r r e l ( G , S; p, r ) = sup{gr r e l (G, S; m , e, A); m > M (A, e), e > r(A), A e ] 0 , 1 [ } .

Obviously,

grrel(G,5;M,r)>grrel(G,5;m,€,A)

for any A G]0,1[, e and m sufficiently large.

Since iV 0 (n; m, e, A) < N0(mn, e) for all m, n, e and A, we have

grrel(G,5;M,r)<gr(G,5)
 ENTROPIES OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 203

for all JJL and r as above. For the free group Fk generated by the set Sk of
k free generators we have always
gr rel (F fc ,S fc ;M,T)=gr(F fe ,5 fe ),
where Sk = Sk U S^1 U {e}. This is because F/. has no "dead ends" (see
Grigorchuk and de la Harpe [8] for the definition and some information
about some related problems) and in this case one can arrange e-separated
subsets An of the spheres S(mn) in such a way that dist(x,An) — m for
any x G An+\. In general, one can expect that a relative rate of growth is
strictly less than the "true" rate of growth. However, the above observation
about free groups and inequality (1) imply that the boundary entropy of
several hyperbolic groups is strictly positive (see Section 4).

4 Hyperbolic spaces and groups

Let (X, d) be a metric space. A curve 7 : [a, b] —> X is a geodesic segment

when
dh(t)n(s)) = \t-s\
for all t, s £ [a, b]. The space X is geodesic when any two points of X can be
joined by a geodesic segment. For any finitely generated group G and any
finite symmetric set S generating G, the Cayley graph C(G, S) is geodesic.
Given three points Xo,y and z of a metric space X, the (based at XQ)
Gromov product of y and z is given by

(y\z)x0 = 2 (d(x<>, y) + d{x0, z) - d(y, z)).

The space X is said to be hyperbolic (more precisely, <5-hyperbolic with

5 > 0) whenever the inequality
(x\z)Xo > mm{{x\y)Xo,(y\z)Xo} - 5
holds for arbitrary points xo,x, y and z of X. Clearly, the Cayley graph of
any free group Fk (k = 1, 2,...) generated by the set Sk of k free generators
is a tree, so becomes 0-hyperbolic. A finitely generated group is said to be
hyperbolic whenever its Cayley graph with respect to some (equiv., any)
generating set is hyperbolic. Free groups and fundamental groups of com-
pact Riemannian manifolds of negative sectional curvature are hyperbolic.
Assume that X is geodesic, take three points x\,X2 and £3 of X and
connecting them geodesic segments 71,72 and 73. The union
A = 7i U 72 U 73
204 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

is a geodesic triangle with vertices Xi. The triangle A is r\-thin (r\ > 0)
when the canonical isometry / A mapping A onto a tripod (i.e. the union
of three segments with common origin) TA satisfies the condition

d(x,y) <d(fA(x),fA(y))+V
for all x and y of A.
In the proof of the Theorem we shall use the following.
Lemma 1 (Ghys and de la Harpe [6], p.41) Let X be a geodesic met-
ric space. IfX is S-hyperbolic, then all the geodesic triangles of X are 45-
thin. Conversely, if all the geodesic triangles of X are if thin, then X is
2r/-hyperbolic.
To construct the boundary dX of a hyperbolic space X let us fix a base
point xo and say that a sequence (xn) diverges to infinity whenever

lim {xm\xn) = oo,

m^n—>oo

where (-|-) denotes the Gromov product based at XQ. TWO such sequences
(x„) and (ym) are equivalent whenever

lim (xm\yn) = oo.

m,n—»oo

The boundary dX of X consists of all the equivalence classes of sequences

diverging to infinity. Note that dX can be described also in terms of equiv-
alence classes of geodesic rays (i.e., maps 7 : [0,oo) —> X such that 7|[0,6]
is a geodesic segment for any b > 0) or in terms of equivalence classes
of quasirays (i.e. quasi-isometric maps of [0,00) into X): Two such rays
(or, quasirays) 7 and a are equivalent whenever their Hausdorff distance
^#(7>°') i s finite. The boundary point corresponding to the equivalence
class of such 7 is that determined by the sequence xn = 7(71), n € N. The
equivalence of these constructions follows from the following fact which will
be used later.
Lemma 2 (Ghys and de la Harpe [6], p.87) Let X be a S-hyperbolic
geodesic metric space. For any a > 1 and any c > 0 there exists D =
D(5,a,c) > 0 such that any (a,c)-quasigeodesic segment 7 (i.e. any map
7 : [a, b] —> X (resp., 7 : [a,b] C\ Z —> X) such that the inequality —c —
a\s — t\ < <i(7(s),7(t)) < a\s — t\ + c holds for all s and t of [a,b] (resp.,
of [a, b] n Z)) and any geodesic segment a joining 7(a) to 7(6) satisfy the
inequality

dH(l,cT)<D.
 E N T R O P I E S O F HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 205

The set dX can be equipped with the metric structure as follows. First,
for any £ and £ of dX put
(£|C) = sup liminf (xm\yn),
m,n—>oo
where (xm) and (yn) run over the set of all diverging to infinity sequences
representing, respectively, £ and £. Note that if X is <5-hyperbolic, then
(£|C)-25< liminf(im|yn)<(^|0
m,n—>oo
for all sequences (xm) and (i/m) representing £ and £. Next, choose r? > 0
and put
^(?,C)=exp(-r ? -(£|C)).
Finally, let
A:
d„(£,C) = inf{^/}„(&,&+!);& € <9X,£0 = £ and £fc+1 = ( , * ; € » } .
i=0
If 77 > 0 is small enough, then d^ is a distance function on dX and (dX, dv)
becomes a compact metric space of finite Hausdorff dimension (Ghys and
de la Harpe [6], pp. 122 - 126). Moreover, the inequalities
(1 - 277>„(£,0 < ^ ( £ , C ) < P„(£,C), £,C e dX,
hold with
rj = exp(r;5) — 1.
Finally, let us recall that a hyperbolic group G is called elementary if
either it is finite or contains a cyclic group of finite index. In this case,
the boundary dG is either empty or finite (consisting of exactly two el-
ements) and the entropy h(G, S, dG) vanishes. If G is ^-hyperbolic and
non-elementary, then dG is infinite and G itself contains a free subgroup
H of two generators. If the inclusion t : H —> G is (a, c)-quasi-isometric,
then L induces a map (denoted by t again) of dH into dG which is Holder
with a constant a — a(5, a, c). It follows that the image u{A) of any (n, e)-
saturated subset A of dH becomes (kn, Ce)-separated in dG, where k is a
natural number depending on the choices of generating sets SH of H and
So of G, while C is a positive constant depending on S, a, c and rj, a con-
stant involved in the definition of the distance functions on dH and dG.
This implies the inequalities

h(G,SG,dG)> yh(H,SH,dH) > 0,

k
where the last one follows from our Theorem and the final observation of
Section 3.
206 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

5 Proof of the Theorem

Let again G be a finitely generated group, S - a finite symmetric set gen-

erating G and consider C(G, S), the Cayley graph of G equipped with the
distance function d satisfying
d(9i,92) = \9i192\, 0i,02 e G ,
where | • | is the length function on G determined by S, and making the
edges of C(G, S) isometric to Euclidean segments of length 1. Assume that
C(G, S) is 5-hyperbolic and let dG — dC(G, S) be its boundary equipped,
as in Section 4, with the distance function dv, r\ > 0 being small enough.
The group G acts on C(G, S) via isometries which, when restricted to
G C C(G, S), reduce to left translations Lg, G 9 h •-> gh. Therefore, each
Lg extends to a Lipschitz homeomorphism, denoted by Lg again, of the
boundary dG. Given 9 > 0 denote by N(n, 9; dG) the maximal number
of points of dG pairwise (n, 0)-separated by this action of G. Also, let
N'(n, 9; dG) be the minimal cardinality of an (n, #)-spanning subset of dG
and h(G, S; dG) - the corresponding entropy.
Since G is hyperbolic, there exists a constant CQ > 1 such that for
any g € G there exists g' e G such that d(g,g') < CQ and \g'\ = \g\ + 1
(see Grigorchuk and de la Harpe [8], p. 60). Let D = D(5,co,co) be the
corresponding constant such that any (co,co)-quasigeodesic segment lies at
most D-apart (in the Hausdorff distance) from a true geodesic (compare
Lemma 2). Let

r(A) = — — and n(\,e) = -.

1 — A Co — 1
We begin with the proof of the second inequality in (1).
Choose 9 > 0 and a natural number k for which the inequality
exp(—r\ • k) < 9
holds. For any n € N and any g G S(n + k) choose, if only possible, a
point £g e dG which can be connected to e by a geodesic ray, say j g , which
passes through g. We claim that the set
A = {Zg;g€S(n + k)}
is (n, e)-spanning in dG. Indeed, if ( G dG, a : [0, oo) —> X is a geodesic
ray connecting e to (, h £ S(n) and g = a(n + k), then g e S(n + k), the
corresponding ray 7 9 exists and satisfies the conditions
d(xj,yi) <i + j-2(n + k)
 E N T R O P I E S OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 207

g
-h V
Y<*
S(n)
Figure 2.

and
2(h~1yi\h~1xj) >{i-n) + (j - n) - (i + j) + 2(n + k) = 2k,
where Xj = a(j) and t/i = -y(i) for all i and j sufficiently large (Figure 2).
Therefore,
dv{Lh-it,Lh-i£g) < Pv{Lh-i(,Lh-i£g) < e~k71 < 6.
This shows the inequalities
N'(n, 6; dG) < #A < #S{n + k) < N{n + k)
which imply immediately the required inequality in (1).
The proof of the first inequality in (1) is a bit more complicated.
Fix A e]0,1[, e > r(A) and m > /j,(\,e). Choose n G N and a maximal
subset A of S(mn) satisfying condition (**) of Section 3. For any x G A set
xn = x, choose a point xn-\ G S(m(n — 1)) such that d(x, x n - i ) < m + Xe,
then a point x n _2 G S(m(n — 2)) for which d{xn--\., ^n-2) < m + Ae and so
on. Finally, put XQ = e. The map
{0, m,..., ran} 3 j >-• xj/m
is c-quasi-isometric with c = (m + Xe)/m < CQ.
Each map considered above can be extended to a Co-quasi-isometric map
j x : N 3 j H-> x'j e G
such that x'im = Xi for i = 0 , 1 , . . . , n and the sequence (XJ) converges to a
point £x of dG. We are going to show that the set
{£x;xeA}
is (n, #)-separated under the action of G for some 9 independent of n.
To this end, let us take arbitrary points x and y of A, x ^ y, choose
sequences (XQ,X\,..., xn) and (yo, 1/1,..., yn) satisfying all the conditions
of (**) and let k be the maximal element of { 0 , 1 , . . . , n) for which Xk = yk-
208 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

Denote this common value of x^ and j/fc by g and consider the quasi-geodesic
rays j x and *yy obtained from -yx and 7 y by restricting their domains to
{mk,mk + 1,...}. Then, 7X and 7V originate at g and converge to £a and
£„, respectively. By Lemma 2, there exist geodesic rays % and 7^ originated
at e and within the Hausdorff distance D from L g -i o 7X and L s -i o 7^,
respectively. Then, for any j € N there exist positive real numbers Sj and
tj such that

<7x(5j),3 _ 1 7x(j)) < D and d(%(tj),g _ a %(i)) < £>•

In particular,
d{;yx{sm),g'~1Xk+i) <D and d(%(tm),g~lyk+i) < D-
Clearly,
< m 4 D + Ae, | s m - t m | < 2D 4 Ae
and
d(7x(s m ),%(*m)) > t-ID.
Assume that {%{sj)\%(tj)) > m 4- D 4- Ae for some j € N. The isometry
/ A corresponding to the geodesic triangle A with vertices e,7 x (sj),7 J / (tj)
(compare Lemma 1) maps the points %(sm) and %{tm) onto some points
of the originated at e edge of the tripod / A ( A ) and, therefore, satisfies the
condition

(7i(Sm),7y(*m)) < d ( / A ( 7 z ( S m ) ) , / A ( % ( t m ) ) ) + 45
= | s m - tm| + 45 < 2D 4 Ae 4- 45 < e - 2D.
Comparing the inequalities above we obtain a contradiction which shows
that

(%(sj)\%itj)) <m + D + t\
for all j e N . This inequality proves that

> (1 - 27]') exp(-r}(m + D 4- Ae 4 25)),

i.e. that the points £x and £y are (nrn, 6>)-separated with
6 = (1 - 2TJ') exp(-Tj(m 4- D + Ae 4- 25)).
The above argument implies the inequality
N(nm, 6>; 9G) > # 4 = 7V0(G, 5; m, e, A)
 ENTROPIES OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 209

which holds for all n. Passing to suitable limits when n —> oo yields the
required inequality in (1).
Friedland [5] denned the minimal entropy hm\n(G) of a finitely generated
group G of homeomorphisms of a compact metric space X:
hmin(G)=mih(G,S),

where 5 ranges over all finite symmetric sets generating G. Similarly, the
minimal rate of growth gr min (G) of any finitely generated group G can be
defined as follows (compare Grigorchuk and de la Harpe [8]):
gr m i n (G) = infgr(G,S).

The reader can define the minimal relative rate of growth grJ^}n(G) appro-
priately.
If G is hyperbolic, then idc induces a Holder homeomorphism of bound-
aries of G obtained from different generating sets (Ghys and de la Harpe [6],
page 128). Therefore, the boundary entropy of such G (w.r.t. a given finite
symmetric generating set S) does not depend on the choice of a generating
set used in the construction of dG and our Theorem implies immediately
the following.
Corollary 2 For any hyperbolic group G the equalities
gf±{G)<hmm{G,dG)<gxmin{G)
hold.
This answers partially the following question asked by Friedland [5j:
Find a geometric interpretation of the minimal entropy of a Kleinian group
acting on the ideal boundary of a hyperbolic space H".
For the free group Fk with k generators the above discussion and an
argument of Gromov et al. [10] (p. 70) imply the equality
hmin(Fk,dFk) = gr min (F fc ) = gr™{n(Ffc) = log(2fc - 1).
In fact, if S is any finite symmetric set generating Fk, then the elements
of S represent members of a set S' generating Zfc, the abelianization of
Fk. S' contains a symmetric set R' such that # i ? ' = 2k and the subgroup
of Zk generated by R' has finite index. The corresponding subset R of S
consists also of 2fc elements and generates the free group isomorphic to Fk.
Therefore,
h(Fk, S; dFk) > h(Fk,R; 0Fk) = h(Fk,Sk; 8Fk)
> gr rel (F fc , Sk) = gv(Fk, Sk) = log(2fc - 1).
The opposite inequality is obvious.
210 A. Bis AND P.G. WALCZAK

The other natural case, that of the fundamental group Tg of a closed

oriented surface of genus g > 1 is more complicated: The minimal rate of
growth of rg is still unknown even if some estimates exist: g r m i n ( r s ) >
4g - 3, g r m i n ( r 9 ) < g r ( r 9 , 5 s ) « Ag - 1 - eg, where Sg is the canonical
set of generators of Fg and eg is a small constant found numerically. In
particular, 5 < gr m i n (r2) < 6.9798. The calculation or estimation of the
value of the minimal relative rate of growth of Tg is yet more difficult.

6 Suspensions

Let now G be a hyperbolic group and M a compact Riemannian manifold

with the fundamental group ni(M) = G. Let S be a finite symmetric set
generating set and a (resp., b) be the maximum (resp., minimum) of lengths
of free homotopy classes of curves homotopic to members of S. Let also M
be the universal covering of M and

X = (dG x M)/G.

X carries a natural structure of a foliated space (X, TG) (compare Candel

and Conlon [2], Chapter 11) whose leaves arise as 7r({£} x M), where £ G dG
and 7r : dG x M —* X is a canonical projection. Also, X fibres over M
with fibres homeomorphic to dG. Moreover, the distance function dv on dG
(Section 3) and the Riemannian metric <?M on M lifted via TT to the leaves
of TG determine a natural distance function d on X which coincides with
dv along the fibres and with the natural Riemannian distance along the
leaves. Recall that (Section 2) the notion of geometric entropy introduced
by Ghys et. al. [7] can be extended to foliated spaces as in the Candel and
Conlon's book [2] (Section 13.3.B). Similarly to the situation considered in
Example 4.3 of Ghys et al. [7] one can get easily the inequality

- • h(G, S; dG) < h(TG) < r • h(G, S; dG). (4)

a b
Comparing (1) and (4) yields (2) and proves our Corollary 1.

Acknowledgments

The second author was supported by the KBN grants P03A 066 10 and
P03A 033 18.
 ENTROPIES OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS AND SOME FOLIATED SPACES 211

References

1. R. Bowen, Entropy for group endomorphisms and homogeneous spaces,

Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 153 (1971), 401-414.
2. A. Candel and L. Conlon, Foliations I, Amer. Math. Soc, Providence,
2000.
3. M. Coornaert and A. Papadopoulos, Symbolic Dynamics and Hyper-
bolic Groups, Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 1993.
4. S. Egashira, Expansion growth of foliations, Ann. Fac. Sci. Univ.
Toulouse, 2 (1993), 15-52.
5. S. Friedland, Entropy of graphs, semigroups and groups, in Ergodic
theory of Zd actions, eds. M. Policott and K. Schmidt London Math.
Soc, London, 1996, 319 - 343.
6. E. Ghys and P. de la Harpe, Sur les Groupes Hyperboliques d'apres
Mikhael Gromov, Birkhauser, Boston-Basel-Berlin, 1990.
7. E. Ghys, R. Langevin and P. Walczak, Entropie geometrique des feuil-
letages, Acta Math., 160 (1988), 105-142.
8. R. Grigorchuk and P. de la Harpe, On problems related to growth,
entropy and spectrum in group theory, J. Dyn. Control Sys., 3 (1997),
51-89.
9. M. Gromov, Hyperbolic groups, in Essays in group theory, ed. S. M.
Gersten, Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York, 1987, 75-263.
10. M. Gromov, J. Lafontaine and P. Pansu, Structures metriques pur les
varietes riemanniennes, Cedic/F. Nathan, Paris, 1981.
11. R. Langevin and P. Walczak, Entropy, transverse entropy and parti-
tions of unity, Ergodic Th. and Dynam. Sys., 14 (1994), 551-563.
12. P. Walters, An introduction to Ergodic Theory, Springer Verlag, New
York-Heidelberg-Berlin, 1982.

Received June 7, 2000, revised November 22, 2000 and September 25, 2001.
This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 213-224

TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIFOLDS WITH NO

R-COVERED FOLIATIONS

MARK BRITTENHAM
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0323,
e-mail: [email protected]

We provide a family of examples of graph manifolds which admit taut foliations,

but no R-covered foliations. We also show that, with very few exceptions, R -
covered foliations are taut.

1 Introduction

A foliation T of ^closed 3-manifold M can be lifted to a foliation T of the

universal cover M of M; if the foliation T has no Reeb components, the
leaves of this lifted foliation are all planes, and Palmeira [19] has shown that
M is homeomorphic to R3. Palmeira also showed that T isjiomeomorphic
to (a foliation of R2 by lines) xR. The space of leaves of T, the quotient
space obtained by crushing each leaf to a point, is homeomorphic to the
space of leaves of the foliation of R2, and is a (typically non-Hausdorff)
simply-connected 1-manifold.
If the space of leaves is Hausdorff (and therefore homeomorphic to R),
we say that the foliation T is R-covered. Examples of R-covered foliations
abound, starting with surface bundles over the circle; the foliation by fibres
is R-covered. Thurston's notion of 'slitherings' [20] also provide a large
collection of examples. A great deal has been learned in recent years about
R-covered foliations and the manifolds that support them (see, e.g., [1], [8],
[11]), especially in the case when the underlying manifold M contains no
incompressible tori.
The purpose of this note is to provide examples of 3-manifolds which
admit taut foliations, but which do not admit any R-covered foliations.
All of our examples are drawn from graph manifolds, and so all contain

213
214 MARK BRITTENHAM

an incompressible torus, and, in fact, a separating one. The technology

does not exist at present to identify examples which are atoroidal, and
it is perhaps not clear that such examples should be expected to exist.
That we can find the examples we seek among graph manifolds relies on
two facts: (a) we have a good understanding [3] of how taut and Reebless
foliations can meet an incompressible torus, and (b) we understand [4],
[9], [17] which Seifert-fibered spaces can contain taut or Reebless foliations.
These two facts have been used previously [2] to find graph manifolds which
admit foliations with various properties, but no "stronger" properties; the
examples we provide here are in fact the exact same examples used in [2] to
illustrate its results. We will simply look at them from a somewhat different
perspective.
This paper can, in fact, be thought of as a further illustration of this 'you
can get this much, but no more' point of view towards foliating manifolds.
Namely, you can get taut, but not R-covered. R-covered is, it turns out,
almost (but not quite) always a stronger condition: in all but a very small
handful of instances, an R-covered foliation must be taut, as we show in
the next section. This result seems to have been implicit in much of the
literature on R-covered foliations; a different proof of this result, along
somewhat different lines, can be found in [14].

2 R-covered almost implies taut

In this section we show that in all but a very few instances, an R-covered
foliation must be taut. We divide the proof into two parts; first we show
that a Reebless R-covered foliation is taut, and then describe the manifolds
that admit R-covered foliations with Reeb components.
Recall that a Reeb component is a solid torus whose interior is foliated
by planes transverse to the core of the solid torus, each leaf limiting on
the boundary torus, which is also a leaf. (There is a non-orientable version
of a Reeb component, foliating a solid Klein bottle, which we will largely
ignore in this discussion. It can be dealt with by taking a suitable double
cover of our 3-manifold.) We follow standard practice and refer to both
the solid torus and its foliation as a Reeb component. A foliation that has
no Reeb components is called Reebless. A foliation is taut if for every leaf
there is a loop transverse to the foliation which passes through that leaf.
Taut foliations are Reebless.
Lemma 1 If a closed, irreducible 3-manifold M admits a Reebless, R-
covered foliation T containing a compact leaf F, then every component of
M\F, the manifold obtained by splitting M open along F, is an I-bundle
 TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIFOLDS WITH NO R - C O V E R E D FOLIATIONS 215

over a compact surface. In particular, M is either a surface bundle over

the circle with fibre F, or the union of two twisted I-bundles glued along
their common boundary F.
Proof. Because T is Reebless, the surface F is 7Ti-injective [18], and so
lifts to a collection of planes in M. Their image C in the space of leaves of T
is a discrete set of points in R, since it is closed, and any sequence of distinct
points in C with a limit point can be used to find a sequence of points in F
limiting on F in the transverse direction, contradicting the compactness of
F. The complementary regions of F in M lift to the complementary regions
of the lifts of F in M; in the space of leaves they correspond to the intervals
between successive points of C. Each is bounded by two points of C, and
so every component X of the inverse image of a component X of M\F has
boundary equal to two lifts of F. Because M is simply-connected, as are
the 9-components of X, X is simply-connected, and so X is the universal
cover of X.
Because F 7ri-injects into M, it 7ri-injects into M\F, and hence into
X. The index of iri(F) in iti{X) is equal to the number of connected
components of the inverse image of F in the universal cover of X. To see
this, choose a basepoint XQ for X lying in F, and suppose that 7 is a loop
based at XQ which is not in the image of ir\(X). Then the lift 7 of 7 to
X must have endpoints on distinct lifts of F, for otherwise the endpoints
can be joined by an arc a in the lift of F, whose projection, since X is
simply connected (so 7*5 is null-homotopic) is a null-homotopic loop 7 * a
in TTI(X). This implies that [7] — [a]e ni(F), a contradiction. Choosing
representatives from each coset of TTI(F) in -K\{X), and lifting each to arcs
with initial points a fixed lift So of XQ, we find that their terminal points
must therefore lie on distinct lifts of F.
But since X has only two boundary components, this means that m (F)
has index at most two in 7ri(X). Since X is irreducible (because F is
incompressible and M is irreducible), ([15], Theorem 10.6) implies that X
is an /-bundle over a closed surface. The resulting description of M follows.
•
The foliation by fibres of a bundle over the circle is always taut. In
the other case, when F separates, we understand [5] the structure of the
foliation T on each of the two /-bundles, since their boundaries are leaves. If
the induced foliations can be made transverse to the /-fibres of each bundle,
then by taking a pair of /-fibres, one from each bundle, and deforming
them so that they share endpoints on F, we can obtain a loop transverse
to the leaves of J7, so T is taut. If the induced foliations cannot be made
transverse to the /-fibres, then F is a torus, and (after possibly passing
216 M A R K BRITTENHAM

to a finite cover) the foliation contains a pair of parallel tori with a Reeb
annulus in between. It is then straightforward to see that the resulting
lifted foliation T cannot be R-covered, since this torus xl will lift to R2 x. I
whose induced foliation has space of leaves R together with two points (the
two boundary components) that are both the limit of the positive (say) ray
of the line. In particular, the space of leaves of J- would not be Hausdorff.
Therefore
Corollary 2 A Reebless, R-covered foliation is taut.
We now turn our attention to R-covered foliations with Reeb compo-
nents. Such foliations do exist, for example, the foliation of S2 x S1 as a
pair of Reeb components glued along their boundaries; the lift to S2 x R
consists of a pair of solid cylinders, each having space of leaves a closed half-
line. Gluing the solid cylinders together results in gluing the two half-lines
together, giving space of leaves R. We show, however, that, in some sense,
this is the only such example. Recall that the Poincare associate P(M) of
M consists of the connected sum of the non-simply-connected components
of the prime decomposition of M, i.e., M = P(M)# (a counterexample to
the Poincare Conjecture).
Lemma 3 If J7 is an R-covered foliation of the orientable 3-manifold M,
which has a Reeb component, then P(M) = S2 x S1.
Proof. The core loop 7 of the Reeb component must have infinite order
in the fundamental group of M, otherwise the Reeb component lifts to a
Reeb component of T\ but since the interior of a Reeb component has space
of leaves S1, this would imply that S1 embeds in R, a contradiction.
The Reeb solid torus therefore lifts to a family of infinite solid cylinders
in M, foliated by planes. The induced foliation of each closed solid cylinder
has space_of leaves a closed half-line properly embedded in the space of
leaves of T. Each such half-line is disjoint from the others; but since R has
only two ends, this implies that the Reeb component has at most two lifts
to M. This means that the inverse image of the core loop 7 of the Reeb
solid torus, in the universal cover M, consists of at most two lines, and so
the (infinite) cyclic group generated by 7 has index at most 2 in TTI(M).
Because M is orientable, it's fundamental group is torsion-free, and so by
[15], Theorem 10.7, 7Ti(M) is free, hence isomorphic to Z, and so ([15],
Exercise 5.3) P{M) is an S 2 -bundle over S1. Since M is orientable, this
gives the conclusion. •
Note that the space of leaves in the universal cover does not change
by passing to finite covers (there is only one universal cover), and so we
can lose the orientability hypothesis by weakening the conclusion slightly.
Putting the lemmas together, we get
 TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIFOLDS WITH NO R - C O V E R E D FOLIATIONS 217

Corollary 4 If a 3-manifold M admits an H-covered foliation T, then

either T is taut or P(M) is double-covered by S2 x S1 .

3 Taut but not R-covered

In [2], Theorem D, the authors exhibit a family of 3-manifolds which ad-

mit C(°)-foliations with no compact leaves, but no C^-foliations without
compact leaves. Each of the examples is obtained from two copies M\,M%
of (a once-punctured torus) x S 1 , glued together along their boundary tori
by a homeomorphism A. What we will show is that for essentially the
same choices of A, the resulting manifolds admit taut foliations, but no
R-covered ones.
A is determined by its induced isomorphism on first homology I? of the
boundary torus, and so we will think of it as a 2x2 integer matrix with
determinant ± 1 . We choose as basis for the homology of each torus the pair-
(*xS1,dFx*), where F denotes the once-punctured torus. (Technically,
we should orient these curves, but because all of the conditions we will
encounter will be symmetric with respect to sign, the orientations will make
no difference, and so we won't bother.)
Each Mi is a Seifert-fibered space (fibered by *xS1); the manifold MA
resulting from gluing via A is a Seifert-fibered space iff A glues fibre (1,0)
to fibre (1,0), i.e., A is upper triangular. We will assume that this is not
the case.
Let T denote the incompressible torus dMi = 9M 2 in MA- By [10],
any horizontal foliation of Mj, i.e., a foliation everywhere transverse to
the Seifert fibering of Mj, must meet dMi in a foliation with slope in the
interval (—1,1). [Note that this disagrees with the statement in [2], where
the result was quoted incorrectly.]
If T is an R-covered, hence Reebless, foliation of M, then by [3], we
can isotope T so that either it is transverse to T, and the restrictions Ti of
T to Mj, i — 1, 2, have no Reeb or half-Reeb components, or T contains a
cylindrical component, and therefore a compact (toral) leaf. In the second
case, the torus leaf must hit the torus T, and is split into a collection
of non-9-parallel annuli; these (essential) annuli must be vertical in the
Seifert-fibering of each Mj, since F x S1 contains no horizontal annuli. But
this implies that the gluing map A glues fibre to fibre, a contradiction.
Therefore, we may assume that T restricts to Reebless foliations on each
of the manifolds Mj. Note that [3] requires that we allow a finite amount
of splitting along leaves to reach this conclusion; but since a splitting of an
R-covered foliation is still R-covered (it amounts, in the space of leaves, to
218 M A R K BRITTENHAM

replacing points with closed intervals), this will not affect our argument.
By [6], each of the induced foliations Ti of Mj has either a vertical
or horizontal sublamination. Every horizontal lamination in Mj can be
extended to a foliation transverse to the fibres of Mj, and so meets <9Mj
in curves whose slope lies in (—1,1). If Ti has a vertical sublamination, it
either meets 9Mj in curves of slope oo (i.e., in curves homologous to (1,0))
or is disjoint from the boundary.
It is this last possibility, a vertical sublamination disjoint from T, that
we wish to require, and so we will now impose conditions on the gluing
map A to rule out the other possibilities. If both T\ and Ti have either a
horizontal sublamination or a vertical sublamination meeting T, then for
both M\ and M2, the induced foliations meet T in curves with slope in
(—1,1) U {00}. Therefore, the gluing map

-^ ~ ( A I' which as a function on slopes,

v is A(x)
v
c dj ' ' ' cx + d
must have A ((-1,1) U {00}) D ((-1,1) U {00}) ^ 0. But since

and A is increasing if ad — be = 1 (take the derivative!), we can force

A (( —1,1) U {00}) to be disjoint from (—1,1) U {00} by setting
„ . . , a+b
\a\ > \c\, \d\ > c , and < —1.
11 1 h 1 1 in c + d
For example, we may choose a = —n, b — —nm — 1, c = 1, and d — m,
with n, m > 2, so that
a+b 1
= -n <-1.
c+d m+1
As the figure below shows, the conditions —a > c, d > c and ad — bc= 1
are also sufficient; what is needed, essentially, is that neither the graph of
A nor either of its asymptotes pass through the square [—1,1] x [—1,1].
For such a gluing map A and resulting manifold MA, either T\ or T2
(without loss of generality, T\) must contain a vertical sublamination £ dis-
joint from T = dM\. C is the saturation, by circle fibres, of a 1-dimensional
lamination A in the punctured torus F. This lamination A cannot contain
a closed loop, since then Ti, and therefore JF, would contain a torus leaf
L missing T. Lemma 1 would then imply that M\L is an /-bundle, a
contradiction, since it contains M^. A is therefore a lamination by lines.
 TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIPOLDS WITH NO R-COVERED FOLIATIONS 219

Figure 1.

By Euler characteristic considerations, the complementary regions of A,

thought as in a torus, are products, and so the complementary region of
A in F which meets OF is topological!}' a (d-parallel) annulus, with a pair
of points removed from the 'inner' boundary. Therefore, the component N
of MA\C which contains T is homeomorphic to M2 with a pair of parallel
loops removed from dMz = T .
Now we will assume that f is R-covered, and argue as in the proof of
Lemma 1, to arrive at a contradiction. C lifts to a lamination in R3 by
planes, whose image in the space of leaves R of T is a closed set. The two
boundary leaves of £ in ON are both annuli; they are the complements of
the two parallel loops in dM^ in the above description of MA\C A lift of
this complementary region to M has boundary consisting of lifts of the two
annuli. Since the lift is a closed set in M its image in the space of leaves
R is a connected, closed set, and therefore an interval. This implies that
the lift of MA\£ has (at most) two boundary components, implying that
the inverse image of each of the annulus leaves is a single (planar) leaf of
T. This implies, as in the proof of Lemma 1, that the image in 7 T I ( M A | £ )
= it\{Mi) of the fundamental group of each annulus has index at most 1,
and so 7ri(M2) = F 2 x Z is cyclic, a contradiction. Therefore, T is not
R-covered. This implies
T h e o r e m 5 With gluing map A given as above, MA admits no R- covered
foliations.
On the other hand, every manifold MA built out of the pieces we have
used admits taut foliations and, in fact, foliations with no compact leaves.
We simply choose a vertical lamination with no compact leaves in each of
the Seifert-fibered pieces Mi, missing the gluing torus T. The complement
of this lamination is homeomorphic to T x J, with a pair of parallel loops
220 M A R K BRITTENHAM

removed from each of the boundary components. Treating this as a sutured

manifold, and thinking of this as ( 5 1 x / ) x S1, we can foliate it, transverse
to the sutures, by parallel annuli. Then, as in [12], we can spin the annular
leaves near the sutures, to extend our vertical laminations to a foliation of
MA with no compact leaves. This give us
P r o c l a i m 6 There exist graph manifolds admitting taut foliations, but no
R-covered foliations.

4 R-covered finite covers

Work of Luecke and Wu [16] implies that (nearly) every connected graph
manifold is finitely covered by a graph manifold that admits an R-covered
foliation. In particular, for any graph manifold M whose Seifert fibered
pieces all have base surfaces having negative (orbifold) Euler characteristic,
they find a finite cover M' (which is also a graph manifold) admitting a
foliation T transverse to the circle fibres of each Seifert fibered piece of M',
and which restricts on each piece to a fibration over the circle. Note that
this implies that every leaf of T meets every torus which splits M' into
Seifert-fibered pieces.
Even more, every leaf of the lift, to the universal cover of M, of !F meets
every lift Pi, P?, of the splitting tori. This can be verified by induction on
the number of lifts of the tori that we must pass through to get from
a lift we know the leaf hits, to our chosen target lift. The initial step
follows by picking a path 7 between two 'adjacent' lifts P\ and P2, whose
interior misses every lift of the splitting tori, and projecting down to M;
this gives a path 7 in a single Seifert fibered piece of M'. This path can be
made piecewise vertical (in fibres) and horizontal (in leaves of J 7 ), missing,
without loss of generality, the multiple fibres of M' (just do this locally, in a
foliation chart for T; the Seifert fibering can be used as the vertical direction
for the chart). Each vertical piece can then be dragged to the boundary
tori, since the saturation by fibres of an edgemost horizontal piece of 7 is
a (singular) annulus with induced foliation by horizontal line segments; see
Figure 2. [This is where the fact that T is everywhere transverse to the
fibers is really used.] The end result of this process is a loop 7', homotopic
rel endpoints to 7, which consists of two paths each lying in a circle fibre in
the boundary tori, with a single path in a leaf of T lying in between. This
lifts to a path homotopic rel endpoints to 7, consisting of paths in the two
lifted tori, and a path in some lifted leaf. This middle path demonstrates
that some lifted leaf L hits both Pi and P2.
By choosing a point where any other lifted leaf V hits a lift P of a
 TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIFOLDS WITH NO R-COVERED FOLIATIONS 221

Figure 2.

splitting torus, and joining it by a p a t h a to a point where L hits P i or

P2, we can apply the same straightening procedure as above (see Figure 3),
to show t h a t a is homotopic rel endpoints to paths, one of which lies in a
lifted fibre and then lies totally in L', and the other of which lies totally in
L, and then in a lifted fibre. This in particular implies t h a t L' also hits P i
and P2. Therefore, every lifted leaf hits b o t h P j and P2, as desired.

P'E-
L'
?••••• •

Figure 3.
T h e inductive step is nearly identical; assuming our two leaves L\ and L2
b o t h hit P i , . . . , P n - i , and P n can be reached from P „ _ i without passing
t h r o u g h any other lift of a splitting torus, the above argument implies t h a t
two leaves, in the lift of the relevant Seifert fibered piece, and contained in
L\ and L2, hit b o t h L n _ i and Ln, implying t h a t L\ and Li also b o t h hit P n .
B u t this in t u r n implies t h a t the lifted foliation T has space of leaves R .
This is because t h e foliation induced by T on any lift P of a splitting
torus is a foliation transverse to (either of the) foliations by lifts of circle
222 M A R K BRITTENHAM

fibres, and so has space of leaves R, which can be identified with one of
the lifts of a circle fibre. [This is probably most easily seen in stages:
first pass to a cylindrical cover of the torus, for which the circle fibers
lift homeomorpically. The induced foliation from T is by lines transverse
to this fibering, and so has space of leaves one of the circle fibers. The
universal cover P is a cyclic covering of this, whose induced foliation has
space of leaves the universal cover of the circle fiber.] The argument above
implies that every leaf of T hits P at least once. But no leaf of T can
hit a lift of a circle fibre more than once; by standard arguments, using
transverse orientability, a path in the leaf joining two such points could
be used to build a (null-homotopic) loop transverse to T, contradicting
tautness of T, via Novikov's Theorem [18]. We therefore have a one-to-one
correspondence between the leaves of T and (any!) lift of a circle fibre in
any of the Seifert-fibered pieces, giving our conclusion
Proposition 7 Any foliation of a graph manifold M, which restricts to
a foliation transverse to the fibres of every Seifert-fibered piece of M, is
~R-covered.
Combining this with the result of Luecke and Wu, we obtain
Corollary 8 Every graph manifold, whose Seifert-fibered pieces all have
hyperbolic base orbifold, is finitely covered by a manifold admitting an R-
covered foliation.
Combining the proposition with our main result, we obtain:
Corollary 9 There exist graph manifolds, admitting no R-covered folia-
tions, which are finitely covered by manifolds admitting R- covered folia-
tions.

5 Concluding remarks

Being finitely covered by a manifold admitting an R-covered foliation is

nearly as good as having an R-covered foliation yourself. Any property
that could be verified in the presence of an R-covered foliation, which
remains 'virtually' true (e.g., virtually Haken, or having residually finite
fundamental group), would then be true of the original manifold. It would
then be of interest to know
Question 1 Does every 3-manifold with universal cover R3 have a finite
cover admitting an R-covered foliation?
Or, even stronger
Question 2 Does every irreducible 3-manifold with infinite fundamental
group have a finite cover admitting an R-covered foliation?
 TAUTLY FOLIATED 3-MANIFOLDS WITH NO R - C O V E R E D FOLIATIONS 223

Weaker, but still interesting

Question 3 Does every tautly foliated 3-manifold have a finite cover ad-
mitting an R-covered foliation?
The first two questions could be broken down into Question 3 and
Question 4 Does every 3-manifold (in the appropriate class) have a tautly
foliated finite cover?
Note that showing that every irreducible 3-manifold with infinite fun-
damental group has a tautly foliated finite cover would settle the
Conjecture 1 Every irreducible 3-manifold with infinite fundamental group
has universal cover R3.
Questions 1 and 2 can be thought of as weaker versions of the (still
unanswered) question, due to Thurston, of whether or not every hyperbolic
3-manifold is finitely covered by a bundle over the circle; the foliation by
bundle fibres is R-covered. Gabai [13] has noted that there are Seifert-
fibered spaces for which the answer to Thurston's question is 'No', although
an observation of Luecke and Wu [16] implies that, via the results [10],
the answer to our Question 1 is 'Yes', for Seifert-fibered spaces, since [7]
a transverse foliation of a Seifert-fibered space is R-covered. [Note that
the arguments of the previous section can be modified to give a different
proof of this; look at how lifted leaves meet lifts of a single regular fiber,
instead of lifts of the splitting tori.] Question 4, with its conclusion replaced
by 'have a taut foliation', has as answer 'No'; examples were first found
among Seifert-fibered spaces [4], [9]; there are no known examples among
hyperbolic manifolds.
Question 5 Do there exist hyperbolic 3-manifolds admitting no taut folia-
tions?
Finally, the result we have established here for graph manifolds is still
unknown for hyperbolic 3-manifolds:
Question 6 Do there exist hyperbolic 3-manifolds which admit taut folia-
tions, but no R-covered foliations?

References

1. T. Barbot, Caracterisation des flots d'Anosov en dimension 3par leurs

feuilletages faibles, Ergodic Th. & Dynam. Sys., 15 (1995), 247-270.
2. M. Brittenham, R. Naimi and R. Roberts, Graph manifolds and taut
foliations, J. Diff. Geom., 45 (1997), 446-470.
3. M. Brittenham and R. Roberts, When incompressible tori meet essen-
tial laminations, Pacific J. Math., 190 (1999), 21-40.
224 MARK BRITTENHAM

4. M. Brittenham, Essential laminations in Seifert-fibered spaces, Topol-

ogy, 32 (1993), 61-85.
5. M. Brittenham, Essential laminations in I-bundles, Trans. Amer.
Math. Soc„ 349 (1997), 1463-1485.
6. M. Brittenham, Essential laminations in Seifert-fibered spaces: bound-
ary behaviour, Topology Appl., 95 (1999), 47-62.
7. M. Brittenham, Exceptional Seifert-fibered spaces and Dehn surgery on
2-bridge knots, Topology, 37 (1998), 665-672.
8. D. Calegari, Foliations and the geometry of 3-manifolds, Thesis, Uni-
versity of California at Berkeley, 2000.
9. W. Claus, Essential laminations in closed Seifert-fibered spaces, Thesis,
Univ. of Texas at Austin, 1991.
10. D. Eisenbud, U. Hirsch and W. Neumann, Transverse Foliations on
Seifert Bundles and Self-homeomorphisms of the Circle, Comment.
Math. Helv., 56 (1981), 638-660.
11. S. Fenley, Anosov flows in 3-manifolds, Ann. of Math., 139 (1994),
79-115.
12. D. Gabai, Foliations and the topology of 3-manifolds, J. Diff. Geom.,
18 (1983), 445-503.
13. D. Gabai, On 3-manifolds finitely covered by surface bundles, in Low-
dimensional topology and Kleinian groups, (Coventry/Durham, 1984),
Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986, 145-155.
14. S. Goodman and S. Shields, A condition for the stability ofH-covered
on foliations of 3-manifolds, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 352 (2000),
4051-4065.
15. J. Hempel, 3-Manifolds, Ann. of Math. Studies No. 86, Princeton
University Press, 1976.
16. J. Luecke and Y.-Q. Wu, Relative Euler number and finite covers of
graph manifolds, in Geometric topology (Athens, GA, 1993), Amer.
Math. Soc, 1997, 80-103.
17. R. Naimi, Foliations transverse to fibres of Seifert manifolds, Com-
ment. Math. Helv., 69 (1994), 155-162.
18. S. Novikov, Topology of foliations, Trans. Moscow Math. Soc, 14
(1965), 268-305.
19. C. Palmeira, Open manifolds foliated by planes, Ann. of Math., 107
(1978), 109-121.
20. W. Thurston, Three-manifolds, Foliations and Circles I, preprint.

Received October 31, 2000.

Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 225-261

E N D S E T S OF E X C E P T I O N A L LEAVES;
A T H E O R E M OF G. D U M I N Y

JOHN CANTWELL
Department of Mathematics, St. Louis University
St. Louis, MO 63103,
e-mail: [email protected]

LAWRENCE CONLON
Department of Mathematics, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO 63130,
e-mail: [email protected]

In 1977 Gerard Duminy proved that, if F is a semiproper leaf of a C 2 codimension-

one foliation J of a compact n-manifold M and X is an exceptional local minimal
set of 3", then the set £ X ( F ) of ends of F asymptotic to X, if nonempty, is home-
omorphic to a Cantor set. No proof of this remarkable result has ever appeared,
even in preprint form. Here, we offer a proof of our own.

1 Dummy's theorems

Let (M, J ) be a transversely oriented, C 2 -foliated manifold of codimension

one, with M compact and oriented. We assume each component of dM, if
any, is a leaf of 3". Remark that each leaf of 3" is oriented.
Let U C M be an open, 3"-saturated subset and let X C U be an
exceptional minimal set of $\U. As in [2] and elsewhere, we say that X is
an exceptional LMS (local minimal set) of 3".
If F is a leaf of 5", let £(F) denote the space of ends of F and let Ex (F)
denote the subspace of ends that are asymptotic to X.
Theorem 1.1 (Duminy) If the leaf F of 9 is semiproper and if it accu-
mulates on the exceptional LMS X, then Ex (F) is homeomorphic to the
Cantor set.
Here, semiproper is taken to mean that at least one side of F is proper,

225
226 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

so we include the case in which F is a proper leaf.

Corollary 1.2 If X is an exceptional minimal set of 7 and if F C X is a
semiproper leaf, then E(F) is homeomorphic to the Cantor set.
Indeed, since X is minimal, £ X ( F ) — £(F).
Theorem 1.1 is a corollary of another more directly useful result. For
this, let L be any semiproper leaf of "3 that is approached by a possibly
different semiproper leaf F. By the transverse orientation, L has a positive
and a negative side, and we assume (reversing the transverse orientation,
if necessary) that the positive side is a side on which F accumulates. Let
0 € L and let [0, e] be a parametrized, ^-transverse arc issuing from 0
on the positive side. If a is a loop on L based at 0, then ha will denote
the holonomy in [0,e] defined by a. If H C L is a compact, connected,
nonseparating, oriented submanifold of codimension one (a "handle"), then
the homological intersection number of the loop a with H will be denoted
by a — H.
Let L' be L cut apart along the handle H. Assume that 0 G H and let
0 + G H+ and 0~ G H~ be the two copies of 0 thus obtained. Let a be a
curve from 0 + to 0 _ and a the curve obtained from a by identifying 0 + to
0~. Assume the definition of ± has been chosen so that a -^ H = + 1 . In
Section 7 we show that there exists an e > 0, a contraction / of [0, e) to 0,
a handle H, and curve a as above with a ^ H = +1 and f = ha.
Theorem 1.3 Ife > 0, / , H, and a are as above and (a, b) is a component
of (0,e) \ F then there is an integer N > 0 such that if a is a loop on V
based at 0+ then ha(fk{b)) = fk(b) all k>N.
Remarks. The integer N depends on the gap [a, b] but e, / , H, and a do
not (see Proposition 7.16). The final choice of e, f, H, and a is made just
prior to Lemma 7.15 while the choice of the integer N is made in the proof
of Lemma 7.15. The proof of Theorem 1.3 occurs just after the proof of
Lemma 7.15. Note that the theorem remains true if we replace b with a
in its statement. A careful proof of Theorem 1.3 will occupy Sections 3
through 7. In Section 2 we will deduce Theorem 1.1 from Theorem 1.3 and
we will also deduce the following theorem that was the basis of Duminy's
original proof of Theorem 1.1.
Theorem 1.4 (Duminy) If e G £.X(F), then every neighbourhood of e
in F contains a complete submanifold that spirals on L with juncture H.
Consequently, e is a cluster point of £.x (F) and this set is a Cantor set.
It is natural to conjecture that, if F C X, the requirement in Theo-
rem 1.1 that F be semiproper can be dropped. This is true for Markov
LMS [4] but is unknown in general. A weaker conjecture would be that
 BNDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 227

the generic leaf of an exceptional minimal set X have a Cantor set of ends.
Here generic can be taken either in the sense of [5] or [7]. It is not hard to
show that the generic leaf has one end or a Cantor set of ends.
In Section 8 we ask some other questions. Section 9 gives a general
construction of examples of Markov minimal sets. The construction is gen-
eral in the sense that it provides examples of any subshift of finite type
occurring as holonomy of a codimension-one foliation.
Remark. Duminy deserves full credit for Theorem 1.1. The proof given
here is essentially one that we worked out about 15 years ago and we take
responsibility for whatever shortcomings it may have.

2 The proof of Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.4

The foliation JF of Mn is described by a finite, C2 atlas $ = {(Ui, x;, yi)}[ =1

of foliated charts. Here,

yt:Ul-^R
and, on overlaps UiHUj, the coordinate changes are of the form
=
x% Xi(Xj ,yj), (*J
Vi = ViiVj)- (**)
We can and do assume that the images j/i([/i) are bounded intervals in
R with disjoint closures. As is standard, the set of transverse coordinate
changes (**) is interpreted as a symmetric generating set {hi,... , hm} of
a pseudogroup T of local C 2 diffeomorphisms in R, called the "holonomy
pseudogroup of T'. To relate this pseudogroup to the geometry of J , it
is useful to fix imbeddings of the intervals yi(Ui) C Ui as disjoint trans-
verse curves to 3\ The union W of these transversals is then a complete
transversal and the holonomy pseudogroup maps open subsets of W onto
open subsets of W simply by sliding along the leaves.
One also requires a certain "regularity" property of the foliated at-
las, namely that each {Ui,Xi,y{) is actually a subchart of a foliated chart
(Vi,Xi,yi) and that the closure Ui is a compact subset of Vi. Again, it is
useful to fix imbeddings of the intervals yi(Vi) C Vi as disjoint transverse
curves to 1. The union T D W of these transversals is then a complete
transversal and the holonomy pseudogroup maps open subsets of T onto
open subsets of T simply by sliding along the leaves. Again, the set of trans-
verse coordinate changes (**) is interpreted as a symmetric generating set
{hi,... , hm} of a pseudogroup T, of local C2 diffeomorphisms in 1R.
228 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

Thus, the domain of hi is an open interval D{hi) with compact closure

D{hi) and hi is the restriction of a C 2 imbedding hi : D(hi) —> R, 1 <
i <m. Thus, every element of T extends C 2 -smoothly to the closure of its
domain. Abusing notation we denote hi by hi, 1 < i < m, and f by T.
In this section we assume the truth of Theorem 1.3 and deduce Theo-
rem 1.1 and Theorem 1.4. Let X C M be an exceptional LMS of ?, let F
be a semiproper leaf that accumulates on X, La, semiproper leaf lying in
X. We assume we have chosen our atlas $ = {(C/j,x,,2/i)}[=1 of foliated
charts so that boundary plaques of U, do not lie in F, 1 < i < r.
L e m m a 2.1 The leaf L lies at finite level and the closure F of F in M
accumulates on F from at most one side.
Proof. No leaf at infinite level can have a proper side [1, Lemma 8.3.23],
so F and L each lie at finite level. This means that F lies in a unique LMS
Q and Q must either reduce to F itself (and F is a proper leaf) or it must
be exceptional. In either case, F is a compact, nowhere dense, ^-saturated
set containing X. Further, by [1, Corollary 8.3.12], F is a finite union of
LMS, each of which is either a proper leaf or an exceptional LMS and none
of which, except for Q, can accumulate on F. If Q reduces to F itself, F
does not accumulate on F. Alternatively, Q is exceptional and accumulates
on F only from the nonproper side of that leaf. •
By Lemma 2.1, each open, ^-transverse arc meets F, if at all, in a
relatively closed, nowhere dense set and each point in which F meets the
arc is the endpoint of a gap of this set. Since X is exceptional, the closed
subset X of F meets each open, ^-transverse arc, if at all, in an open
subset of a Cantor set. The set Y = F C\ W is a compact, nowhere dense,
T-invariant set in R, as is Z = X n W. By the above observations, Z is a
Cantor set, but Y may contain isolated points.
The leaf F accumulates on the semiproper leaf L C X. Since L accu-
mulates on itself, F accumulates on L from the nonproper side. If F <f_ X,
it is possible that F also accumulates on L from the proper side, but this
is immaterial for our purposes.
We assume Theorem 1.3 and adopt the notation in the paragraph prior
to Theorem 1.3. By Lemma 2.1, the T-orbit F fl W consists of some of the
endpoints of gaps of the set Y. For definiteness, we suppose that F n W
consists of upper endpoints of gaps and indicate, where pertinent, the minor
adjustments needed for the other case. Let [a, b] C (0, e) be a gap of Y with
be F f l ( 0 , £ ) .
Let y £ L' and let r(t), 0 < t < 1, be a path from 0 + to y in L', missing
dL' except for t = 0 and, perhaps, t = 1. Subdivide r into segments, each
lying in an ^-plaque, obtaining thereby a chain PQ , P\,... , Pm of J-plaques
 ENDSETS O F EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 229

such t h a t 0 £ Po and Pj fl Pj+i ^ 0, 0 < j < m. This defines a holonomy

chain hT at 0. While this has involved choices, another such holonomy chain
hT will necessarily be germinally equivalent t o hT. Germinal independence
of choices will not be enough for our purposes, b u t what we do need is given
in t h e next lemma.
Let / and N > 0 be as in Theorem 1.3, x> = fN+i{b) and zt = fN+l(a),
+
Mi > 0. If r is a p a t h from 0 t o y € V, t h e n [Q,xQ] C D ( / i T ) . In fact, by
T h e o r e m 1.3, since a = T - 1 O r is a loop at 0 + , ha is defined on [0, XQ\.
L e m m a 2 . 2 Let T\ and r 2 be paths in V from 0 + to the same point
y. Then, for any corresponding holonomy chains at 0, chosen as above,
hT1(xi) = K2(xi) and hT1(zi) = hT2(zi).
Proof. If a is a loop on L', based at 0 + , then Theorem 1.3 implies t h a t
b o t h ha{xi) — Xi a n d ha{zi) = Zj. If a is t h e loop on L' formed by following
T\ by T^" 1 , t h e n ha = h~2 o hTl a n d t h e assertion follows. •
If y E V a n d r in V is a p a t h from 0 + t o y, then hT(0) can be interpreted
as an J - p l a q u e P' containing y and hT{xo) is defined and can be interpreted
as another 3"-plaque Po C F. Let no : P' —> Po be t h e projection along
plaques of 3r±. In particular, no(y) £ F. If t h e points of F H W are
lower endpoints of gaps of t h e set Y, we replace hT(xo) with hT(zo) in t h e
definition of -KQ.
L e m m a 2 . 3 A finite covering map no : LI —» F, with image a complete,
connected submanifold BQ C F, is well-defined by the above procedure. By
replacing XQ with Xi, i > 0, we obtain finite covering maps 7r» of L' onto
complete, connected submanifolds Bi.
Proof. By L e m m a 2.2, m is well defined, Vi > 0. It is a covering m a p
by definition. Since H+ is compact and ni\H+ : H+ —> Hi is a covering
m a p , it follows t h a t ni is a finite covering m a p . T h e remaining assertions
are elementary consequences of this. •
Let Hi = ni(H),i > 0. It is clear t h a t Hi ^ Hj whenever i ^ j . I t is
also clear t h a t dBi = Hi U Hi+i,i > 0.
L e m m a 2 . 4 If i < j and S , D Bj ^ 0, t/ien either j — i or j = i + 1 and
Bi n J3t + 1 = H i + i .
Proof. It will be enough t o show t h a t , if i ^ j , then int Bi n int P , = 0 .
It is an easy consequence of t h e definition of 7Tj and nj t h a t this intersection
is relatively open and closed in each of int Bi and int Bj. By connectivity,
either int Bi = int Bj or these sets are disjoint. In t h e first case, it follows
easily t h a t Hi = Hj, hence t h a t i = j . •
D e f i n i t i o n 2 . 5 For each integer j > 0, Vj = ( J ~ . P , .
C o r o l l a r y 2 . 6 The family {Vj}Cj°=Q is a fundamental neighbourhood system
230 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

of an end e* G £ x (F) and e* is a cluster point of £X(F).

Proof. It is obvious that {Vj}^0 is a fundamental neighbourhood sys-
tem of an end e* G £(F). Since every Vj is asymptotic to L and L is
asymptotic to X, it follows that e* G EX(F). Finally, each Bj is asymp-
totic to everything to which L is asymptotic. Indeed, if s € M, if / is the
leaf of 3r± through s, and if {si}^ C L f l / clusters at s, then, for fixed
j , lim |[si,7r,-(sj)]| = 0 (by [1, p. 170] or Lemma 4.6), so {^dsi)}°^l also
i—»oo
clusters at s. Thus, each Bj is asymptotic to X and must be a neighbour-
hood of at least one end e.,- G EX(F). By Lemma 2.4, ej ^ e^ for j ^ A;,
since Vj is a neighbourhood of {ek}^L,-, it follows that e* is a cluster point
of {ej}f=0. U
Proof.[Proof of Theorem 1.1] Let e G EX(F). Any neighbourhood V of
e in F is a connected component of the complement in F of a compact,
connected subset E C F. The set £J is also a compact subset of M. Let C
be a compact submanifold of L such that the handle H and the curve a with
a -^ H = +1 lies in the interior of C. A suitable normal neighbourhood
y{C) of C in M will not meet .E. In the above discussion, we choose e so
that [0,£) is a fibre of v(C). We take b G V D (0,e) such that all positive
iterates ak lift to paths on F that start at b and stay in v(C). Since these
paths cannot meet E, they stay in V, so each x, G V. But iJj C v{C)
cannot meet E and i i e ^ fl 1/, so each iJj C V. By Lemma 2.4 and the
connectedness of E, Bi n .E = 0 for alii > 0. It follows that Vj C V, if j is
sufficiently large. By Corollary 2.6, V is a neighbourhood of a cluster point
e* of 8.x(F). This cluster point may or may not be e but, in any case, the
fact that V is an arbitrary neighbourhood of e will imply that e is a cluster
point of £x(F). Since e G £ X ( F ) is arbitrary, it follows that EX(F) is a
Cantor set. •
Definition 2.7 A complete, connected submanifold V c F i s said to spiral
(see [1, §8.4]) onto L with juncture H if

(1) for each x G V, there is a choice [p(x),x] of a compact subarc of the

leaf of IT-1- through x such that p(x) = y G L and p : V —> L is a
surjection that is locally a homeomorphism;
(2) for each y = »(x) G L, p~l(y) n [y, a;] = { x i } ^ 0 is a sequence such that
Xi I y and xo = x;
(3) p~l(H) falls into connected components H, = iJ, i = 0,1, 2 , . . . , such
that HQ = 9 £ , and these copies of H partition B into a sequence
{i?i}°^0 of complete submanifolds, dBi = ff, U -f/j+i, such that each
Bi is homeomorphic to V via p.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 231

Remark. We have actually defined the notion of V spiralling onto L from

above. With obvious changes, one obtains a similar notion of spiralling
from below. The two kinds of spiralling are interchanged by a change of
transverse orientation, so no generality is lost in restricting attention to
one type.
Proposition 2.8 For each i > 0, iti : L' —> Bi is a homeomorphisrn.
Proof. We deal explicitly with the case i = 0, the general case being no
different. It will be enough to show that TTQ is one-one. Since TTQ is a finite
covering map, it is enough to show that TTQ\H+ is one-one. Suppose not.
Then there exists t/o = M t/i £ H+ so that 7To(j/i) = no(yo) = xo- Let o
be a path in H+ from yo to y\ and let a be the loop at XQ in HQ which is
the projection of a under TTQ. By reversing the direction of cr if necessary
and rechoosing y\, we can assume that ha(0) = y\ e [0,x 0 ]. Then the set
of points yj = hJa € [0, x 0 ], j > 0, satisfies yo < Vi • • • in [0, xo] and thus is
a set of distinct points in TTQ (XO). This contradiction the fact that TVQ is a
finite cover. D
Proof.[Proof of Theorem 1.4] Given the end e, find an end e* as in the
proof of Theorem 1.1. It is obvious that Vj spirals on L for all j > 0. •

3 Unbounded holonomy

In this section we use some notation and Lemma 4.6 from Section 4.
Lemma 4.6 is the "key lemma" of [1, p. 170].
Let L and F be semiproper leaves of 1 and assume that F accumulates
on L. We emphasize that the important case in which L — F is allowed.
In that case L is exceptional. Fix a choice of transverse orientation and
of basepoint 0 e L so that the leaf of J x through 0 has compact subarcs
Jo = [yo, 0] and IQ = [0, xo], with Jo contained in a gap of the set Z = Lf]W
and with A • |/o|/|^o| < 1 (A as in [1, p. 170] or Lemma 4.6).
Definition 3.1 The holonomy of L is unbounded in IQ (respectively, in Jo)
if there does not exist a sequence {xn}'i^L1 C IQ (respectively, Jo) such that
xn converges monotonically to 0 and, Vn > 1, TL(xn) is the singleton {xn}.
Here TL is the holonomy pseudogroup on transverse, open arcs containing
0 consisting of g £ T such that gj(0) € L, 1 < j < p, gp(0) = 0.
Our goal in this section is to prove the following easy but important
step in the proof of Theorem 1.3.
Theorem 3.2 The holonomy of L is unbounded on any side that is ap-
proached by F.
Remark. By the semi-stability theorem of Dippolito [6, Theorem 3], un-
232 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

boundedness on a proper side of L will fail if and only if there is a col-

lar C = [0,1] x L of L — {0} x L on that side in M and a sequence
{t n }^Li C [0,1], clustering at 0, such that {Ln — {£„} x L}^=1 is a se-
quence of proper leaves of 3\ In this case, no leaf can accumulate on L on
the side in question. The proof of Theorem 3.2, therefore, is reduced to the
case in which L is exceptional and the side in question is nonproper. In
this case, L can always play the role of F. We fix these hypotheses.
We suppose that the sequence {xn}^L1 C IQ, as in the above definition
exists. We take n sufficiently large, let Ln denote the leaf of 5" through
xn, and proceed very much as in the previous section, to construct a local
homeomorphism 7rn of L onto Ln such that [y,TTn(y)] is a subarc of a leaf
of J 1 , Vy e L. Indeed, since TL fixes xn, the construction of 7r, : L' —> Bi
in Section 2 can be mimicked exactly, there being no need to cut L along
a handle H, to produce a local homeomorphism nn : L —> Ln which is also
surjective. By discarding finitely many of the points xn and renumbering
the sequence, we assume the construction works for all n > 1.
Lemma 3.3 For each integer n > 1, the points of L n (y, nn(y)) range over
all of L as y ranges over L.
Proof. By the definition of nn, the set L n {y,Ttn{y)) is the union of
plaques, hence is an open subset of L. This set is also complete (hence
closed) in L, so it exhausts L. •
Proof.[Proof of Theorem 3.2] By an application of Lemma 4.6, we can
choose n so large that the interval [y, 7rn(y)] has length less than that of
^0; vy 6 L. In fact, appealing to the octopus decomposition (see Subsec-
tion 4.2), one sees that there are at most finitely many Jp with |Jo| < \JP\.
If Jp is one of these, one might have to increase n to guarantee that, for
V = Vvi |[j/,7rn(2/)]| < l^ol- If Jp is not one of these, then for y = yp,
\[y,nn(y)}\ < \IP\ < \JP\ < | Jol- But Lemma 4.6 implies that J 0 C [y,nn(y)],
some y G L. This contradiction establishes Theorem 3.2. •

4 Some derivative estimates

4-1 Basic inequalities

Recall that {h\,... , hm} is a symmetric generating set for the holonomy
group r .
Definition 4.1 A reduced word g = hi o- • o/i^ is called a chain of length
\g\ = p. We write Qj = htj o • • • o hh, 1 < j < p, and # 0 = id.
Convention 1 Whenever g is a chain of length p and Y C D(g), we set
Yj=9j(Y), 0<j<p.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 233

In particular if Y = {yo}, then one has yo,.•• ,yP-

Definition 4.2 If yo 6 D(g), 6 is a subset of the T-orbit of yo, and
2/0) • • • ,2/p G S, the chain g is said to be a chain at yo in G. This is a
simple chain at yo if 2/? ^ 2/fc, whenever j ^ k. If |y| = p, if gp-\ is a simple
chain at yo, and if g(yp) — yo, then g is called a simple loop at yo- Finally,
if g = h~l o I o h, where h is a simple chain at yo and / is a simple loop at
h(yo), then g is called a basic loop at yo-
Definition 4.3 If Y C D(g) is a nondegenerate interval, the chain g is
said to be a c/iain at Y. This is a simple chain at V if int Yj- n int Y^ = 0,
whenever j ^ k. If \g\ — p, if g p _i is a simple chain at Y, and if g(Y) = Y,
then g is called a simple loop at Y. Finally, if g = h~l o I o h, where h is
a simple chain at Y and Z is a simple loop at h(Y), then g is called a basic
loop at Y.
Choose constants A > 0, B > 0, A > 0, and # > 1 such that
1. h't > A, I < i < m,
2. \h'(\ < B, 1 < i < m,
3. 6 = A/B,
4. A = exp(6#| W|) (where |Y| denotes the Lebesgue measure of a set Y).
Lemma 4.4 Let g € T 6e o c/iam o/ length p, and let UQ,VO € D{g). Then

For this fundamental estimate see [10] or [1, p. 168]. Here is an easy
consequence.
Lemma 4.5 Let g e T and J C -D(<7) 6e a compact, nondegenerate inter-
val. Suppose g is a simple chain of length p at J. Then

^<exp(0|W|), \/u,veJ.

However, we need the following more delicate version of Lemma 4.5. It

is the "key lemma" of [1, p. 170].
Lemma 4.6 Let j £ T and let Jo and IQ be compact subintervals of D{g)
such that
• Jo is non-degenerate, IQ is possibly degenerate,
• Jo n Jo = {yo} is o, single point of d Jo,
• |/o|/|Jo| < 1/A,
234 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

If g is either a simple chain or a basic loop at JQ then

1. | 5 ( / 0 ) | < | < ? W | /

2. ^rl <\,Vu,v€ JoU/0.

9 »
This lemma will give us significant control of holonomy on the nonproper
side of a semiproper leaf.

4-2 The octopus decomposition

Fix a choice of a smooth, one-dimensional foliation 3 rX that is everywhere
transverse to J . We assume the atlas $ from Subsection 4.1 is biregular
relative to JF and J"1- in the sense defined in [1, §5.1]. Each Ui = Pi x /;,
1 < i < m. In standard fashion, the arc /j is to be identified with a set of
7-plaques by t <-> Pi x {t} and with the set yi(Ui), 1 < i < m.
In the theory of foliated manifolds of codimension one, the open, con-
nected, saturated sets U play a fundamental role [6, 8, 2, 1]. One considers
the "transverse completion" U, obtained by taking the metric completion
of U relative to any Riemannian metric on U relativized from a Riemannian
metric on M. If U is connected, this simply attaches to U finitely many
boundary components, completing 7\U to a foliation J of U tangent to the
boundary. We emphasize that U is generally noncompact.
The inclusion map i : U c-> M induces a natural immersion i : U <—> M
that may identify some pairs of boundary leaves to a single leaf of 3\ The
leaves of i(dU) are called the "border leaves" of U. If U is connected, there
is an "octopus decomposition"
U = Kl) Ax U---U Ar,
where K is a compact, connected manifold with boundary and corners and
each Ai is a foliated interval bundle, also with corners. The corners separate
the subset d^K of dK (respectively, the subset d^Ai of dAi) transverse to
F from the subset dTK (respectively, dTAi) tangent to 3\ The manifold
K is called a nucleus of U and each Ai is an arm. Each arm has d^Ai
connected and attaches to K so that d^Ai is identified with one component
of dfaK. The nucleus can be chosen as large as desired, generally at a cost
of increasing the number of arms. For more details, see [1, Chapter 5].
If L is one of the boundary leaves of U (generally L is taken to be a
boundary leaf on the positive side of [/), we let C = KnL be the core of L.
For 1 < i < m, the components of UnUi will be of the form Pi x (a, b). If
both Pi x {a} and P, x {6} are subsets of Ui, then Pi x (a, 6) will be called an
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 235

ordinary product. Otherwise Pj x (a, b) will be called a special products. By

the definition of nucleus [1, Chapter 5] every special product is contained
in the nucleus. An ordinary product that meets both the nucleus and an
arm is called a boundary product.
Let U = U n W. The components of U are the intervals (a, b) from
the previous paragraph. Define U to be the disjoint union of the closure in
T of these intervals. That is, one defines the components of U to be the
intervals [a,b].
If J is a component of U, then J is a component of an arm, if the product
Pi x J is contained in an arm for some 1 < i < m. It is a nuclear component
if the product is contained in the nucleus. It is a boundary component if
the product meets both an arm and the nucleus. We let 3 be the set of all
components in an arm. Let \3\ be the sum of the lengths of components in
an arm.
Remark. By choosing the nucleus larger one can make \3\ as small as de-
sired.
We let L be one of the boundary leaves of U (without loss assume L
is a boundary leaf on the positive side of U). Let S = L n T. Let A C S
denote the set of upper endpoints of components in arms, C C S the set of
upper endpoints of nuclear components whose upper endpoints lie in S, and
dS the set of upper endpoints of boundary components. The set C will be
called the core of S and the set 9C will be called the boundary of the core.
Then 8 = A U 6 and <9C = A n C. If y0 e S, then S is the T-orbit of y0.

4-3 Holonomy in the arms

If X C M is a compact, J-saturated set with empty interior, it is possible
to select the regular foliated atlas so that Z = X O W is a compact, T-
invariant set that meets each of the open intervals D(hi) in a compact set.
Assume this and choose fj, > 0 so small that any point in W that is /i-close
to a point of the compact set Z n D(hi) lies in D(hi), 1 < i < m. Also
assume any component of an arm has length less than /j,.
Let U be a component of the complement of X. Let K be a nucleus
and let Jo = [^OiJ/o] be a component of an arm. Then xo,yo £ Z.
Remark. If g = hl o • • • o h^ is a chain at j/o in .A, then g is a chain at Jo-
It will be a simple chain, simple loop or basic loop, respectively, at Jo if
and only if it is such at j/o-
Let IQ C W be a compact interval meeting Jo in exactly one of the
endpoints, say yo- In order to use Lemma 4.6, choose IQ SO that |/o|/|-^o| <
1/A.
236 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

Lemma 4.7 If g is a simple chain or basic loop at yo in A, then IQU JQ C

D(g) and
(1) g'{u)/g'{v) < exp(60|3|) ifu,veI0U J0;
(2) ifg is a basic loop, then exp(-60\d\) < g'(u) < exp(6<9|5|), Vu € I0UJ0.
Proof. By the remark, Jo C D(g). For 0 < j < p, we prove that Ij is
denned.
For j = 0, there is nothing to prove. Suppose that, for some i < p and
0 < J < i, I jis defined. Using Lemma 4.6, we obtain the inequality

In particular, J% e 3, so | / j | < \Ji\ < \x. Therefore, J, C D(hi+i) and U+i

is defined. By finite induction, Ip is defined and IQ U JO C D(g)-
Let u, v e IQ U JO. By Lemma 4.4,

^M<exp(..g K -,,|).
Furthermore, \UJ — Vj\ < \Ij\ + \Jj\ < 2|Jj| and, as in the proof of Lemma 4.6
(see [1, p. 170]), it follows that
p-i

This proves (1). Finally, if g is a basic loop, find v e Jo with g'(v) = 1 and
apply (1) to prove (2). •
Corollary 4.8 Let 0 < r < 1 < s. If the octopus decomposition of U has
large enough nucleus, if IQ U JO is as in Lemma 4-7, and if g is a simple
chain or basic loop at j/o in -A, then r < g'{u)/g'{v) < s, Vu, v £ IQU JO- If
g is a basic loop, then r < g'(u) < s, Vu £ IQ U JO-
Proof. By making K large enough, we guarantee that
exp(6(9|3|) < min{s, 1/r}.
An application of Lemma 4.7 completes the proof. D
Fix a boundary orbit § C X on the positive side of U, as above, together
with an exhaustion
K = Ka C Kx c • • • C Kk C . . .
of U by nucleii of octopus decompositions. For a fixed A; = 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . , define
Ak, dQk, and C^ as in Subsection 4.2. In particular, each Cfc is T-connected.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 237

Fix a basepoint in Co and, by recoordinatizing, assume that this basepoint

is 0 G T C K. Let int Cfc = Cfc \ dGk.
The orbit S corresponds to a semiproper leaf L C X and any choice of
Jo, as above, lies on a proper side. If the leaf is not proper, then IQ lies
on the nonproper side and § fl Jo clusters on 0. It is our delicate task to
analyze the holonomy along paths in L on this nonproper side.

4-4 The set r # C TL

The set T# will serve as a set of generators for the germinal holonomy of
L at 0, there exists an £o > 0 such that every element of T# is defined on
the interval [—£o,£o], and we have very delicate control of the maps 7 for
every 7 6 T#.
Definition 4.9 The set To C TL consists of basic loops at 0 in Co. If
Ffc c TL has been defined, some k > 0, then TL D T^+I D Tk is constructed
as follows. The complement Tk+i \ Tfc is to be the set of basic loops at 0 of
the form h~1 ogoh, where g is a basic loop in Cfc+i \ int Cfc at h(0) G 9Cfc
and where ft is a simple chain at 0 in Cfc of length (say) p such that for
1 < j < k, 31 < ii < ... ij <•••< ik = p, satisfying:
/ij(0) G int Cj, i < ij] htj(0) G dGj\ /i»(0) £ int Gj,i> ij
Finally T# = Ufelo^fe- ^ n e P r °duct 7 = h~x o g o h is called the k-
representation of 7.
L e m m a 4.10 Let L be semiproper. If the holonomy of L is unbounded on
a given side of L, then T# has no fixed points arbitrarily close to L on
that side.
Indeed, in a standard fashion, each plaque-loop a on L at 0 is "factored"
into a product of loops, each of which corresponds to an element of T#. This
requires that a be modified by inserting finitely many plaque-chains of the
form T*T~X (where * denotes the adjunction of plaque chains). It follows
that, if T# has fixed points xn j 0, then ha(xn) = xn, Vn. Details are left
to the reader.
The following is an application of Lemma 4.7.
Lemma 4.11 For some s0 > 0, [—£o,£o] C ^ ( 7 ) , V7 G T#. Further, for
any such eo, one can choose 0 < e\ < £0 such that 7[—£i,£i] C [—£o,£o];
V7GIV
Proof. Choose 6 sufficiently small that [—5,8} C .0(7) for the finitely
many basic loops 7 G To. We can also assume that the finitely many
simple chains in Co from 0 to points of <9Co are defined on [—5,(5]. Every
7 G T# \ TQ is of the form 7 = h~l o g o h where g is a basic loop in
238 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

S \ Co at a point yo € dGo and h is a simple chain in Co from 0 to yo-

Here yo = IQ n Jo where Jo and Jo are chosen as in Lemma 4.7 and, by
that lemma, Jo U IQ C D(g). Thus, choosing 5 smaller, if necessary, we can
assume that goh is defined on [—<5, <5], for all choices of g and h as above.
We must choose 0 < £o < S so that h~l is defined on g o /i[—£o, £<)]•
By the mean value theorem, there is a point £ € /i[—5, <$] such that
\g[h(-5),h{5)]\ = \[h(-5),h{6)]\-\g'(0\.
Again appealing to Lemma 4.7, we note that the derivative g'(£) is uni-
formly bounded away from 0, for all basic loops g as above. Noting that
g~l varies over all such basic loops as g does and that h varies over finitely
many simple chains, one easily chooses EQ so that h[—£o, £o] C g~1oh[—S, 5],
for all such g and h.
Further, the previous argument yields -y[—£o,£o] C [—5,(5], V7 e T#.
Replacing 6 by £0 in the previous argument yields an £1 < £0 so that
7[-£i,£i] c [-£0,£o], V7 e r # . n
Every g e r # is a basic loop at 0. Choose £0 as in Lemma 4.11. Let
Jo C [—£0, 0] have upper endpoint 0. Then g is a basic loop at Jo. If one
chooses IQ C [0, £0] with |7 0 |/|Jo| < 1 A a n d Jo H Jo = {0}, an application
of Lemma 4.6 yields |Jj U J,| < 2| Jj|.
Definition 4.12 Let £ = \I0 U J0\ and 0 = (69\W\/£) • exp(6#|VF|). The
constant © is fixed throughout the rest of the paper.
Lemma 4.13 Let g £ T# and IQ and JQ be as above. Then

^fp- < exp(0|u - v\), Vu,veI0U Jo-

Proof. Set A = 70 U JQ. Then £ = |A|. As usual, set Kj = gj(A),
J
j = 9j(Jo), 1 < 3 < P- Then
\uj-vA g'AQ \u-
< !__Jll.exp(60|W|)
|Ail <?'«) |A| " |A|
anc
by Lemma 4.6. Since I0 is chosen with |Jo|/| Jo I < 1/^ ^ 9 *s a basic loop
at Jo
p— 1 p—1
|A,|<2^|Jj|<6|W|.
j=0 j=0

Thus

E K- - vi\ ^ l\reMw\w\) Y, iAii < nrpexp^i^o. &\w\

3=0 ' ' 3=0 ' '
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 239

By Lemma 4.4,
p-i
9'{u)
< exp( 922 \uj ~ vj\ ) < exp(0|u - v\).
g'(v)
3=0

a
Definition 4.14 A pseudogroup element 7 = gm o gm_y o • • • o glt where
gi E r # , 1 < i < m is called a r#-chain of length m. Let 7 be such a chain
and let A C D(7) be a compact interval. For 1 < p < m, set 7 P = <?P°- • -°5i
and let g0 = id. Set Ap = 7 P (A), 0 < p < m. If int A 0 ,int A i , . . . ,int A m
are disjoint, then 7 is said to be a simple r#-chain at A. Simple r#-loops
and basic r#-loops at A could be defined, but they will not be needed.
The following lemma is an analog of Lemma 4.5. The difference is that
simple chains are constructed from the finite generating set {h\,... , hm}
of the pseudogroup T, while the simple r#-chains are constructed from the
generally infinite set T# which provides a set of generators for the germinal
holonomy group at 0.
Lemma 4.15 Let A c IQ U JO be a compact interval and 7 = gm o • • • o gi
be a simple Y^-chain of length m at A. Then
-y'(n)
- ^ - T < exp(e|W|), Vtt,«eA.
7 '(v)
Proof. Let Uj = jj(u) and Vj = Jj(v), 0 < j < m — 1. Then
7'M = 9m("m-i) gi("o)
l'(v) v
9'm( m-l) '" 9i(v0)'

Applying Lemma 4.13 to each gj gives

^ ^ e x p ^ G ^ K - ^ f ) <exp(6|^|).

D
Remark. In Lemma 4.15, it is sufficient that 7 m _i be a simple r#-chain
at A.
The following will be useful in Section 7.
Corollary 4.16 Let f G F# be a contraction of [0,e) c Jo U Jo to 0. Let
xo € [0,e) and Xk = / fc (xo), Vfc > 0. Then, for all integers p, k > 1 and
allu,ve[xp,x0}, (fky(u)/(fk)>(v)<exp(pG\W\).
Proof. Choose u = uo,u\,... ,up = v in [xp,xo] so that, for suitable
choices of z, e [xp,x0], {ui,Ui_i} C A; = [f(zi),Zi], 1 < i < P- This
240 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

is clearly possible. Then 7 = fk and A = Aj satisfy the hypotheses of

Lemma 4.15, 1 < i < p, so we see that i'{ui-i)/l'{ui) < exp(0]H / |),
1 <i < p. The desired conclusion follows. •
Remark. In Theorem 6.1 we will show that there does exist a contraction
/er#.
Lemma 4.17 Let A and 7 be as in Lemma A.15 and let g € T be such that
7(io U Jo) C D(g). Let Q = [a, b] C A. Choose r < 1 so close to 1 that

l-r<exp(-Q\W\)-\Q\/\A\.

/ / there exists x € 7(A) such that

(1) g(x) = x < 7(6) (respectively, g(x) = x > j(a)),

(2) g(j(b)) < 7(a) (respectively, g(j(a)) > f(b)),

then there exists t £ 7(A) such that g'(t) < r.

Proof. We treat the case x < 7(6) and 5(7(6)) < 7(0). The alternative
case is obtained by an entirely similar argument.
By the mean value theorem and Lemma 4.15,

MM _ m . JAI < e x p ( e i W |). JAI

h(Q)\~Y(v) | Q , <e X p C Oi^|J |Q|,

for suitable values u € A and v G Q. Thus,

r < e x p ^ u\w\) |A| S ^ ( A ) |

<7(6)-7(a) ^7(b)-g(7(b))
~ 7(6) — x ~~ 7(6) — x

Therefore

l(b) - 9(l(b)) _ g(j(b)) -x _ g( 7 (6)) - g(x)

r > 1
7(6) — x 7(6) — x 7(6) — x

By the mean value theorem, there exists t 6 7(A) such that g'(t) < r. O
Remark. A simpler version of Lemma 4.17 can be given with 0 replaced
by 0. In the proof of the simple version, the use of Lemma 4.15 is replaced
by a use of Lemma 4.5. Otherwise the proof is identical. We need the
stronger lemma.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 241

4-5 Better estimates

Every 7 G F# is defined on IQ U JO. Choose £\ in Lemma 4.11 such that
[—£1, £1] U 7[—£i, £1] C / o U Jo, V7 G T#. In the rest of the paper we work
in an interval (—e,e) C [—£i,£i] and take e smaller as needed.
Lemma 4.18 Let 0 < r < 1 < s. Then k > 0 can be chosen so large and
e > 0 so small that for all 7 G T# \ Fk, the inequalities r <j'(u) < s hold
for —£ <u < £. Furthermore, if {71,72, • • • , 7n} C Tk is a subset such that
each 7J /aiZs £0 be germinally equivalent to a contraction to 0, either in [0, e]
or in [—£,0], then the choice of z can be made so small that r < 7^(u) < s,
1 < i < n, — £ < u < e.
Proof. By Corollary 4.8, we choose k > 0 such that, V7 e r # \ T^ with
^-representation 7 = / i - 1 o 5 o h, we have
•v/r < g'(h(u)) < y/s, -e < u < £.
By elementary calculus,

and each of the finitely many functions h' is continuous. By making e small
enough, we guarantee that
h
r '(u) r / /
/i'(7(u))
hence
r < 7'(u) < s, —s<u<e.
There remain the elements 7, e Tfc, 1 < i < n. By the assumption on
these, we see that 7t'(0) = 1, 1 < i < n. Thus, making e possibly smaller,
we complete the proof. •
Lemma 4.19 Let£\ be as above andO < P < E\. Then k > 0 can be chosen
so large that for 7 6 T# \ Fk, the inequalities 1/(2A) < 7'(u) < 2A hold for
-Ei < u < £1. Further for this choice of k, [0,/3/(2A)] C j[0,(3] C [0,2A/?],
v7Gr#\rfe.
Proof. By Corollary 4.8, we choose k > 0 such that, V7 G T# \ Tfc with
fc-representation 7 = ^, _1 o g o /i, we have
1/2 < g'(h(u)) < 2, -£i<u<£i.
By elementary calculus,

7 (u) =
' ^H)'5'(/l(u))' -£^«*ei-
242 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

By L e m m a 4.6 and Lemma 4.11,

1/A< \ \ < A, -£i<U<£i,

/i'(7(u))
hence

1/(2A) < 7'(w) < 2A, -ex < u < £i.

By the mean-value theorem, |[0,/?/(2A)]| < |-y[0, /?] | = |[0,/3]| • -y'(£) <
|[0,2A/?]| n

5 I n t h e a b s e n c e of a c o n t r a c t i o n

Let L be a semiproper leaf of 5". Fix a choice of basepoint 0 G L and the

arc [—£i,£i] of t h e leaf of 3" x t h r o u g h 0. Let r # be as in Definition 4.9.
By L e m m a 4.11, every element of T # is defined on all of [—£i,£i]. Further,
[—£i,£i] C IQ U JO with I0 and Jo as in Definition 4.12. This allows us to
use L e m m a 4.15 and L e m m a 4.17 with 0 as defined in Definition 4.12. We
fix the following assumptions.

(i) No 7 e r # restricts t o a contraction t o 0 on any subarc [0,77) C [0,e].

(ii) T h e leaf L has unbounded holonomy on the positive side.

In t h e next section, we will see t h a t these assumptions lead to a con-

tradiction. Here, we simply produce some technical consequences of the
assumptions t h a t will be used in Section 6.
It will not m a t t e r whether t h e positive side is a proper side of L. By
L e m m a 4.18, we can choose the value of 0 < e < £\ so small t h a t

K 7 < V G F
10 ' ^ 10' ^ # ' - £ < £ < £ (#)

9
Remark. In the proofs t h a t follow, it is enough t h a t the constants — <

1 < — be sufficiently close to 1.

10
L e m m a 5.1 There is a sequence {2/1,^2,21,2^3, £2, ?/4i.. • ,yi+\,Xi,...} in
(0,£), converging monotonically to 0, and a sequence {<7i}^i C r # such
that

(a) gi\[xi,yi] is a contraction to Xi, 1 < % < 00;

(b) 9i{yi) =Xi-i, 2 <i < 00.

 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 243

Xl

E- :
xi ;
2/i

E 1 — -3
X3 '. 32(2/2) 2/2

E i 3
33(2/3) 2/3

. 1 a
94(2/4) 2/4

Figure 1.

Proof. In the rather technical argument, the reader may find the visual
schema in Figure 1 helpful. By (ii) and Lemma 4.10, there is an a > 0 so
small that the elements of r # | ( 0 , a ) have no common fixed point. On the
other hand, by (i), none of these are germinally contractions to 0. Thus,
given z G (0, a) C (0,e), choose gz e T# and [xz,bz) C (0, a) such that
z G (xz,bz) and gz\[xz,bz) is a contraction to xz. We consider two cases.
Case 1. Assume that a > 0 can be chosen so that there is a set of points
z £ [0,a), clustering at 0, for each of which one can choose bz = a. Choose
a sequence {gi,[xi,a)}^2=1 with g^ = gZi, Xi — xZi, and Xj J, 0. Choose
xi so that 2\x± < a. In general the choice of ajj+j is to be made so that
2Xxi+i < Xi. If i ^ j , then it is clear that gt ^ gj. If i is sufficiently large,
Lemma 4.19 implies that g^l(x\) < a, so renumber gi as 52, %% as £2, and
set yi = a and 2/2 = 32~1(xi)- Again, for j sufficiently large, gj1(x2) < xi,
so renumber gj as 53, Xj as X3, and set 2/3 = ff3~1(a;2). Iteration of this
procedure yields a sequence {gi, [3^,7^)}°^ with all the desired properties.
Case 2. Alternatively, a > 0 cannot be chosen as in Case 1. Thus,
for some (0,??) and every z S (0,77), gz and [xz,bz) can be chosen as above
with the additional property that gz{bz) = bz < a.
By the local compactness of (0,77/2], choose a sequence
{9i = gZl,[xi,bi] = [z Z i ,6 z J}£i
such that 0 = {(xi,bi)}°l1 covers (0,77/2] and Xi J, 0. We claim that
lim bi = 0. Otherwise, {6;}°^ would have a cluster point 5 > 0 and we
i—>oo
could rechoose a = 5/2, contradicting the hypothesis that no choice of
a > 0 places us in Case 1. Therefore, 0 is a locally finite cover of (0,77/2].
Also, wlog, we can assume that every component of 0 meets (0,77/2]. In
244 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

particular, each component of 0 meets at least one other.

We seek a subcover 0* C 0 without triple intersections. Set Aj = [xi, bi],
i > 1. If int Ai C Ui^i int Aj, let 0 1 = O N {int Ai}. Otherwise, set 0 1 = 0.
Inductively, suppose that 0* C O i _ 1 C • • • C O1 C 0, where 0 J covers
(0,77/2] and, for 1 < j < i,
int Aj C | J { i n t A| int Aj ^ int A G 0 4 } ==» int Aj £ 0 \
i+1
Define O as follows. If
intAj+i C y { i n t A | i n t A i + i ^ int A e 0*},
i+1
then set 0 = 0 l N {int A i + i } . Otherwise set 0 i + 1 = 0 \ Let 0* = f")i>i 0*-
We claim that 0* covers (0,77/2]. Indeed, if z e (0,77/2], then the local
finiteness of 0 implies that z $ int Aj for sufficiently large values of j . Since
every 0 l is a cover, some int Aj containing z is never discarded in the above
process.
Suppose that intAj,intAj, and int Afc are distinct elements of 0* and
that int Ajflint AjPiint Afc ^ 0. Since these are intervals, we can assume that
int Ai C int Aj U int Afc, in which case int Aj ^ 0* 2 0*, a contradiction. It

E 3
X2 * bl

E— — 3
X3 I bl

E 3
63

. 3
#» 64

Figure 2.

follows that we can renumber 0* = {(xi,bi)}^=1 so that (xi,bi)C\(xi+\,bi+i)

is nonempty, Vi > 1, and conclude that b\ > 62 > ^1 > &3 > x2 > &4 >
X3 > . . . (see Figure 2). Set y\ = bi and, if i > 2, set j/j = g~l{xi~\). It
follows that this choice of {x%,Vi,gi}^Zi satisfies the requirements. D
L e m m a 5.2 If F is a leaf and F n (xi, y{) ^ 0, then we can assume that
be F n ( x i , y i ) is such that [51(6),6] C (3/2,2/1)-
Proof. We must consider the two cases in the proof of Lemma 5.1. In
Case 1, choose x\ so that
2Axi < 6/(2A).
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 245

The application of Lemma 4.19 can be made to ensure that g\ and gi satisfy
ya = 52 _1 (zi) < 2Axi < 6/(2A) < gi(b) <b<Vl.
In Case 2, iterated applications of g± J to a point of F n (xi, j/i) produces
a point 6 as desired. •
Definition 5.3 Afe = (xk,yk+i), V/c > 1.
Fix a choice of A = [gi(b), b] c (t/2,2/1) as in Lemma 5.2. Let A' =
[91(b), b). We will consider elements 7 6 F i of the form 7 = gip o g i p l o
• • • o g^ where ti = 1 and either ij = i,_i or i,- = 1 + ij-i, 2 < j < p, and
such that A C D(7). Set

7o = id
Ij = 9ij °9ij-i °---°9h
Aj=lj(A), 0<j<P.
Definition 5.4 An element 7 G TL as above is admissible if, whenever
ij = 1 + ij-i then
Aj-inAj,.., ^ 0 .
Also, 7 = 70 = id will be called admissible.
Lemma 5.5 Let x G (0,6). Then there exists an admissible 7 G TL such
that x G 7(A').
Proof. If x G (xi,6), we take 7 to be a suitable iterate g\, k > 0. If
x G (0,xi], there is a unique integer n > 2 such that x G (x„,x n _i]. A
suitable iterate of g^1 moves x to gnk(x) G (xn-i, Vn] = A n _ i . If n = 2,
A„_i c (xi,6), while, if n > 3, then A n _ i C (xn-i,xn-2\- Finite iteration
of this process leads to A _1 (x) G (x\, 6), hence to g^r o A _1 (x) G A'. Then
7 = A o g\ is admissible and x G 7 (A'). •
Lemma 5.6 If "f = gi ° • • • ° g^ is admissible, then Ao, A i , . . . , Ap have
disjoint interiors.
Proof. For 0 < i,j < p write Ai < Aj, if x G int Ai and y G int Aj
implies x < y. For 0 < n < p, we show inductively that A„ < A„_i. This
will prove the lemma.
For n = 1, A0 = [91(b), b] and Ai = 31 (A0) = [gf(b),gi(b)}, so Ai < A 0 .
Inductively, assume that, for some 0 < n < p, An < A„_i. There are three
cases to consider.
Case 1. Suppose that in+i = in- This together with the inductive
hypothesis, gives
A n +i = s? (A n _i) = 9in(An) < gin(An-i) = An.
246 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

C a s e 2 . Suppose t h a t in+\ = 1 + in and A n C A i n . Then

A„+i = gi+in{An) C 3i+i„(Airi) < A i n ,

hence A n + i < A n .
C a s e 3 . Suppose t h a t in+i = 1 + in a n d A n % Ain. Set in = k,
An = [u,v], and consider the overlapping of Afc and A n as indicated in
Figure 3. By the inductive hypothesis, [u,v] < g^fav], so v < g^ (u).

An

Xk Vk+i

Figure 3.

Thus, using ( # ) , we obtain

V Xk
0 < ~ < 9k1(u)-9k1(xl')
Vk+i ~ Xk 2/fc+i - Xk
9kl{yk+\) -gkl{xk) _ , -iw>x . n
< Gfc T(0 < w
Uk+i - Xk

T h a t is, v — Xk < (11/10) • |Afc|, hence

0<v-yk+i < ^-!Afcl (*)

Similarly

u-xk > gk{v) - gk{xk) 9k(yk+i) ~ 9k(xk)

Vk+\ ~ Xk Vk+i ~ Xk Uk+i - Xk

g'k(0 > Y^-

It follows t h a t u - Xk > (9/10) • |Afc|, hence t h a t

1 .. .
0 < Vk+i -u < — • |Afc| **)
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 247

P u t t i n g together (*) and (**), we obtain

0 < v - u < - • |Afc|. (* * *)

5
Also,

n „ 9k+i(v) ~xk _ 9k+i{v) -gk+i{yk+i) _ , , , 11

+
v - Vk+i v - yk+i 10

so (*) implies t h a t

0 < gk+i(v) -xk< — -(v- yk+i) < — • |A fc |

T h a t is,

gk+i{v) <xk + — • l^fc|.

We want t o show t h a t u > gk+i{v). If not, we have

1 1
. A I

u < X k + fc
loo ' ' '

and so

11 ,A , 11 ,A ,
v u> v x >yk+1 Xk
~ ~ k~ Yoo '' ' ~ ~ Too
89 . . , 1 .. ,
=
• A t > - • A*. ,
100 ' kl 5 ' '
contradicting (* * *) •
C o r o l l a r y 5.7 Given k > 1, i/iere exists an admissible 7 s-uc/i that Xk £
7(A') and 7(6) G (xk,yk).
Proof. By lemma 5.5, choose 7 so t h a t Xk 6 7(A'). FVom t h e proof of
Lemma 5.5, it is evident t h a t 7 = gk+i ° gk0! and t h a t [u, v] = gk o 7(A)
is as in Case 3 of the proof of Lemma 5.6. T h u s ,

7(6) = gk+i(v) > gk+i(yk+i) = xk

and

<x
7(6) = gk+i{v) k + jQQ- \Ak\ < y/c+i < Vk-

T h e proof is complete. •
248 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

6 Existence of the contraction

We make the same hypotheses as in Section 3 and use the same notation
and conventions as we used there. In particular, the semiproper leaf F is
asymptotic to L on the positive side of L.
Theorem 6.1 There is f £ T# and rj > 0 such that [0,77) C D(f) and
f : [0,77) —> [0,77) is a contraction to 0.
Proof. Assume that there is no such contraction. Then, by Theorem 3.2,
(i) and (ii) of Section 5 hold. We work in [0,e) chosen as in Section 5.
We assume, wlog, that F is proper on its negative side. By Lemma 5.5,
Fn (xi,yi) 7^ 0, hence Lemma 5.2 allows us to choose 6 £ Fn (£1,1/1) such
that A = [gi(b),b] c (y 2 ,yi)_As before, let A' = [c?i(6),6). If Q = [a,b]
is the component of (0, e) \ F with upper endpoint b, then Q C A. Let
J = [0, b] and 0 be as in Subsection 4.4. Choose r < 1 so close to 1 that

l-r<exp(-e|W|)|Q|/|A|.
By Lemma 4.18, all but finitely many g £ T# satisfy g'{x) > r, Vx £ [0,e).
Case 1. In Lemma 5.1, assume that infinitely many distinct elements
of r # occur in the list {gi}^Zi- Select gk such that g'k(x) > r, 0 < x < e.
By Corollary 5.7, let 7 £ TL be admissible such that xk £ 7(A') and
7(6) G (xj^yk). Thus gk{xk) = xk and xk < gkh(b)) < l(b). Since [a,b] is
a gap of F n W, it follows that gk{l{b)) < 7(a)- By Lemma 4.17, there is
t £ [rr/fc,7(6)] C [0,e) such that r > g'k(t), a contradiction.
Case 2. Assume that only finitely many distinct elements of T# occur
in the list {gi}^Zi- Let g £ r # be an element that occurs infinitely often in
the list. By assumption, there is no value rj £ (0,e) such that g\[0,rj) is a
contraction to 0, so g'(0) = 1. It follows that there is an integer k > 1 such
that g = gk and <J'|[0, yk) > r. It is now possible to argue exactly as in Case
1 so as to obtain the contradiction that r > g'(t), some t £ 7(A) C [0,yk)-
a

7 A compactly supported cohomology class

In this section, we use the the contraction / of Theorem 6.1 to define a

compactly supported cohomology class on L. We will use Poincare du-
ality to show that this class yields a handle on L with the properties in
Theorem 1.3.
Unless otherwise specified, we keep the notation and assumptions of
the previous section. By Theorem 6.1, we can assume that / £ T# and
[0,e) C D(f) are such that / : \0,e) —» [0,e) is a contraction to 0. Let
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 249

(a,b) be a component of (0,e) \ F and set ak = / f c (o), bk = fk(b), k > 0.

Finally, let 0 be as defined in Definition 4.12.
L e m m a 7.1 Let h € T^, and suppose that neither h nor h~l is germinally
equivalent to a contraction to 0 in [0,e). Then there exists an N > 0 such
that for all k > N, h(bk) = bk- Furthermore, all but finitely many elements
° / r # fix every bk, k > N.
Proof. Choose 0 < r < 1 such t h a t

l - r < e X p ( - e | W | ) - ^ ^ .
60 - o i

By assumption, h'(0) = 1. T h u s , we can choose an integer N >0 such t h a t

h'(t) > r, 0 < t < hpf- If there is an integer n > N for which h(bn) ^ bn,
t h e n such n can be found so t h a t h has a fixed point x € [ 6 n + i , 6 n ) . We
fix t h e choice of integer n and assume wlog t h a t h(bn) < bn. It follows
t h a t h(bn) < an. We are set up to apply Lemma 4.17 with A = [6i,&o],
Q = [oo,6o], and 7 = / " • This gives the contradiction t h a t , for some
to € fn[bi,b0] C [0,bN], h'(t0) <r.
By L e m m a 4.18, 7'(t) > r, 0 < t < e, for all but finitely many 7 e T # .
Therefore, by t h e result of t h e previous paragraph, for all but these finitely
m a n y 7 £ T#, j(bk) = bk, Vfc > N. D
Since all but finitely many 7 € !*# fix bk, Vfc > iV, there can be at most
finitely many elements in T # t h a t are germinally equivalent to contractions
to 0 in [0,e). Let {30,91, • • • ,<7g} C r # b e t h e subset of these elements.
By choosing e > 0 smaller, we can assume t h a t { f f o , 9 i , - - ,9q} are all
contractions t o 0 in [0,e). Rechoose (a, b) to be a component of (0,£) \ F.
Remark. L e m m a 7.1 holds with t h e contraction / equal any g e {go, g\,..n
gq}, (a, b) any component of (0,e) \ F, and bk = gk(b).
Let D be t h e smallest of t h e numbers

b
exp(-e|Wl). °~"° 0<i<q.
bo ~ 9i{bo)

For notational simplicity, let g € { 3 0 , 9 i , - - - ,<??} and ak = gk{ao), bk =

gk(b0). Then
L e m m a 7.2 Whenever h € T L and /i(6fc) < bk, some k > 0, i/ien

bk ~ 9(bk) ~
250 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

Proof. Since h(bk) < bk, we have h(bk) < ak, so

bk - h(bk) bk -ak _ gk(b0) - gk(a0)
h - g{bk) ~ bk - bk+i gk(bo) - gk(bi)
_ (/)'(0 fb0-a0\^ (b0-a0*
(9»)'K) d^-PHW)-^)**
where the second last inequality follows from

(see Lemma 4.15). •

Definition 7.3 If h € FL, the germ of /i|[0,e) at 0 will be denoted [h].
The group of all such germs will be denoted lK+(L).
Theorem 7.4 There is a homomorphism v : !H+(L) —> R with infinite
cyclic image. Furthermore, if x '• TTI(-^,0) —> "K+{L) is the canonical sur-
jection, then the cohomolgy class [i/o^] 6 if 1 (L;]R) is compactly supported.
The proof will be achieved in a series of lemmas. There are two cases
to treat. In the harder case, g'AQ) = 1, 0 < j < q. We treat the easier case
first.
Case 1. There is g E {go,gi: • • • ,gq\ such that £f'(0) < 1. As in the
proof of Lemma 7.2, bk = gk(bo), ak = gk(ao).
The following lemma will be needed later in this section but it is con-
venient to prove it here.
Lemma 7.5 Let h ETL be such that h(bk) ^ bk, for infinitely many values
ofk. Then, h'(0) ± 1.
Proof. Suppose that /i'(0) = 1 and, wlog, assume that h(bk) < bk for
infinitely many values of k. Write
g(t) = (p + r(t))t
h(t) = (1 + s(t))t,
where p ^ 1 and r(0) = 0 = s(0). Then
t - h(t) -s(t)
t - g{t) l - p - r(t) •
It follows that
t - hit)
lira H- = 0,
t—o+ t - g(t)
contradicting Lemma 7.2. •
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 251

Lemma 7.6 There is T £ (0,1) such that, whenever h € T L and h'(0) < 1,
then h'{0) < 1 - r .
Proof. If this were false, then, Vr € (0,1), there exists h € TL with
1 — T < /i'(0) = p < 1. Set a = g'(O). Choose such r and /i with

4r
< D.

Express

g(t) = (a + s(t))t
h{t) = (p + r(t))t,

where s(0) = 0 and r(0) = 0. Then, for k sufficiently large,

1 -a
\ - a - s(bk) > 2

l-p-r(bk)<2{l-p).

Consequently,

h-h(bk) = l-p-r(bk) ,4(l-p) ^ 4T < g

bfc - ff(bfc) 1 - <r - s(6fc) 1- a \-a

which contradicts Lemma 7.2. •

Lemma 7.7 completes the proof of Case 1 of Theorem 7.4.
Lemma 7.7 Let the homomorphism v : {K+{L) —> R be defined by the
formula v{[h\) = — log(/i'(0)). Then v has infinite cyclic image and the
cohomology class [is o \] € lf 1 (L;R) is compactly supported.
Proof. Since g'(0) ^ 1, v is nontrivial. By Lemma 7.6, the image of v
does not cluster at 0. Furthermore, T# corresponds to a set of loops on
L that generate 7Ti(L,0), so Lemma 7.1 implies that [v o ^] is compactly
supported. •
Case 2. We assume that <^(0) = 1, 0 < i < q, and we fix choices of
elements g,h € {30, <?i, • • • ,g q }- For g = #,, we let bk = gk(bo)- We define
l(n) to be the least positive integer such that [h(bn),bn] C [6n+j(n),&n],
V n > 0.
Lemma 7.8 There is a strictly increasing sequence {nfc}^^ of positive
integers on which I is bounded.
252 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

Proof. (1) Suppose the assertion false. Then, liirin^oo l(n) = oo. Con-
sider
bn_- h(bn) bn - &„+/(„)_!
K - g{bn) bn - bn+1
_
bn - bn+l bn+i - bn+2 ^n+/(n)-2 ^n+J(")-l
— _|_ _|_ . . . -|_
bn ~ bn+i bn — bn+i bn — bn+i
= x , 9(b n ) ~ g(b n+1) | { 9l{n)-2(bn) - 9l^-2(bn+1)
bn — bn+i bn — bn+\
2 lin) 2
= l + ff'(6) + (5 )'(C2) + • • • + (g - y(tHn)-2),
where all & e (6„+i,M-
Given r e (0,1), take n so large that <?'(£) > r, V£ G [0,b„]. This is
possible since <7'(0) = 1. Then
( ^ ) ' ( O = <7V' _ 1 (0) • g'(9j-2(0) • • -g'(0 > rj.
Therefore,
bn-h(bn) .,„, l-r'f")"1
— ^-^ > 1 + r + r22 + • • • + rl{n)2~2 -
bn ~ g(bn) 1
Since l(n) —> oo, we can choose n so large that

bn-g{bn) - 2(1-r)
But the number r can be taken as close to 1 as desired, forcing n to be chosen
sufficiently large. Therefore, given an arbitrarily large positive number R,
we can choose an integer N > 0 such that

±^M>R, Vn>N.
bn - g{bn)
(2) let R > 0 be given and choose N as in (1). Let n > N and let
x £ [fen+ii ^n]- Let y e [&i, bo] be the point with x = gn(y) and let
M =
,ma£. (y-9(y))-
bi<y<b0
Then
x - g ( x ) = gn(y) - gn(g(y)) _ (g")'(fl y - g ( y )
^ - g(M 9n(bo) - gn(bi) (gn)'(ri) ' 6 0 - 6 1 '
for suitable £, 77 6 [62, bo]- By Lemma 4.16,
x-g(x) exp(29|W|) • M
bn - g(bn) b0 - 61
 ENDSETS O F EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 253

It follows that, for arbitrary x G [6 n + i,6„],

x - h(x) > bn+i - h(bn) = bn+i -bn + bn- h(bn)

> (R - l)(bn - g(bn))
> («-l)exp(-2e|W|)(6o-M . {x _ g{x)y

As N becomes arbitrarily large, so does R, hence (x — g(x))/(x — h(x))

becomes arbitrarily small, uniformly for x G (0,6^)- This contradicts
Lemma 7.2. •
Lemma 7.9 The sequence {l{n)}^Li is bounded.
Proof. By Lemma 7.8, there is a strictly increasing sequence {nk}^Li
of integers and a positive integer A such that l(nk) < A, Vfc > 1. Thus,
g~x o h(bnk) > bnk. Suppose that l(ri) is not bounded. Then there are
arbitrarily large values of n for which g~x o h(bn) < bn. Let 7 = g~x o h.
By the above remarks, there exist arbitrarily large integers m such that

7(6 m ) < bm
l(bm+l) > bm+l-

Thus we can choose a 7-fixed point z G [6 m +i, bm].

Recall that g = git 6/- = gk(bo), and set a^ = gh(ao). In Lemma 4.15,
take A = [6j, 60] and Q = [ao, 60]. Choose m as above so large that

1 - i{x) < e x p ( - 0 | W | ) • |Q|/|A|, Vx G (0,bm].

Then, for suitable £ G [.z.6m],

r1 frcs 1 l(bm) - l{z) bm - j{bm) bm-am

- 7 (?) = 1 r = —r > -r—-—

- |<T(A)| (5™)'(TJ) |A|-eXp( °{Wl) |A|'

a contradiction. •
Lemma 7.10 There is a positive number p such that
1 x — q-j(x)
-< ^H<P> 0<a:<e, 0<i,j<Q.
p x- gi{x)
Proof. Set g = gi and h = gj. Let b^ = gk(bo) as above. Let x G
[bn+i,bn}, x = gn(y), y € [&i,&oj- Let \i = min6l<j,<60(y - d{y))- By
254 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

Lemma 7.9, there exists an integer A > 0, independent of n, such that

x - h(x) <bn- gx+1(bn) _ gn(b0) - gn(bx+l)
g{x) x-g(x) gn(y) - gn(g(y))
n
(9 Y(0 b0 - 6A+1> ^ e x p ( ( A + i ) & m (b0 - bx+1
(gn)'(ri) y - g(y) ' \ v
C,r? e [&A+I,&O],
the final inequality being by Lemma 4.16. Thus, we take p to be the largest
of the many bounds obtained for the finitely many choices of g = gt and
h = gj,0<i,j <q. •
Lemma 7.11 completes the proof of Case 2 of Theorem 7.4.
Lemma 7.11 There is a homomorphism v : (H+(L) —> R having the
properities in Theorem, 7.4-
Proof. Since every element of T# \ {g^1, • • • ,9^} fixes bk, for all k
sufficiently large, and since T# defines a generating set G# C 3{+(L), we
see that /i'(0) = 1, V [h] £ 5f + (L).
We will use the method of Thurston's stability theorem to obtain the
homomorphism v. By Lemma 7.10,
1 x — qAx)
- < ^ V 4 <P, 0<i<q, 0<x<e.
p x- go{x)
Let bk — g^(bo). There is a subsequence {bnk}'kLisuch that
lim >>nk-9t(bnk)
A% =
fe^oo bnk - go(bnk)
exists, 0 < i < q. Remark that Ao = 1. But, V7i € r # \ {g$ , . . . , g^ 1 },
h(bnk) = bnk so we also have
0 = lim Kk -h(bnk)
fc^oo bnk - go(bnk)
Given <p,8 6 TL, suppose that it has been shown that the limits

fe—oo bnk - go(bnk)

Kk -6(bnk)
B = lim
fc-oo bnk -g0(bnk)
exist. Let r? = <f>o9. For h e TL, write h(x) = x + h(x), where, as remarked
above, h'(0) = 0. Then,
r)(x) = x + fj(x) = (j)(9(x)) =x + 9(x) + 4>(x + 9(x))
= x + 9(x) + 4>'(£x)9(x) + 4>(x)
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 255

for some £x lying between x and x+6(x). T h a t is, fj{x) = 9(x)+4>'(t;x)8(x) +

4>(x). Therefore

lim . ^ " 7 ? ( S ) = lim ^ ( 6 " J

fc—oo bnk - go(bnk) fc—oo go(bnk)
(M
=k-*°°\9o(bn
i-(^4+^,.)-^4+-
) "" 9o(b„ ) g (b,
k k 0
= B+A
Given </> e TL, suppose t h a t it has been shown t h a t

A = lim *nk ~ <t>(bnk) = lim kKk)

fc—oo bnk - go(bnk) fc-*oo g0(bnJ
Set -r = 4>~1. T h e n

x = -y(4>{x)) =x + 4>(x) + 7 ( 1 + 0(x)) = x + <p{x) + 7'(£r)<Kx) + 7 ( x )

for some £ x lying between a; and x + (f>(x). T h u s , 7(0:) = —(1 + y'(£x))<l>(x),
hence

fc—00 g0{bnJ fc—00 ffol&nj

T h u s for each [h] G 5 { + ( L ) , we obtain a well-defined real number
b
^] = lim ^-h{^\
fc—00 6„fc - go{bnk)

and 1/ : 9 { + ( £ ) —»1R is a group homomorphism, nontrivial since i/[go] = 1-

By L e m m a 7.2, if /i e T L , then either h(bnk) = bnk, V large values
of fc, or t/[/i] > Z3 > 0, or ^[/i _ 1 ] > D > 0. T h a t is, t h e image of t h e
homomorphism v must be infinite cyclic.
It is clear t h a t v[h\ = 0, V?i G T # x { g ^ 1 , •. • , S * 1 } , hence the cohomol-
ogy class \u o x] is compactly supported in L. •
T h e proof of Theorem 7.4 is complete.
We need a good holonomy interpretation of the cohomology class [z^°x]-
By Theorem 7.4, there is a smallest positive number r G Im(^). Normalize
v so t h a t 7- = 1. T h e n $ = [1/ o ^] is a compactly supported, integral
cohomology class in L. It is clear t h a t $ takes t h e value 1 on a suitable
loop a in L, hence it is nondivisible. By s t a n d a r d theory, $ is t h e Poincare
dual of a homology class t h a t is represented by a closed, oriented, connected,
nonseparating submanifold H C L of codimension 1. We may suppose t h a t
our basepoint 0 lies on H. For any loop a on L, based a t 0, the homological
intersection number a -—^ H is t h e value of $ on a. Let a be a simple loop
256 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

that meets the handle H once at 0 chosen so that a —

' - H = +1 and ha the
holonomy around the loop a (a contraction). Let / = ha, g a contraction
in {go,gi, • • • ,gq}, and as usual bk = gk{b).
Remark. Since we do not know that / = ha is an element of T#, in order
to apply Lemma 7.1 in the proof of the next lemma, we can not take the
contraction to be / instead of g.
Lemma 7.12 If h €TL and v[h] = 0, then h fixes bk, for all k sufficiently
large.
Proof. We consider separately the two cases of the proof of Theorem 7.4.
In the first case, Lemma 7.5 and the definition of v in Lemma 7.7 implies
that neither h nor / i _ 1 is a contraction to 0. In the second case, Lemma 7.2
and the definition of v in Lemma 7.11 implies that neither h nor h~r is a
contraction to 0. Thus Lemma 7.1 implies h fixes bk, for all k sufficiently
large. •
For 0 < % < q, there exists a positive integer m.i so that v[gi] = rrii.
Lemma 7.13 gi(bk) = fmi(bk), 0 <i < q, k sufficiently large.
Proof. Since v\f~ og^\ = 0, it follows that f~mi ogi fixesfrfc,0 < i < q,
mi

k sufficiently large, and the lemma follows. •

Lemma 7.14 Without loss we can assume H and a are contained in the
interior of the compact core Co.
Proof. Recall our definition of the core of a leaf L from Subsection 4.2.
Let Ck = Kk n L be a core of L. Choose k sufficiently large that Ck contains
both H and a. Renumber the C / s so that Ck = Co. This gives a new
r # containing the previous one, a new set {go,gi, • • • ,9q} containing the
previous one, and a smaller e so that all the {#o, gi, • • • ,gq) are contractions
to zero on [0,e). Note that f = ha € {go,... ,gq}. Take / = go- Let (a,b)
be a component of (0, e) \ F and repeat the argument of this section to
obtain a compactly supported cohomology class [v o x] and a contraction /
so that u[f] = 1. For 0 < i < q, there exists a positive integer m, so that
u[gi\ = rhj. Therefore D[f] = fho so by Lemma 7.13 f(bk) = fm°(bk), for
all k sufficiently large, where bk = fk{b). Therefore v[f] = 1/mo- Since 1 is
the smallest positive number in Im(^), it follows that mo = 1 or D[f] = 1.
Therefore, since / mi (6fc) = gi(bk), for all k sufficiently large, it follows that
v[gi] = rrii — v[gi], 1 < i < q. Further, since ^[7] = 0 = v\y] for all 7 € T#
with neither 7 nor 7 _ 1 germinally a contraction to 0 and since r # generates
Fi, it follows that v = v. Therefore H = H, and a = a. Take f = ha. •
Remark. These are the e, / , H, and a of Theorem 1.3.
Fix T # and {gQ,gi,... ,gq}.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 257

Lemma 7.15 Ifj G r # and neither 7 nor 7 l is germinally a contraction

to zero, then 7 fixes b^, for all k > N, for a possibly larger value of N.
Proof. In fact, the last statement of Lemma 7.1, gives this result for all
but finitely many elements of T#, while the first statement of the Lemma
applied to each of these finitely many 7 G T# \ {go,gi,... ,gq} in turn
gives the result for the remaining 7 G r # such that neither 7 nor 7 is
germinally a contraction to zero, for a possibly larger N. •
Remark. This is the N in Theorem 1.3.
Proof. [Proof of Theorem 1.3] Any h„ as in Theorem 1.3 is a product
of 7 G r # such that neither 7 nor 7 - 1 is germinally a contraction to 0 and
the Theorem follows. •
By Section 2, we have also established Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.4.
Proposition 7.16 The handle H, curve a, and contraction f = ha do not
depend on choice of gap (a,b).
Proof. Starting with a different gap (a*,b*) of (0,e) \ F, we have the
same set of contractions {go,gi, • • • ,gq} C T#. Take f = go- Repeat the
argument of this section to obtain a compactly supported cohomology class
[u* o x] and a contraction / * so that v*[/*] = 1. For 0 < i < q, there
exists a positive integer m* so that v*[gi] = m*. Therefore v*[f] = mj
so by Lemma 7.13 f{bk) = (f*)m°(°k), for all k sufficiently large, where
°k = fk(b)- Therefore v\f*\ = l/m^. Since 1 is the smallest positive
number in lm(v), it follows that m j = 1 or v*[f\ — 1- Therefore, since
fmi(bk) = gi{bk), for all k sufficiently large, it follows that v*[gi\ = mi —
v[9i\, 1 < i < q. Further, since ^[7] = 0 = v*[y] for all 7 G T# with
neither 7 nor 7 _ 1 germinally a contraction to 0 and since T# generates TL,
it follows that v* = v. Therefore H* =H,a* = a, and / * = / . •

8 Problems

Besides the problems mentioned at the end of Section 1, a number of prob-

lems related to exceptional minimal sets have remained very stubborn. As
with the problems at the end of Section 1, these are theorems for Markov
LMS's [3].
If X is a LMS, an arc transverse to the foliation can be chosen to meet
X in a Cantor set C. Fix x G C and let L be the leaf of 9" containing x.
The holonomy group of L relative to X is the group HX(L, X) of germs at
x of all holonomy maps (restricted to C) that fix x..
The following question was asked by Dippolito [6, §9].
Q u e s t i o n . Let X be an exceptional LMS and L c l a leaf. Is HX(L, X)
258 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

either trivial or infinite cyclic and generated by the germ of a contraction

that is unique in a suitable neighborhood of x in C? Do exactly a countable
infinity of leaves in X have HX(L, X) ~ Z and are all the semi-proper leaves
among these?
Remark. In this paper we have shown that a semiproper leave can not have
trivial holonomy but in a subtle sense have not proven that HX(L, X) = Z.
For x not on a semi-proper leaf there are no results.
Hector has proposed the following question [11].
Question. If X is an exceptional LMS does X have finitely many semi-
proper leaves?
Finally,
Question. If X is an exceptional LMS, does it have Lebesgue measure
|X| = 0?

9 Examples of Markov minimal sets

In this section we provide a construction of examples of arbitrary Markov

minimal sets. One method of doing this, that of "branched staircases", is
due to Takamura [12] and Inaba [9]. We present a different method.

9.1 Constructing the plug

The first step in our construction is to construct a plug (P, 3") where dP
consists of two tranverse boundary tori a and p and 7 meets a and p in
circles. Further a = <7iU<T2UUcr3Ucr4 and p = piUp2UpzL)p4 in such away
that a part of P is foliated with a product foliation meeting dP in <j\ U p\,
another part of P is foliated by a product foliation meeting dP in (73, and
another part of P is foliated by a product foliation meeting dP in p^.
Let Ni = T x [0,2] where T is the 2-torus. Foliate T x [1,2] with the
product foliation and T x (0,1) by cylinders spiralling in on the compact
leaves T x {0} and T x {1} with logitudes as junctures to obtain a foliation
J i of Ni.
Thus one can drill out a wormhole X transverse to ? i from T x {0} to
T x {2} and wormholes Y and Z transverse to 7\ with Y and Z in T x (0,1)
parallel to meridians of T x {0}. Spin the foliation 3\ at dY and dZ to
make dY and dZ tangential boundary. Choose the direction of spin so that
it is possible to drill out wormholes W and U transverse to ? i with W from
T x {2} to dZ and U from dY to T x {0} (see Figure 4). One obtains a
foliated manifold (N2, S^). Let H be a punctured torus and foliate H x [0,1]
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 259

Figure 4. Constructing the plug

with the product foliation. Obtain a foliated manifold {N^^s) by pasting

H x {0} to the once punctured dY and H x {1} to the once punctured dZ.
Obtain a foliated manifold (iV^S^) by pasting the (now) twice punc-
tured T x {0} to the (now) twice punctured T x {2} so that one end of W
is matched to one end of U and one end of X is matched to the other end
of X. The foliated manifold (N&, $4) has boundary consisting of two trans-
verse tori a and r foliated by circles. The portion of (N4, $4) coming from
the (now) twice punctured T x [1,2] is foliated by the product foliation.
Denote the portions of a and r meeting this part of (N4, J4) by o\ and T\.
Denote the portion of a meeting H x [0,1] by (73. Then a = a\ U ai U (73 U a4
where dW = ai U <T2 and dU = a4.
Finally obtain the foliated plug (P, 3") by taking two copies of the foli-
ated manifold of the previous paragraph (^4,^4) and (A^,!?^) and pasting
T to T' SO that T\ is pasted to T[ . For the sake of notation we rename the
second boundary component of P by p where p = p\ U pi U /^ U P4 with
Pi = CT'II PI — &2> Pi = CT3) a n f i Pi = 04- The foliated manifold (P, J )
satisfies the properties of the first paragraph of this subsection.
260 J. CANTWELL AND L. CONLON

9.2 The construction

Suppose a Markov pseudogroup is given as on page 167 of [3] and use the
m
notation of [3]. Since we can assume W — \\(R(hi)UD(hi)) is contained in

a compact subset of K, we may assume it is contained in the circle Sl. For

1 < i < m, let Ai - S1 \ D(hi) and Bi = S1 x R(hi). Let S be the surface
obtained by removing 2m discs from the two-sphere S2. Then dS consists
of the 2m circles Cu... ,Cm, C[,... ,C'm. Let ( P i . S i ) , . . . ,{Pm,7m) be
m copies of the foliated plug constructed in Subsection 9.1. Let S2 x S1
be foliated by the product foliation. Construct a foliated manifold (M, 5")
with a Markov minimal set X as in [3] as follows. For 1 < i < m, paste the
plug (Pi, fi) into S x S1 by pasting <r* to C, x 5 1 and p* to C[ x 5 1 so that
a\ is pasted to Ci x Xit a\ is pasted to C; x ^4i; pj is pasted to C[ x /»,
and p\ is pasted to C[ x Bi.
Thus, for 1 < i < m, hi maps Xi onto h. Further, since 173 is pasted to
(^i X Ai,

XZD \J Ij, and At D |J /j

Ulp«=i} {j|p«=o}
and p\ is pasted to C,' x Bi and

it follows that pasting in the plug Pi creates no additional holonomy on ZQ

than hi and h^1. Thus r : ZQ —> Zo generates the holonomy of T|Zo and
X is a Markov minimal set.

References

1. A. Candel and L. Conlon, Foliations I, Amer. Math. Soc, Providence,

RI, 1999.
2. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Poincare-Bendixson theory for leaves of
codimension one, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 265 (1981), 181-209.
3. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Foliations and subshifts, Tohoku Math.
Jour., 40 (1988), 165-187.
4. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Leaves of Markov local minimal sets in
foliations of codimension one, Publicacions Matematiques, 33 (1989),
461-484.
5. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Generic Leaves, Comment. Math. Helv.,
73 (1998), 306-336.
 ENDSETS OF EXCEPTIONAL LEAVES 261

6. P. Dippolito, Codimension one foliations of closed manifolds, Ann. of

Math., 107 (1978), 403-453.
7. E. Ghys, Topologie des feuilles generiques, Ann. of Math., 141 (1995),
387-422.
8. G. Hector and U. Hirsch, Introduction to the Geometry of Foliations,
Part B, Vieweg and Sohn, Braunschweig, 1983.
9. T. Inaba, Examples of Exceptional Minimal Sets, in A Fete of Topol-
ogy; Papers Dedicated to I. Tamura, ed. Y. Matsumoto and T. Mizu-
tani and S. Morita, Academic Press, 1988, 95-100.
10. R. Sacksteder, Foliations and pseudogroups, Amer. J. Math., 87
(1965), 79-102.
11. P. Schweitzer, Some problems in foliation theory and related areas, in
Lecture Notes in Math., 652, Springer-Verlag, 1978, 240-252.
12. M. Takamura,, Reeb stability for leaves with uncountable endset (in
Japanese), Master Thesis, Hokkaido Univ. 1984.

Received October 24, 2000, revised December 29, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
pTOCQCdiiTlQS of
FOLIATIONS: G E O M E T R Y AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawet W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 263-273

S O M E R E M A R K S O N PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC
FOLIATIONS

MARIUSZ FRYDRYCH
Wydzial Matematyki Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego,
ul. Banacha 22, 90-238 Lodz, Poland,
e-mail: [email protected]

JERZY KALINA
Instytut Matematyki Politechniki Lodzkiej,
Al. Politechniki 11, 93-590 Lodz, Poland,
e-mail: [email protected]

The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of Nijenhuis tensor on the sub-
module of sections of the normal bundle to the foliation endowed with the complex
structure and its relationship to the formal integrability of canonically associated
subbundle of complexified tangent bundle of the given foliated manifold.

1 Linear algebraic background

Linear algebraic background introduced in this section will be applied to

the the tangent spaces of manifolds in the next parts of this paper.
A complex structure on a real vector space V is a linear endomorphism
J such that J 2 = — 1. The real space V may be considered as a complex
vector space by the formula (a + ib)v = av + bJv, a, b G K, v G V.
Proposition 1.1 Let V be a real vector space. There exist canonical cor-
respondences between the following objects:

(i) complex structures J on V

(ii) idempotents r : V®^<C —* V<8>IRC (i.e. r 2 = T) such that or + ra = a,
where a : V®]&C —> V<g)itC is a natural conjugation in the complexifi-
cation of V
(iii) complex subspaces W C V®IRC such that V<8>IRC = W © W.

263
264 M. FRYDRYCH AND J. KALINA

Proof. Assume (i). Let r = | ( 1 - iJc), where Jc = J ®R 1 denotes the

complexification of the real operator J. Immediately we get that r 2 — r,
and
1 1 1 1

which proves (ii). We have used the fact that endomorphism acting on
V<8)RC is complexification of an endomorphism on V if and only if it com-
mutes with a. Assuming (ii) put W = imager Then W = crW. We check
that
W C\W = image r n image(crr) = image r n image(er — ra)
= imager n image(l — r)a = imager n image(l — r)
= imager n kerr = 0.
From the assumption it follows the identity r + OTO = 1 which together
with the above gives desired decomposition W © W = V(8>RC which proves
(iii). Assume (ii). Let J = i(2r — 1). We easily check that
J 2 = i 2 (4r 2 - 4r + 1) = - ( 4 r - 4r + 1) = - 1 .
Moreover,
aJ = cri(2r - 1) = -i<r(2r - 1) - i{2(-ra + a) - a)
= -i(2(-r + 1) - l)o" = i(2r - l)a = Jcr.
From the above we see that J = J <8>R 1 for a unique complex structure
J : V —» V which proves (i). Assume (iii). Let r be a projection onto W
along W. From this we get that 1 — r is a projection onto W along W so
1 — r = OTO which ends the proof. •
Note that the projection r restricted to the V ® R 1 determines a C-linear
isomorphism from complex space (V, J) to W. Similarly, the projection
(1 — T)\V <8>R 1 is a C-isomorphism from (V, —J) to W.

2 Bundle structures and Bott connection

Throughout the paper M denotes an n dimensional manifold (real or com-

plex) and T a foliation of M by submanifolds (real or complex) of dimension
p and codimension q = n- p. If M is a complex manifold foliated by com-
plex submanifolds, such a foliation will be called tangentially holomorphic
to emphasis the holomorphic nature of its leaves. All objects in this paper
are assumed to be of class C°°, except where explicitly stated otherwise.
In a local computations the little Greek letters range between 1 and p and
 S O M E REMARKS ON PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC FOLIATIONS 265

Roman letters between 1 and q. Except where explicitly stated otherwise

the Einstein summation conventions will be in force.
For a given foliation T of M, let TT denote the tangent bundle along
the leaves. Then we have the short exact sequence
0-^TT->TM -> TM/TT -* 0. (1)
For shortness we will denote the normal bundle TM/TT by vT and the
projection by TM -^-> vT. The exactness of the sequence 1 is equivalent
to the exactness of the sequence of the dual vector bundles
0 -> v*T -> T*M -> T*T -* 0. (2)
Note the vector bundle v*T can be naturally identified with the annihilator
of the the tangent bundle of T.
Definition 2.1 We call a bundle mapping h: vT —> TM the splitting of
the exact sequence 1 if irh = 1.
The bundle % = image(fo) which is complementary to the vertical bun-
dle TT in TM, is called horizontal.
Given a splitting of the sequence (1), any vector Y € TM decomposes
into Y = Yh +YV where Yh € image(/i) and Yv e TT.
Let (U, ip) be a distinguished chart for T with local coordinates (xa,yi).
Consider the horizontal parts Yj = {-^j)h of vectors -^-j. The vectors
Yi,..., Yq form a basis of the horizontal subspace H. Since g§? form a local
basis of TT, thus {-^JJ)V = A"(a;, y)gf^ for some smooth functions A"(a;, y),
therefore we have Yj = ^-j — A"(x,y)gfs-. The local basis {-^s,Yj) will
be called Tl-adapted, associated to the distinguished chart (U,ip). It is
straightforward that (£ a , dyj) is the dual basis when £a = dxa+X'j(x, y)dyj.
Now, if we demand, that the horizontal bundle Ti is integrable (involutive),
we obtain equations
d£,a e ideal ( £ \ . . . , £ p )
which are equivalent to the system of first order P.D.E. on functions A"(x, y)
Yj\%-Yk\<*=0, j,k = l,...,q; a=l,...,p

where
j,k = l,...,q; a = l,...,p.
266 M. FRYDRYCH AND J. KALINA

Definition 2.2 Let T be a foliation on M. A vector field X on M is called

a foliated vector field (an infinitesimal automorphism of J-) if the local flow
associated to X preserves the foliation.
We have the well known fact
Proposition 2.3 Let Y be a vector field on the foliated manifold (M,^).
The following conditions are equivalent:

(i) Y is foliated
(ii) [Y,X] € T(TF) for all X £ T(TT)
(Hi) In every distinguished chart with the coordinates (x0,?/-7), Y has the
form,

Let us recall [4] that a linear connection V in a vector bundle E —> M

is a linear homomorphism
V :T(E) ^r(T*M®£)
such that
V / u = d/<g>u + / V u , for / e C°°(M), u e T(E).
As usual we define V x : T(E) -> T(E) for X e T(TM) by V x u =
(V«)(X).
The curvature R of a connection V is the skew-symmetric map
R: Y{TM) x Y{TM) -^ T(End(jE;))
such that
R-XY = [ V x , Vy] - V[x,y]
for any X,Y eT(TM).
In the case of the foliated manifold there a is natural partial connection
Definition 2.4 ([1]) For any foliation J7 on M there exists a linear partial
flat connection

V: r > J O -^>T(T*F®vT)
in a normal bundle vT given by

S7xu = 7r[X,Y]
for X e r(7\F), u e T{vF) and any Y € T{TM), such that TT(Y) = u.
 S O M E REMARKS ON PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC FOLIATIONS 267

From the Jacobi's identity it follows that this partial connection is flat
i.e. RXlX2 = 0, for XUX2 e T(TF).
Let C^? be the sheaf of germs of functions which are locally constant
along the leaves of T.
o
In the usual way we can define the sheaf Y{yT} of germs of local sections
of the normal bundle vT which are covariantly constant with respect to the
o
partial Bott connection. It is evident that V(yT~) forms a sheaf of modules
over the sheaf C^p of rings.
o
Proposition 2.5 Every lift in T(TM) of any section Y{vT) is a foliated
vector field .
o
Proof. Take a local section u e ^{vT) in a neighbourhood of m € M.
Let (U, ip) be a distinguished chart around m. Let Y be any lift of u over
U. Thus in that chart Y = aa(x, y)-^s + W{x, y)-£jr- Therefore we have,
d , dbj{x,y) d
0 = V.
dx^' dxP '' dyj

Since 'K(-^T), • •., TT(g^-) form a local basis of u!F\U, the coefficients Q^P
= 0 which proves that the vector field Y is foliated.
We say that the normal bundle vT is complex if it is endowed with
a bundle endomorphism J : v —> v which is a complex structure over the
fibres. Suppose that V J = 0 i.e. V x J u = J ( V x w ) for all X £ TT
and u e T(v!F). Such a connection will be called C-linear. Assuming vT
is complex, we introduce the concept of the Nijenhuis tensor J\f on the
o

sections of the sheaf Y(yT) as a skew-symmetric C^ linear mapping

TV : A 2 f (vF) —* T(vT).
Let u, v be arbitrary germs of sections of r(^jF) at a point. Choose any
lifts u, v, Ju, Jv of u, v, Ju, Jv respectively. Define

Af(u, v) = Jn ( Ju, v u, Jv ) — i" ( Ju,Jv\ - [u,v\J

Since we assumed C-linearity of the partial Bott connection (V J = 0)

o o
we see that for every u € I ^ I A F ) it follows that Ju e T^J7). Using the
above proposition, it is easy to see that the definition of TV doesn't depend
of the choice of the lifts.
268 M. FRYDRYCH AND J. KALINA

Definition 2.6 We say that a complex structure J on the normal bundle

o
vT is integrable if V J = 0 and N = 0.
Let (yT, J) be a complex normal bundle as above. Consider the com-
plexification of exact sequence 1

0 -» TJC-(g)RC -> TM<g>KC ^ i VT®WL<C -» 0.

According to Proposition 1.1 in Section 1 we get the following decomposi-

tion of the bundle:
vF®w!C = W © W.
Denote by V the subbundle of TM® R C defined by the formula
V= (7r®l) _ 1 (W).
It is easy to check that V = ker 7r where
fr: TM®RC —> vT
is given by
7r(u <g> 1 + v <g) i) = 7r(u) — J(7r(v)).
Note that % is the composition of 7r <g) 1 with the projection vT^ufC onto
the antiholomorphic subspace W in I/^IEIRC, which is identified with the
complex bundle {yT, —J)-
For the vector bundle V given by the above construction we have the
following
Proposition 2.7 Let J be a complex structure of vT. The subbundle V is
formally integrable (i.e. [r(V), T(V)] C r(V)^ if and only if J is integrable.
Proof. For shortness we will denote any vector in complexification u <g>
1 + v ® i by u + iv. Suppose that u + iv € V. We get
(7r (8) l)(u + iv) = 7r(u) + in(v) e W — ker(l -I- iJ).
This means that u + iv £ V if and only if 7r(u) = — J(n(u)). Let us now
consider to local sections Yi, Yb of the subbundle V. From the above we
obtain the following equations
n(vk) = -J(n(uk)), k = l,2, (3)
where Yk = uk + ivk, forfc= 1,2. Calculating the complexified Lie bracket
of the fields Y\, Y?, we get
[Yi,Y2] = ([ui,u2] - [vi,v2]) +i([ui,v2] + [vi,u2]).
 S O M E REMARKS ON PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC FOLIATIONS 269

T h u s [Yi,y 2 ] € T(V) means t h a t

n([ui,v2] + [vi,u2]) = - J ( 7 r ( [ u i , u 2 ] - [vi,v2])) • (4)

If u\ e T(TJ-), we can choose Y\ = u\ (v\ = 0) and we get

7T ({UI,V2}) = - J (7r {[UI,U2])) ,

which means t h a t

V Ul 7r(r; 2 ) = V U l ( - J ( 7 r ( « 2 ) ) ) = - J ( v u i 7 r ( u 2 ) ) .

o
This proves t h a t V J = 0.
o . o
Let H , t e r(i/.F) and u\ = J u , u 2 = Jv, v\ = u, v2 = u. Since V J = 0,
we see t h a t u i + ivi,u2 + iv2 G r ( V ) , so substituting t h e m into (4) we get
Af(u, v) = 0 which proves the necessity.
To prove the sufficiency, let (U, </>) be a distinguished chart for T with
local coordinates (xa,yi). T h e local sections ^(-^jj),j — 1,...,<? form a
l
local basis of vT'. Let further, J k(x, y), k,l — l,...,q, be the m a t r i x com-
o
ponents of J with respect to the above basis. By the assumption, V J = 0
we infer t h a t gfs-•/£(£, y) = 0, a = l , . . . , p , which means t h a t Jlk(x,y),
k,l = 1 , . . .,q don't depend on leaf coordinates. It is easy to see t h a t t h e
vector fields gf^, gf? ~ iJj(y)w^> a = 1,. . .,p, j = I,.. .,q, form a set of
generators of V(V\U). To prove the formal integrability of V it is enough
to check t h a t space spanned over the last q fields is closed under the Lie
bracket, which is equivalent to the vanishing of the Nijenhuis tensor. This
ends t h e proof. •
From t h a t proof we can see t h a t our foliation is given by the local sub-
mersions on pieces of complex manifolds in such a manner t h a t the transi-
tion diffeomorphisms are biholomorphisms, which means t h a t our foliation
is transversely holomorphic.
Conversely, if a foliation is transversely holomorphic then the normal
bundle is canonically endowed with the integrable complex structure and,
by Proposition 2.7, t h e bundle V is formally integrable. We summarize t h e
above conclusion as
C o r o l l a r y 2.8 The subbundle V is formally integrable if and only if T is
transversely holomorphic.
Remark. In t h e dual description we consider the annihilator

Q = V± C T*M®RC
270 M. FRYDRYCH AND J. KALINA

of the " antiholomorphic" bundle V, which satisfies the conditions

Q © Q = T ^ X ® R C C T*M®RC,

dT{Q) c ideal (T (Q ®Q)).

It is straightforward, that formal integrability of V is equivalent to
dT(Q) c ideal(r(Q)).

3 Formal integrability and main results

Using Proposition 2.7 from the previous section we are able to prove the
following theorems.
Theorem A Let M be a complex manifold of dimension m and T a
smooth foliation of M by complex submanifolds of dimension p. Let further
T M ® K C = U ®V and TT®n.C = F © F , F c U be the decompositions in
the sense of Proposition 1.1. For the subbundle V = U © F the following
conditions are equivalent:
(i) [r(v),r(v)]cr(n
(ii) T is holomorphic,
(iii) Bott connection is C linear.

Proof. Let i/T®w>C = W ®W be the decomposition of the complexified

normal bundle of (yT', J ) , where J denotes the induced complex structure
on the quotient bundle vT. Now we prove that
V = (ir®l)-1(W) = U®F
so that we can apply Proposition 2.7.
Let Z = X + iY e (TT <8> 1 ) - 1 ( W ) . where X,Y e TM, Z e TM® R C.
Therefore n(X) + iir(Y) £ W which means that
7r(Y) = - J T T ( X ) . (*)

Decompose Z in the following manner:

(X + JY .TX + JY\ , fX-JY ] .TX-JY\ _ 7

We observe that Z\ G U and Zi G U but, by (*), ir(Z2) = 0 and we conclude

that Z2 G F which implies that Z G U © F. Thus we get the inclusion
(TT<8>1)- 1 (W) CU®F.
 SOME REMARKS ON PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC FOLIATIONS 271

To prove the opposite inclusion, note that (ir<S>l)(F) = {0} C W and

(TT <g> 1)(U) C W since (TT <g> 1)(X - UX) = ir(X) - iJw(X) e W, where
X e T M . By Proposition 2.7 and the above considerations we get the
equivalence between (i) and (iii). The equivalence (i) with (ii) is given by
the following lemma. •
Lemma 3.1 A tangentially holomorphic foliation T on a complex man-
ifold M (i.e. such that leaves of T are complex submanifolds of M) is
holomorphic if and only if it is transversally holomorphic.
Proof If a foliation T on the complex manifold is holomorphic then it
is in particular tangentially and transversally holomorphic. Now suppose
that T is tangentially and transversally holomorphic. Let m 6 M be an
arbitrary point in M, and
([/,</»), 4>=(w,z), w=(w\...,wp), z = (z1,...,z"),
be a complex chart on M around a point m, such that complex submanifolds
{(w, z) £ U; w = const} are transverse to the given foliation T\U. Because
the foliation T is tangentially holomorphic, we can define complex Informs
of type (1,0)

(i =dzi+\(w,zyadwa, j = l,...,q
such that

g=F ± =span{C 1 ,...,C 9 }

for some complex functions
\i€C°°(U,C), a = l,...,p; j = l,...,q
(see the Theorem A and Remark ). It is evident that

(dw\... ,dwP, C\...,C9, dw\...,duP, C\... , f )

is a frame of T*M(g)RC|J/. Now, the fact that foliation T is transversely

holomorphic implies that
d< J 'e ideal ( C V . - . C ) , j = l,...,q.
A simple computation shows that
272 M. FRYDRYCH AND J. KALINA

ice1,-
so dC,3 S ideal ,(q) implies

= 0,
dzl
and
Ti dK dK
dw0
which means that functions

A (z, w)i, j = l,- • • , q ; = 1 , . . . ,p,

are holomorphic. It follows that the annihilator T(Q) is generated by holo-
morphic 1-forms £•?', j = 1 , . . . ,q. Now the classical complex version of
Frobenius theorem ends the proof. •
Finally, we are in a position to prove the following.
Theorem B Let M be a real manifold and V a subbundle of T M 0 i C
such that V + V and V n V are formally integrable subbundles. Then there
exists on M a flag of foliations (W, J-) and a canonical complex structure
on THjTT, where TH®RC = V + V, Tf®RC = V r\V. Moreover, this
complex structure is integrable if and only if V is formally integrable, which
means that the foliation T is transversely holomorphic in Ji.
Proof. Since V + V and V n V are invariant under complex conjugation,
there exist distributions H and F in TM such that V + V = H®^ and
VtlV = F®uC Standard algebraic observations give a sequence of natural
isomorphisms

H „ #<8>RC V + V V V

F " F®RC vnv Vnv Vnv

Proposition 1.1 in Section 1 gives a complex structure J on the quotient
bundle H/F. Because of the formal integrability of V + V and V (~) V
the distributions H and F are involutive, so actually determine the flag of
foliations (H,!F). Theorem A gives us the last part of the statement. •
We can regard Proposition 2.7 as a geometrical version of the classical
Nirenberg theorem ([2], [3]).

References

1. R. Bott, Lectures on characteristic classes and foliations, in Lecture

Notes in Math. 279, Springer Verlag, 1972, 1-94.
 S O M E REMARKS ON PARTIALLY HOLOMORPHIC FOLIATIONS 273

2. T. Duchamp and M. Kalka, Invariance of tangentially holomorphic

foliations and Monge-Ampere equation, Mich. Math. J., 35, (1988),
91-115.
3. L. Nirenberg, A complex Frobenius theorem, in Seminars on analytic
functions, I, Princeton, 1957, 172-189.
4. R.O. Wells, Differential analysis on complex manifolds, Springer Ver-
lag, 1980.

Received December 18, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawet WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 275-295

FOLIATIONS A N D COMPACTLY G E N E R A T E D
PSEUDOGROUPS

ANDRE HAEFLIGER
Section de mathematiques, 2-4 Rue du Lievre, Geneve, Switzerland,
e-mail: [email protected]. ch

The holonomy pseudogroup of a foliation on a compact manifold satisfies a condi-

tion called "compact generation". Most properties enjoyed by the holonomy pseu-
dogroup of a foliation on compact manifolds are also valid for compactly generated
pseudogroups. In this talk we illustrate this principle by proving that a compactly
generated pseudogroup of holomorphic transformations of a one-dimensional com-
plex manifold has a finite number of closed orbits, unless all the orbits are closed,
a property proved for transversely holomorphic foliations of codimension one on
compact manifolds by M. Brunella and M. Nicolau [3].

It is well known that the dynamic properties of a foliation T on a mani-

fold M are encoded in (the equivalence class) of its holonomy pseudogroup.
Therefore it is natural to prove let say a theorem A in foliation theory, whose
hypothesis and conclusion can be read on the holonomy pseudogroup, by
proving first a theorem A' about pseudogroups satisfying suitable condi-
tions reflecting the hypothesis of Theorem A, and then deduce Theorem A
from Theorem A' (this is usually easy).
As an example, Epstein, Millet and Tischler [5] proved that for a folia-
tion T on a manifold M with a countable basis, the subset of M which is
the union of leaves with trivial holonomy is a G& dense set (Theorem A).
The hypothesis that M has a countable basis implies easily that the holon-
omy pseudogroup TioiT with respect to a complete transversal T contains
an open set To with countable basis meeting all the orbits and such that
the restriction of Ti to T> is countably generated. For such a pseudogroup
Ji it is immediate that the set of orbits with trivial isotropy groups is a G$
dense set (Theorem A'). In turn, this implies immediately Theorem A.
Sometimes the hypothesis of Theorem A involve conditions on the fun-
damental group or on the cohomology of M. This implies conditions on

275
276 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

the fundamental group or the cohomology of the holonomy pseudogroup H.

of T. The notions of homotopy or cohomology for pseudogroups, or more
generally for etale groupoids, have been introduced in Haefliger [11] and
[12]; it is imperative that those notions depend only on the equivalence
class of the pseudogroup.
The holonomy pseudogroup of a foliation on a compact manifold satisfies
a certain finiteness condition, called compact generation, which should be
the hypothesis corresponding to the compactness of M in Theorem A'.
In this talk we first recall the precise definitions of equivalence classes
of pseudogroups and of compactly generated pseudogroups.
In the second part we illustrate the above considerations in a particular
case. Namely we first state a recent result of Brunella and Nicolau [3] about
transversely holomorphic foliations of codimension one on compact mani-
folds and give the proof of this Theorem A. Then we state a corresponding
Theorem A' concerning compactly generated pseudogroups of holomorphic
transformations of a one-dimensional complex manifold. The translation
of the proof of theorem A uses the notion of Cech cohomology for etale
groupoids and we prove a finiteness theorem in 2.5 which is also at the
heart of the proof of Theorem A.
In the third section, we consider another etale groupoid attached to a
foliation on a manifold M, its fundamental groupoid [1] (whose elements are
the homotopy classes of paths in the leaves joining two points of a totally
transversal submanifold). We exhibit a presentation for this groupoid and
introduce the notion of compact presentation, reflecting conditions imposed
on the fundamental groupoid by the compactness of the manifold M.
The author thanks the referee for a constructive remark concerning the
growth type of orbits.

1 Compactly generated pseudogroups

1.1 Pseudogroups and their equivalences

A pseudogroup of transformations {H, T) (or simply H) of a topological
space T is a collection TC of homeomorphisms from open subsets of T to
open subsets of T such that:

1) if h,h' £ 7i, then the composition0, hh' and the inverse h~l belong
to 7i,
a
T h e composition hh' of the homeomorphism h : U —> V with the homeomorphism
h' :U' -> V is the homeomorphism h'~1(Ur\V) -> h(Ur\V) denned by x <-> h(h'(x)).
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 277

2) t h e identity m a p of T belongs to H,
3) if a homeomorphism from an open set of T to an open set of T is locally
in H, then it is in H.
If T is a differentiable or a Riemannian manifold, then H is called a
pseudogroup of differentiable or isometric transformations if all its elements
are differentiable or are Riemannian isometries.
T h e restriction of H to an open subset To of T is the set of elements of
H with source (or domain) and target (or range) in To.
T h e orbit H.x of a point x 6 T is the set of t h e images of x under
the elements of H. T h e space of orbits, with the quotient topology, is
noted H\T.
For x e T , the isotropy group Hx is the group of germs at x of the
elements h e H such t h a t h{x) = x.
Two pseudogroups (Ho, To) and (Hi,T\) are equivalent if there is a
pseudogroup (H,T) and homeomorphisms fi from T, onto open sets T[
of T , i = 0 , 1 , such t h a t
1) T'i meets all the orbits of W,
2) fi induces an isomorphism from Hi onto the restriction H\T' of H to T[.
If Hi and H are pseudogroups of differentiable transformations, then
Ho is differentiably equivalent to H\ if /o and f\ are diffeomorphisms.
Remarks. Let (Ho, To) and (Hi,T\) be two equivalent pseudogroups. Then
the spaces Ho\To and H\\Ti are homeomorphic.
If T 0 carries an 'Ho-invariant measure finite on compact subsets, t h e n
there is a corresponding Hi-invariant measure on T\.
Examples.
1) Let To be an open subset of T meeting all the orbits of H. T h e n the
restriction of H to T 0 is equivalent to H.
2) Let T 0 be t h e real line R and Ti be the circle R / Z . T h e pseudogroup of
transformations Ho of R generated by the translation x >—> x+1 is equivalent
to t h e pseudogroup of transformations Hi of R / Z generated by the identity
m a p . To see this, consider t h e pseudogroup H of transformations of the
union T of T 0 = R and Ti = R / Z generated by the integral translations of
R and the restrictions of the projection R —> R / Z t o small open sets of R.
T h e n a t u r a l inclusions fi of Ti in T induce isomorphisms from Hi to H\T{ •

1.2 The holonomy pseudogroup of a foliation

A foliation T of codimension q on a manifold M can be given by a foliated

cocycle over an open cover U = (Ui)iEi, namely submersions pi from Ui
278 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

onto open subsets Tj of Rq, with connected fibers, satisfying the following
Compatibility condition: for every x £ C/j n Uj, there is an open neighbour-
hood U*j C Ui D Uj of x and a homeomorphism hfj from Pj(U^) to p»(C/y)
such that pi = pj o /i?. on C/g.
Note that hfj is uniquely denned and that for y £ t/£, we have h^ = /i^-
(see the remark below). The leaves of T are the connected components of M
endowed with the topology having as a basis of open subsets the intersection
of the fibers of the pi with the open subsets of M.
A foliated cocycle {p'k}keK over another open cover W — {U'k}keK
defines the same foliation T if the above compatibility condition is satisfied
for the union of the two foliated cocycles.
Let T be the disjoint union of the open sets T,; to simplify the notations
we identify Tt with the corresponding open set of T. The holonomy pseu-
dogroup of J- (with respect to the foliated cocycle {pi} ) is the pseudogroup
of transformations (H, T) of T generated by the elements h*j.
The holonomy pseudogroup of T associated to another compatible co-
cycle is equivalent to (TC,T). Therefore the holonomy pseudogroup of T
is well defined only up to equivalence. By "the" holonomy pseudogroup
of J7, we mean any pseudogroup equivalent to the holonomy pseudogroup
associated to a foliated cocycle defining T.
Note that if M is a differentiable manifold of class Cr and if the sub-
mersions Pi are of class Cr, the elements of the holonomy pseudogroup of
T are differentiable of class Cr.
Remark. It is well known that one can construct a foliated cocycle defining
T such that the fibers of the submersions p, (called the plaques) are con-
nected, that one plaque in Ui intersects at most one plaque in Uj and that
the intersection of any two plaques is connected if it is non empty. In that
case there is a unique homeomorphism hij : Pj(Ui C\Uj) —> Pi(Ui D Uj) such
that pi = h^ opj on Ui n Uj. The holonomy pseudogroup of T is generated
by the h^.
There is a bijective natural correspondence between leaves of T and
orbits of H, holonomy group of a leaf and isotropy subgroup of the corre-
sponding orbit, closed minimal subsets of M saturated by leaves and closed
minimal sets of T invariant by H, etc... There is a natural homeomorphism
from the space of leaves to the space of orbits H\T.
As the holonomy pseudogroup of a foliation is defined only up to equiv-
alence, we shall respect the following rule.
General Principle. We shall consider only notions or properties of a
pseudogroup (H,T) which depend only on its equivalence class.
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 279

1.3 Compact generation

Definition. A pseudogroup (H, T) is compactly generated if

a) T is locally compact and contains a relatively compact open subset To

meeting all the orbits of H,
b) there is a finite set S — {si,... , Sk} of elements of Ji generating TL\Ta\
moreover each si : Vi —> W* is the restriction of an element s, e H
whose domain Vi contains the closure of V,.

Remarks. 1) By adding to S a finite number of elements, we can assume that

S is closed under inverses, contains the identity of To and that the union T
of the open sets s,(V; f~l To) contains To. It follows that the restrictions of
the gi to T generate H,f.
2) In the definition above, it is understood that T is Hausdorff. If T is
locally compact but not Hausdorff, one can find an equivalent pseudogroup
(H',T'), where T" is Hausdorff, for instance the disjoint union of open
Hausdorff subsets of T covering T.
According to the above general principle, we have to check that compact
generation depends only on the equivalence class of (H,T). This follows
from the following more precise property.
Lemma. Let (Ti, T) be a compactly generated pseudogroup as in the def-
inition above. Let TQ C T be a relatively compact open subset meeting all
the orbits. Then TL\T' satisfies the condition b) above.
Proof. We can assume that the set 5 of generators of ~H\T0 is closed
under inverses and contains the identity map of To. As TQ is relatively
compact and TQ meets each orbit, one can find a finite set K of elements
of H whose domains form an open cover of To, whose ranges are contained
in TQ, each element k : V —> W of K being the restriction of an element
k e TL defined on a neighbourhood of V. Interchanging the role of To and
TQ, one find a finite set K' of elements of H verifying similar conditions. •
It is easy to see that the finite set S' of homeomorphisms of the form
ksk', (fcsfc')-1, k2sk^1, where s 6 S,k,ki,k2 € K,k' € K', generates Hyr^-
Examples.
1) The holonomy pseudogroup of a foliation on a closed manifold M is
compactly generated. To see this, choose a foliated cycle {pi : Ui —> Tj}i e /
defined over a finite cover of M and choose for each i £ / an open set U®
whose closure is contained in Ui , such that the fibers of the restriction of
Pi to U° are connected, and such that the U° form an open cover of M.
Then the disjoint union To of the Pi{U°) is a relatively compact open set
280 A N D R E HAEFLIGER

in the disjoint union T of the Pi(Ui) = Ti meeting every orbit of H; the

elements h^ restricted to To generate H\T0 and one can extract from this
set a finite generating set.
The same argument holds if M is compact and if T is either transverse
or tangent to the boundary of M.
2) The pseudogroup of transformations TC of T — R generated by si : x >—>
x/2,Vx, and by S2 : x H-> —X,VX ^ 0, is compactly generated. Indeed
choose T0 =] - 1,+1[; then the restrictions of si and S2 to T0 generate

3) The pseudogroup of transformations of T = [-1, +1] generated b y m

—x, Vrr ^ 0 is not compactly generated.
4) Let T be a subgroup of a simply connected Lie group G, and let H be
the pseudogroup of transformations of G generated by the elements of T
acting by left translations on G. This pseudogroup will be noted V tx G.
If G is nilpotent, then T K G is compactly generated if and only if T
is finitely generated and if T is cocompact, i.e. the quotient of G by the
closure of T is compact. In that case r tx G is equivalent to the holonomy
pseudogroup of a foliation on a closed manifold.
When G is solvable, then r K G is compactly generated if T satisfies some
arithmetic conditions. For instance, let G = Affi be the group of affine
transformations of M preserving the orientation, and let fi : Aff i —> M* be
the homomorphism associating to x >—> ax + b the number a. Then Gael
Meigniez [17] has proved the remarkable theorem that r x G is compactly
generated if and only if T is finitely generated and cocompact, and 1 is
an integral combination of elements of /u(F)n ]0,1[ and also an integral
combination of elements of /J,(T)C] ]1, oo[.
As shown by Meigniez, many of those pseudogroups are holonomy pseu-
dogroups of foliations on closed manifolds, but it is likely that it is not the
case for all of them.
In general it is very difficult to decide if T x G is compactly generated
or not when G is non-compact and semi-simple. For example the case
G = SL(2,R) is very mysterious, although many interesting compactly
generated examples with T dense in G are described in Ghys, Gomez-Mont,
Saludes [8] using arithmetic constructions.
5) Cavalier [4] has given a complete classification of equivalence classes
of compactly generated pseudogroups of holomorphic transformations of a
complex curve, preserving a non trivial meromorphic vector field.
Growth type of orbits. Let (H, T) be a pseudogroup generated by a finite
set S of elements. In general the type of the growth function of the orbit of
a point x 6 T (associating to a positive integer n the number of images of
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 281

x under composition of a t most n elements of S or their inverses) is not a n

invariant of t h e equivalence class of Ji (see Example 2) in 1.1). Nevertheless
for compactly generated pseudogroup (H,T), one can define the growth
t y p e of orbits as the t y p e of the growth function of the corresponding orbit
of H\T0 with respect to the finite generating set S satisfying the conditons
of the R e m a r k 1) following the definition of compact generation. It is easy
to see t h a t this definition does not depend on the choice of such generators
and, by the lemma, is invariant under equivalences.
T h e argument of Plante [19] shows t h a t , for a compactly generated
pseudogroup (7i,T), the existence of an orbit with subexponential growth
implies the existence of a measure on T invariant by Ti and finite on compact
subsets.

1.4 Examples of foliations theorems versus pseudogroups

1) T h e analogue of the Reeb stability theorem for compactly generated pseu-

dogroups is the following. Let (7i, T) be a compactly generated pseudogroup.
Let x € T be such that the orbit TC.x is closed and the isotropy group Tix
is finite. Then there is a neighbourhood U of T and a finite group T of
homeomorphisms of U such that the restriction of TL to U is generated by
r . Moreover the map associating to an element of T its germ at x is an
isomorphism.
We prove this theorem as an illustration of the use of the condition
of compact generation. We first observe t h a t the orbit of x is discrete
(this is true for countably generated pseudogroups). We can t h e n choose
an open relatively compact neighbourhood To of x meeting all the orbits
of H such t h a t To n Ti.x — {x}. By the usual argument, we can find an
arbitrarily small open neighbourhood U of x and a subgroup V of t h e group
of homeomorphisms of U whose elements belong to Tt and such t h a t the m a p
associating t o an element of T its germ at x is an isomorphism. Using the
lemma in 1.3, we can choose a finite generating set S of HTO, stable under
inverses, satisfying the condition b) in the definition of compact generation
and U small enough such t h a t , for g € S, either U n domain g = 0 or
U C domain g. In this last case, g has the same germ at x as an element
of r . We can assume t h a t U is small enough so t h a t those two elements
coincide on U.
Let h e Ti.\u- We claim t h a t h is locally the restriction of an element of
T. Indeed let y G domain h. By hypothesis there are elements gi, • • • ,gk
in 5 such t h a t , on a small neighbourhood of y, we have h = g\.. .gk- By
t h e conditions above, each gi is locally the restriction of an element of T.
2) It has been proved by Edwards, Millet and Sullivan [6], generalizing
282 ANDRE HABFLIGER

arguments of Epstein, that for a foliation T of codimension 2 on a compact

manifold M such that all the leaves are compact, then the leaves of T are
the fibers of a generalized Seifert bundle.
The corresponding statement for a compactly generated pseudogroup
(T~t,T) of transformations of a 2-manifold T should be the following: if all
orbits are closed, then (H, T) is the pseudogroup of change of charts of an
orbifold structure on 7i\T. (I have not checked this statement.)
3) The following theorem is proved in Haefliger [10]. Let T be a trans-
versely oriented foliation of codimension one on a connected paracompact
manifold M.
a) If the rank of the group Hom(7ri (M), Z) is finite, then the set of closed
leaves is closed.
b) If M is closed and T is real analytic, then either there is a finite number
of compact leaves, or all the leaves are compact.
The corresponding result for pseudogroups is the following. Let (7i, T) be a
countably generated pseudogroup of orientation preserving transformations
of a one -dimensional manifold T such that H\T is connected.
a') If the rank o/Hom(7Ti(7Y),Z) is finite (where ni(7i) is defined in [11],
see also [20] and [2]), then the set of closed orbits is closed.
b') If (7i, T) is compactly generated and real analytic, either there is a
finite number of closed orbits, or all orbits are closed.
This statement implies immediately the corresponding statement for fo-
liations because the fundamental group of M surjects onto the fundamental
group of Tt.

2 Pseudogroups of holomorphic transformations of a

complex curve

2.1 A theorem of Brunella and Nicolau

The proof of the following theorem of Brunella and Nicolau [3] is an adap-
tation to the case of transversely holomorphic foliations of the proof of a
theorem of Jouanoulou and Ghys on holomorphic foliations of codimension
one (with possible singularities) on a compact complex manifold. For the
real analytic case, see 3) in 1.4.
Recall that a transversely holomorphic foliation of codimension one on
a manifold M is given by a foliated cocycle {pi : [ / , — > € } such that the
transition functions h^ are holomorphic.
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 283

Theorem A. Let T be a transversely holomorphic foliation of codimension

one on a compact connected manifold M. Then either there is finite number
of compact leaves or all leaves are compact and there is a (non constant)
transversely holomorphic meromorphic function constant on the leaves.
Proof. [3] Consider the following short exact sequence of sheaves
0 -> O ^ -> f^log -> Vjr <g> C -» 0.
Here Qjr (resp. Q^-, ) is the sheaf of germs of transversely holomorphic
1-forms (resp. meromorphic 1-forms with polar singularities of order < 1)
locally constant on the leaves. Restricted to J7j, such a form is locally the
pull back by Pi of a 1-form f(z)dz where / is holomorphic (resp. mero-
morphic with poles of order < 1). The third sheaf is the sheaf of germs
of functions locally constant on the leaves with support a finite number of
plaques. The last map associates to a pole of the germ of a meromorphic
1-form its residue.
Consider the associated long exact cohomology sequence
. . . - H°(M,nJr i l o g ) - H°(M,Vr ® C) - • H\M,Q^) -» . . .
The space H°(M, fi^r iog) of sections of fl^ j is the space of transversely
meromorphic 1-forms locally constant on the leaves with polar singularities
of order at most one. The space H°(M,V^ ® C) is a vector space with
basis the compact leaves of J7.
The main point of the proof is the fact that H1(M, fi^-) is finite dimen-
sional (see Gomez-Mont [9]). Therefore if there are at least dim H1(M, Sl^)
+2 compact leaves, one can find two linearly independent transversely
meromorphic 1-forms constant on the leaves. Their quotient is a trans-
versely meromorphic non-constant function which is constant on the leaves.
Therefore all the leaves are compact. •
The corresponding theorem for pseudogroups is the following. It is clear
that it implies Theorem A.
Theorem A ' . Let (W, T) be a compactly generated pseudogroup of holomor-
phic transformations of a one-dimensional complex manifold T such that
7i\T is connected. Then either there is a finite number of closed orbits, or
all orbits are closed and there is a non-constant H-invariant meromorphic
function onT.
The rest of the section is devoted to the proof of this theorem which is
just a translation in terms of pseudogroups of the above proof of Theorem
A. This involves the definition of appropriate notions of cohomology with
value in H-sheaves on T. It is more natural to define those notions in the
framework of etale groupoids, and so we begin by recalling this notion.
284 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

2.2 Etale groupoids {G,T)

An etale groupoid (G,T) is a topological category Q with space of objects
T, such that all the arrows (morphisms of the category) are invertible and
such that the maps a : Q —> T and /3 : Q —> T associating to each arrow in
G its source (initial object) and its target (terminal object) are etale maps,
i.e. are locally homeomorphisms (see [12] and [2]). We shall often identify
T with the space of units of G-
For instance, a topological space T can be considered as an etale
groupoid with space of units T and such that every arrow is a unit. A
discrete group T can be considered as an etale groupoid with a single unit.
To an etale groupoid (G,T) is associated a pseudogroup (H,T) whose
elements are precisely the homeomorphisms from open sets U of T to open
sets of T obtained by composing a section of a above U with /3. Conversely
to each pseudogroup (7i, T) is associated an etale groupoid with space of
units T, called an etale groupoid of germs; its set of arrows is the set of
germs of elements of Ti with the usual germ topology, the projection a and
p associating to a germ its source and target. The pseudogroup associated
to it is again (7i,T). For this reason the notion of pseudogroups and the
notion of etale groupoids of germs are equivalent notions, and we shall often
use the same notation (H, T) for a pseudogroup or for its associated etale
groupoid of germs.
We now extend to etale groupoids the notion of compact generation.
Definition. An etale groupoid (G,T) is compactly generated if

a) T is Hausdorff locally compact and contains a relatively compact open

set To meeting all the (/-orbits,
b) there is an open set S c G generating the restriction G\T0 or" G t o ^o
and contained in a finite number of compact subsets 6 .

It is easy to check that a pseudogroup (H,T) is compactly generated if

and only if its associated groupoid of germs is compactly generated.
Remark. If G is Hausdorff (which is in general not the case, even if the
associated groupoid of germs is Hausdorff), then S is relatively compact
in Q.
Localization. Let U = {Ui}iei be an open cover of T. Let Tu be the
disjoint union of the L/j, i.e. the set of pairs (i,x) with x € C/j. The

We use compact in the Bourbaki sense, i.e. for us a compact space is always assumed
to be Hausdorff. In general the union of two compact subsets is compact if and only if
this union is Hausdorff.
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 285

localization (Gu,Tu) of (G,T) over U is the etale groupoid whose elements

are the triple (J,g,i) with g € G,a-{g) G Ui,f3{g) € Uj. The projections a
and /5 map (j,g,i) to (i,a(g)) and (j,(3(g)) respectively. The composition
(k,g',j)(j,g,i) whenever defined is equal to (k,gg',i).
Equivalence. Two etale groupoids (G,T) and (G',T') are equivalent if
there exist open covers U of T and W of X" such that (Gu,Tu) is isomorphic
to ( & „ ! £ , ) .
Again it is an easy exercise to check that two pseudogroups are equiva-
lent if and only if their associated etale groupoids are equivalent. Also an
etale groupoid {G,T), with T Hausdorff, equivalent to a compactly gener-
ated groupoid, is also compactly generated. The analogue of the lemma in
1.3 is valid for compactly generated etale groupoids.

2.3 G sheaves

A C/-sheaf A is a sheaf of abelian groups on T with a continuous action of

G'- for each g e G an isomorphism a — i > g.a from the stalk of A over a(g)
to the stalk over /3(g), depending continuously on g and a. The ^-sheaves
form naturally an abelian category (see Haefliger [12], Kumjian [16]).
As before we are interested only in notions invariant by equivalence. If
(G', T") is equivalent to (G, T), there is an equivalence between the category
of (/-sheaves and the category of ^'-sheaves. For instance, if U = {J7j}ie/
is an open cover of T, the corresponding Gu-she&f is the sheaf Au whose
stalk above (i,x), x € f/j, is (i,Ax). The action of (J,g,i) on (i,a) where
a € •A.a(g-) is equal to (j,g.a).

H°(G, A) will be the group of ^-invariant sections of A.

Example. Let (G, T) be an etale groupoid of germs of analytic local auto-

morphisms of a complex curve T. We can consider the short exact sequence
of 5-sheaves

o -> n 1 -> n l g -> v <g> c -• o

where Q,1 ( resp. $ljog) is the <5-sheaf of germs of holomorphic 1-forms (

resp. meromorphic 1-forms with poles of order < 1) on T, and V ® C the
sheaf of germs of complex valued functions with discrete support. The third
homomorphism in the exact sequence associates to a pole of a meromorphic
1-form its residue. The action of G is the natural action by pull-back.
286 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

2.4 Cech Cohomology

For a CJ-sheaf A, we define the cochain complex [12]

0 - c ° ( g , A ) £ c \ g , A ) ^c2(g,A)^ ...

Here C°(Q,A) is the group of sections of A and Ck{Q,A) is the group of

continuous functions c associating to a sequence g 1,... , gk of composable
elements of Q an element c(gi,... , <%) e Aprgi).
The homomorphism 5° associates to a section c of A the 1-cochain
S°c(g) = g.c(g) - c((3(g)). The homomorphism 51 : Cx{g,A) -» C2(G,A)
is defined by

&1c{gi,g2)) =9i-c(92) -c(gig2) +c(gi).

Hk(Q, A) denote the k-th cohomology group of the above cochain com-
plex. It is not invariant under equivalence. To remedy this, we pass to
a limit. If U — {Ui\i^i is an open cover of T and V = {Vj}j<zj is a
finer open cover, after choosing for each j 6 J and element r(j) £ /
such that Vj C UT^, we can define a natural map of cochain complexes
C*(Qu,Au) —> C*(Qv,Av)- As usual, one checks that the homomorphism
induced on cohomology is independent of the choice of r. So the next
definition makes sense and is clearly invariant under equivalence.
Definition. The Cech cohomology Hk(Q,A) is defined as

Hk(g,A) = \imHk(gu,Au)
where the limit is taken over the open covers U of T.
In particular H°(G,A) = H°(g,A) is the group H°(g,A) of invariant
sections of A.
Note that, when the etale groupoid is the trivial groupoid equal to its
space of units T, then our definition agrees with the usual definition of the
Cech cohomology Hk(T,A). The proof of the following facts is like their
proof in the particular case of the classical Cech cohomology.
Facts.
1) A short exact sequence 0—> A ^> B —1 C —* 0 induces an exact sequence

0 -> H\g,A) - • H°(G,B) -» H°(G,C) -> H\g,A)

1 1
^H (G,B)^H (G,Q
l
2) The natural map H (G,A) —> Hl(G,A) is always injective. If
jff^T,^) = 0, it is bijective (Leray).
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 287

We prove only the last part of 2). We want to prove that, for every
open cover U — {Ui}ieI of T, the homomorphism Hl{G,A) —> H1(Gu,Au)
is surjective.
Let z G Cl{Qu,Au) be a 1-cocycle; the value of z on {i,g,j) is of the
form (i,a(i,g,j)), where a(i,g,j) e Ap(gy The cocycle condition means
that, for composable elements (i,g,j),(j,g',k) € Qy, we have
a(i, gg', k) = g.a(j, g', k) + a(i, g,j).
We can consider a(i,lx,j) as a Cech 1-cocycle in Cl(U,A). By hy-
pothesis it is a coboundary (because Hl{U,A) —> H1(T,A) = 0 is infec-
tive). Therefore for each i € / , there is a section li of A above Ui such
that, for x £ Ui n Uj, we have a(i,lx,j) — U(x) — lj{x). The 1-cocycle
z
i(h9d)) = (ha{i,g,j)) - h{P(g)) + lj(a{g))) is cohomologous to z. For
g = lx we have Z((i,lx,j)) = 0. We claim that Z((i,g,j)) depends only
on g; this will imply that Z is the image of a 1-cocycle in Cl(Q,A). To
check the claim, we note that, if a{g) G Uj n Uj> and [3(g) £ Ui<T\ Ui>, the
cocycle condition implies
Z((i',g,j')) = Z((i',l0{g),i)) + Z((i,g,j)) + g.Z((j,la{g),j')) = Z((i,g,j)).
a
Remark. There is a natural homomorphism from H*(G,A) to H*(Q,A),
the cohomology groups defined in Haefliger [12] (isomorphic to the groups
defined in Kumjian [16] and called Grothendieck cohomology groups). Like
in the case of usual Cech cohomology for topological spaces, this homomor-
phism is bijective for * = 0,1 and injective for * = 2

2.5 A finiteness theorem

The proof of Theorem A' follows the proof of Theorem A. Using the short
exact sequence given in 2.3 and the associated cohomology exact sequence
(see 2.4), it remains to prove the following finiteness theorem applied to the
5-sheaf A = Q1.
T h e o r e m . Let [G,T) be a holomorphic compactly generated etale groupoid
and let A be the Q-sheaf of germs of holomorphic sections of a holomorphic
vector bundle overT with a (holomorphic) action ofQ. Then
dim H*(g, A) < oo for * = 0,1.

Proof. Using the facts mentioned above, the proof is the same as the
classical proof of the finiteness of the first cohomology group of a compact
288 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

complex manifold with coefficient in a locally free sheaf (see for instance
paragraph 29 and Appendix B in the book of Foster [7] and the references
therein).
After localization, we can assume that T is the disjoint union of balls in
C™. This implies that Hl{T, A) = 0. We can also assume that the vector
bundle over T is trivial.
Let To be an open relatively compact subset meeting all the orbits of Q,
and choose an open set S in Q contained in the union of a finite number of
compact subsets and generating G\T0 ( s e e the definition in 2.2).
On the vector spaces C*(Q, A) or C*(G\To, A\T0), we consider the topol-
ogy of the convergence on compact sets (they are Frechet spaces). The
subspace of cocycles Z*(Q,A) is closed.
Note that a 1-cocycle z € Z1(G^To, A\T0) is determined by its restriction
to S, because
z(9i92) = gi.z{g2) + z{gx).
We have the following commutative diagram where the horizontal arrows
are induced by the inclusion:
c°(g,A)^c°(glTo,AlTo)
i i
Z\g,A) - ^ Z\glTo,AlTo)
i I
HHG,A)^H1(glT0,AlTo)
I I
0 0
The second horizontal arrow p is a compact operator due to Montel
theorem and the remark above. The last one is an isomorphism by the
fact 2) proved in 2.4. Therefore
p®d0:c0(glTo,AlTo)®z1(g,A)^z1(glTo,AlT0)
is surjective. A theorem of Schwartz implies that 6° = {p + 6°) - p has
finite codimension, i.e H1(g,A) = Hl{{g\T0, -4|T 0 ) i s finite dimensional. •
Remarks. 1) Let T be a transversely holomorphic foliation on a manifold
M and let {H,T) be the groupoid of germs of its holonomy pseudogroup.
Consider on M the sheaf Of of germs of transversely holomorphic vector
fields on M and let 0 be the 7Y-sheaf of germs of holomorphic vector fields
on T. It follows from 3.2 below that the group Hl(Ji.,Q) is naturally
isomorphic to a subgroup of HX{M, 0 ^ ) .
2) Let (g, T) be a compactly generated holomorphic etale groupoid; this
means that T is a complex manifold and that the associated pseudogroup
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 289

(see 2.2) is made up of holomorphic transformations of T. Let 0 be the

£-sheaf of germs of holomorphic vector fields on T. One should prove the
existence of a germ of a complex space, whose Zariski tangent space is
isomorphic to the finite dimensional vector space H1(G, 6 ) , which is versal
for the germs of deformations of (G,T) in an appropriate sense [1] among
holomorphic groupoids.

2.6 Holomorphic dynamic in dimension one

Let T be a transversely holomorphic foliation on a closed manifold M.
E.Ghys, X. Gomez-Mont and J. Saludes [8] have constructed a decomposi-
tion of M in dynamically defined components analogous to the decomposi-
tion into Fatou and Julia sets for iteration of rational functions. They no-
ticed that this decomposition comes from a decomposition of the holonomy
pseudogroup of T and that their construction works for compactly gener-
ated pseudogroups of holomorphic transformations of a complex curve. We
briefly describe part of their results in this framework.
Let (H,T) be a compactly generated pseudogroup of local holomorphic
automorphisms of a complex manifold T of dimension one. The complexifi-
cation T ® C of the tangent bundle T of T splits as the direct sum T 1 ' 0 © T 0 , 1 of
two complex line bundles on which H acts through the differential. The Bel-
trami differentials are the sections of the bundle T 1 ' 0 © T 0 ' 1 . Let C(T1'0) be
the sheaf of germs of local sections a of r 1 , 0 with distributional derivatives
locally in L2 such that da is an essentially bounded measurable Beltrami
differential.
The ^-invariant sections of C(T1,0) correspond to H-invariant vector
fields a on T and the hypothesis of compact generation implies that the
local flow <j)t generated by a is H-complete. This means that, for any
x € T and s > 0, there is a partition 0 = to < ij < . . . < ifc = s, a
sequence x = Xo, • • • , Xk of points of T and elements ho,... , /ife_i of H
such that, for i = 0 , . . . , k — 1, the local flow (f>ti+1-ti(hi(xi)) is defined
and is equal to Xi+\. The set of points x of T where the section a does
not vanish is an open 7i-invariant subset U and Ti. preserves on U the
parallelism x — i > (a(x),y/^la(x)). The ^-completeness of a implies that
the restriction of Ti to U is complete in the sense of Salem [20] and one can
apply the analogue of Molino theory to the complete pseudogroup 7i\u [20].
The Julia set of Ti is by definition the closed set of points x s T such
that any ?i-invariant section of C(r 1,0 ) vanishes at x. Its complement is the
Fatou set of Ti. The Fatou set is an H-invariant open set of T and its con-
nected components are called Fatou components. For a Fatou component
U, there are three exclusive cases for the restriction Ti^u to U :
290 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

1) H\u has closed orbits; it is equivalent to the pseudogroup generated

by the identity map of the space of orbits, a compact Riemann surface
minus a finite number of points.
2) H\u is equivalent to a pseudogroup generated by a subgroup T of
the group G = C or Aff i acting by complex automorphisms on some strip
{z e C | a < 9(z) < /?}, where —oo < a < (5 < +oo and the closure of T
is one dimensional.
3) 7i\u is equivalent to the pseudogroup generated by a dense subgroup
of the Lie group G — C or Affi acting by left translations on itself (the
group Aff i has a left invariant complex structure isomorphic to the upper
halfspace).

3 The fundamental groupoid and compact presentation

3.1 The fundamental (or monodromy) groupoid of a foliation

Let T be a foliation of codimension q on a manifold M and let T be a
total transversal to JF, i.e. a submanifold of M of dimension q transverse
to the leaves and cutting every leaf. The fundamental groupoid (Q, T) of T
relative to T is the etale groupoid defined as follows [1]. The set of elements
of Q with source a point x € T and target a point y e T is non empty if
and only if x and y are in a same leaf L; it is the set of homotopy classes
in L of continuous paths c : [0,1] —> L joining y to x. Composition and
inverse in Q are induced by the corresponding operations for paths. A basis
of open sets for the topology on Q is obtained as follows. Let U be an open
subset of T and let c : U x [0,1] —> M be a continuous map such that, for
each u G U, the map cu : [0,1] —> M sending t to c(u, t) is a path in a leaf
joining u to a point of T; then the set of homotopy classes in the leaves of
the paths cu is an open set of the basis.
Let (TC,T) be the associated etale groupoid of germs (cf. 2.2). It
is equivalent to the holonomy groupoid of T and is called the holonomy
groupoid of T associated to the transversal T. The kernel of the natural
projection from Q to TC is a sheaf of groups on T. Its stalk above x € T
is the fundamental group of the holonomy covering of the leaf through x.
(The fundamental groupoid as defined above is the restriction to T of the
Lie groupoid called by several people the monodromy groupoid of J-.)
The fundamental groupoid plays the leading role in the study of germs
of deformations of foliations (cf. Bonatti-Haefliger [1]).
We now describe a presentation of the fundamental groupoid (G, T) of T.
We can always choose a foliated cocycle {pi : Ui —> Ti}i6.r for T satisfying
the properties mentionned in the remark in 1.2. Moreover we can assume
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 291

that the fibers (plaques) of each Pi are simply connected and that there is
an embedding Qj : Tj —> Ui such that piqi is the identity of Tj and such
that the qi(Ti) are disjoint. Recall that there is a unique homeomorphism
hij from Pj(U n Uj) to Pi(Ui n C/j) such that Pi(x) = hij(pj(x)) for each
x G UiPiUj. To simplify the notations, we identify Tj to its image <7i(Tj) so
that Pi can be considered as a retraction from Ui to Tj and the union T of
the Tj as a total transversal to T.
Let (G, T) be the fundamental groupoid of J- with respect to the trans-
versal T. We now describe a set S of generators gij(y) G Q for (5,T) ,
where i,j G 7 and y G pj-(C/s D Uj). The element ^(2/) is the homotopy
class of a path in the simply connected subset p~1(y) U p"1(hji(y)) of the
leaf through y from hij(y) to y.
Each element of Q can be expressed as a composition of elements of S.
For x G UitlUj C\Uk, we have the relation

9ik(Pk{x)) = gij{pj(x))gjk{pk{x)).

The set i? of all such relations is complete, i.e. two words in the elements of
S represent the same element of Q if and only one can pass from one to the
other by using the relations in R (see Higgins [15]). This follows from the
fact that the nerve of the open cover of a leaf L by the plaques contained
in it has the same 1-homotopy type as L.
For a general discussion on presentations of etale groupoids, see 3.3.

3.2 Relations with the cohomology of M

As proved in Haefiiger [13], the fundamental group of (Q, T) is isomorphic to
the fundamental group of M. In this section, we indicate a similar relation
between first cohomology groups.
Let T be a foliation on a manifold M given by a foliated cocycle Pi :
Ui —> T over an open cover U = {[/jjjg/ of M like in the preceding section
and let {Q,T) be the associated fundamental groupoid. Consider M as a
trivial etale groupoid (Ai, M) with space of units M, where Ai is the space
of germs of the identity map of M. Let {Mu,Mu) be its localization over
U. There is a continuous homomorphism p : (Mu,Mu) —> (Q,T) mapping
(i,lx,j) G Mu, where x e UiHUj, to 9ij(pj(x)) G Mu- Let A be a Q-sheai
over T; its pull back p* A is a .M^-sheaf over the disjoint union Mu of the
Ui. The stalk of p*A over (i, cr) G Mu is the group of triples (i, x, a), where
x G Ui, a e APi(x). The action of (j, lx,i) € M u on (i,x,a) is given by

(j, Is, «)•(*) x i ° ) = (i,x,gji(j>i(x)).a).

292 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

In fact this sheaf is obtained by localization over U of a sheaf Aj= on M.

The homomorphism p induces a natural homomorphism of chain complexes
p* :C*(g,A)-+C*(M,p*A)
mapping a cochain c to the cochain p*c defined by
(p*c)((io> lx, h), (h, U, h), •••) = (io, x, c(gioil (ph (x)),gili2 (pl2 (x)), . . . ) ) •
Note that H*(Mu,P*A) = H*(M,A?), the usual Cech cohomology.
Proposition. The homomorphisms
H*{g,A)-^H*(M,Ar)
induced by p are bijective for * = 0,1.
This follows from the following lemma.
Lemma. In the commutative diagram below the horizontal homomorphisms
induced by p
C°(g,A)-^C°(Mu,P*A)
i I
Z\g,A) ^Z\Mu,p*A)
are isomorphisms.
Proof. The first horizontal homomorphism is an isomorphism because
the restriction of p*A to a plaque is a constant sheaf and each plaque is
connected.
To check the injectivity of the second homomorphism, let z € Z1(Q, A)
be such that p*(z) = 0. This implies that
0 = p*(z)({i,lx,j)) = (hzigijipjix))),
hence z = 0, because a 1-cocycle which vanish on the generators is zero.
To prove the surjectivity, we note that a cochain c G Cl(Mu,P*A)
associates to (z, lx, j) an element of p*A of the form (i, x, Q>ij(pj{x))), where
dij is a section of A above Pj(Ui n Uj), because the intersection of two
plaques is connected. If c is a cocycle, then
0 = Sc((i,lx,j),(j,lx,k)) = {i,lx,j).c((j,lx,k))-c((i,lx,k) + c((i,lx,j)),
i.e
aikiPi{x)) = glj(pj(x)).ajk(pk(x)) + aij(pj(x)).
1
A cocycle z 6 Z (g,A) such that p*(z) = c is defined as follows. For
any g £ Q, we can find a sequence of indices io, • • • ,ik a n d a sequence of
points xi,... ,Xk with Xj € Uij_1 n C/j. such that
9 = fftoii (Pii (xi))... gi^lik {pik (xk))-
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 293

We define
z(g) = ai 0 ii(Pu(zi)) + . . . + gloil(Pii(xi))
• • • 9ik-2ik-i (Pik-! (xk)).aik_ltk (pik ( x f c ) ) .

This definition is independent of the choice of generators in the expression

of g thanks to the relations.

3.3 Compactly presented etale groupoids

We first extend to etale groupoids the construction of groupoids given in
Higgins [15] using a presentation by generators and relations.
Given a topological space T, we consider a topological space 5, called
an alphabet over T, endowed with two etale maps a : S —> T and (3 :
S —> T. We also consider a topological space S' disjoint from S with a
homeomorphism s 1—> (s)' from 5 to S' and two etale projections a, 0 :
S' -4 T defined by a((s)') = p(s) and /3((s)') = a{s). For (s)' e 5 ' we also
define ((s)')' = s.
Let WW be the union of S and S', endowed with the union of the
projections a and (3 to T. For a positive integer n, we consider the topo-
logical space W(") = W^1) Xj- . . . Xj- W^ of sequences ( s i , . . . , s„) (also
noted s i . . . s n ) of n elements of W^ such that /?(st+i) = a(si). The maps
a : W^ —> T (resp. (3 : W( n ) —> T) associating to such a sequence the
point a(sn) (resp. /3(si)) are etale maps. A point in W(") is called a word
of length n in the alphabet S. We also consider the space W^ of empty
words homeomorphic to T, the point x E T corresponding to the empty
word { } x at x, the projections a and (3 from W^ mapping the empty
word at x to x. The space of words in the alphabet S is the union Ws of
the W(n\ n > 0, endowed with the two etale projections a and (3 to T
which are the union of the corresponding projections from the W^n>.
We have a continuous etale map WW xTW(m) -> W ( n + m ) associating
to (wi,w 2 ) with a(wi) = P{vj2) the word W1W2 obtained by juxtaposition.
W^ acts by the identity. With this partial multiplication Ws is a topolog-
ical category. If <j> is an etale map from S to an etale groupoid (Q,T) such
that a<p = a and (3<p = /3, it extends to a continuous functor $ : Ws —> 5
which induces the identity on T. Let i? C Ws be an open subset such that
for each r € Ws we have a(r) = /3(r) = xr. If for each r £ R we have
<3>(r) = lXr, we say that the relations R hold in 5 under </>.
Given a word w = si... sn 6 W("), where n > 2 and such that for some
fc < n we have Sfc+i = (sjt)', we get a word in W^n~2^ by suppressing in w
the elements Sk and s/c+i. This operation generates in Ws an equivalence
relation which is open. The quotient of Ws by this equivalence relation is
294 ANDRE HAEFLIGER

an etale groupoid (Qs,T), called the free etale groupoid over S. Any etale
map <f> from S to an etale groupoid (G,T) such that a(f> = a and P4> = P
extends uniquely to a continuous homomorphism from (Gs,T) to (G,T)
projecting on the identity of T. If $(S) generates Q and if the kernel of $
is the normal subgroupoid N generated by R, then Q is isomorphic to the
quotient Gs/N and (S,4>,R) is called a presentation of G- Note that the
quotient Gs/N is naturally an etale groupoid because N is open in G; it
will also be noted {S;R}.
We indicate a tentative definition of the notion of compact presentation
for an etale groupoid.
Compact presentation. An etale groupoid (G, T) is said to be compactly
presented if:
a) T is Hausdorff locally compact and contains a relatively compact open
set To meeting all the (/-orbits.
b) There is an open subset S C G generating the restriction G\T0 °f G t °
T0 and contained in the union of a finite number of compact subsets.
Let S be an open set containing this union.
c) In the space W$ of words in the alphabet S, identified to an open
subset of Wg, there is an open set R which is contained in the union
of a finite number of compact sets in Wg, and such that (G,T) is
isomorphic to (S;R).
One checks as in 1.3 that the fundamental groupoid of a foliation on a
compact manifold is compactly presented, and that the notion of compact
presentation depends only on the equivalence class.
A test for this definition would be to prove the analogue of the global
stability theorem of Reeb for compactly presented groupoid of dimension
one.

References

1. C. Bonatti and A. Haefliger, Deformations de feuilletages, Topology

29 (1990), 205-229.
2. M. Bridson and A. Haefliger, Metric spaces of non-positive curvature,
Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften 319, Springer Verlag,
1999.
3. M. Brunella and M. Nicolau, Sur les hypersurf aces solutions des
equations de Pfaff, C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris, 329 (1999), 793-795.
4. V. Cavalier, Pseudogroupes complexes quasi parallelises de dimension
un, Ann. Inst. Fourier (Grenoble) 44 (1994), 1539-1565.
 FOLIATIONS AND COMPACTLY GENERATED PSEUDOGROUPS 295

5. D.B.A. Epstein, K.C. Millet and D. Tischler, Leaves without holonomy,

J. London Math. Soc. 16 (1977), 548-552.
6. R. Edwards, K. Millett and D. Sullivan, Foliations with all leaves com-
pact, Topology 16 (1997), 13-32.
7. 0 . Forster, Riemannsche Flachen, Heidelberger Taschenbiicher Band
184, Springer Verlag, 1977.
8. E. Ghys, X. Gomez-Mont and J. Saludes, Fatou and Julia components
of transversely holomorphic foliations, preprint ENS-Lyon (2000).
9. X. Gomez-Mont, Transversal holomorphic structures, J. Diff. Geom.
15 (1980), 161-185.
10. A. Haefliger, Varietes feuilletees, Ann. Scuola Norm. Sup. Pisa 16
(1962), 367-397.
11. A. Haefliger, Homotopy and Integrability, in Manifolds, Amsterdam
1970, Lecture Notes in Math. 197, Springer Verlag, 1971, 133-163.
12. A. Haefliger, Differentiable Cohomology, in Differential Topology
(Varenna 76), Liguori, Naples, 1979, 19-70.
13. A. Haefliger, Groupoides d'holonomie et classifiants, in Structure trans-
verse des feuilletages, Toulouse 1982, Asterisque 116 (1984), 70-97.
14. A. Haefliger, Pseudogroups of local isometries, in Differential Geome-
try, Santiago de Compostela, Pitman Res. Notes in Math. 131, 1994,
174-197.
15. P.J. Higgins, Presentations of groupoids and applications to groups,
Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 60 (1964), 7-20.
16. A. Kumjian, On equivariant sheaf cohomology and elementary C*-
bundles, J. of Operator Algebra 20 (1998), 207-240.
17. G. Meigniez, Holonomy groups of solvable foliations, in Integrable sys-
tems and foliations, Progress in Mathematics 145, Birkhauser 1997,
107-146.
18. P. Molino, Riemannian Foliations, Progress in Mathematics 73,
Birkkhauser 1988.
19. J.P. Plante, Foliations with measure preserving holonomy, Ann. of
Math. 102 (1975), 327-361.
20. E. Salem, Riemannian foliations and pseudogroups, in P. Molino, Rie-
mannian foliations, Progress in Mathematics 73, Birkkhauser 1988,
265-296.

Received November 16, 2000, revised December 28, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 297-314

TRACES A N D INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT

MANIFOLDS

J A M E S L. H E I T S C H
Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science,
University of Illinois at Chicago, 851 S. Morgan Street (M/C 249),
Chicago, Illinois 60607-7045, USA, e-mail: [email protected]

We define a general trace for complete Riemannian manifolds of bounded geometry.

This trace takes values in the Haefiiger functions of the manifold and its existence
allows the extension of the classical theory of invariants for compact manifolds to
complete Riemannian manifolds of bounded geometry.

1 Introduction

T h e heat equation method for invariants of manifolds is now quite well

developed and classical results (index theory, Lefschetz theory, Betti num-
bers, Novikov-Shubin invariants, torsion, . . . ) can be extended to new
situations (foliations, non-compact manifolds) provided t h a t an appropri-
ate trace function can be defined, and t h a t the asymptotics of the heat
operator as t —» oo (which is in general a global problem) can be handled.
T h e asymptotics of t h e heat operator as t —> 0 present no problem as these
are local.
T h e L2 Index Theorem of Atiyah [1] is a classical example of this sort
of extension. T h e case considered there is a covering of a compact manifold
and an operator lifted to the cover from the compact base. T h e trace
is given by integration over a fundamental domain of the covering. In
[18], J o h n Roe provided an extension t o non compact manifolds which
admit a regular exhaustion. T h e exhaustion allows one t o define a trace by
averaging over the manifold, much as we do in the final section of this paper.
Alain Connes extended the heat equation method to foliations which admit
a transverse invariant measure. See [10] and the references therein. Here
the trace is given by integration over the plaques of a cover by foliation

297
298 JAMES L. HEITSCH

charts with the resulting function being integrated against t h e transverse

measure t o obtain a real number. In [12] and [14] we showed how to remove
the requirement t h a t the foliation admit an invariant transverse measure
and obtained a general families index theorem. T h e trace in this case is
given by integrating over the plaques and taking the Haefliger cohomology
class of the resulting differential form on the transverse space.
In this paper we define a general trace (the Haefliger trace) for any
complete Riemannian manifold M of bounded geometry. This trace takes
values in Ch(M) the space of Haefliger functions of M, which is a quotient
space of t h e space of functions on a maximal uniformly separated discrete
subset. T h e basic idea is to abstract the theory for foliations worked out
in [13] to t h e case of a single leaf. T h e main innovation in this paper is the
introduction of the Haefliger trace taking values in the space of Haefliger
functions. As an example of the use of this trace, we outline a proof of a
Lefschetz theorem for Dirac operators defined on any complete Riemannian
manifold of bounded geometry.
We note here t h a t Ch(M) agrees with the uniformly finite coarse ho-
mology group HQ ( M ) defined by Block and Weinberger, [7], and t h a t the
application of uniformly finite coarse homology to index theory was antic-
ipated in section 9 of [8]. T h e main idea of this paper is t h a t there is a
naturally defined geometric trace taking values in Ch(M), and given this,
the geometric arguments of [13] and [14] are readily translated to this set-
ting, giving index theorems, Lefschetz theorems, etc. This paper may be
seen as alternate approach to invariants for non-compact manifolds which
provides immediate access to results not readily obtainable from the Block-
Weinberger view: e.g. Lefschetz Theory.

2 Haefliger functions and the trace

In this section, we define the space of Haefliger functions for a complete

Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry and a trace which takes values
in this space of functions.

2.1 Haefliger functions

Denote by M a complete Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry. This

class of manifolds includes all compact manifolds and their covers as well
as any leaf (and its covers) of any foliation of a compact manifold. There
are also examples of such manifolds which cannot be a leaf of a foliation of
any compact manifold, [6], [16].
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 299

Let r > 0. A lattice T for M is cover by open balls of radius r whose

centres are at least a distance r apart. The bounded geometry of M then
implies that there is an integer k so that any element of T intersects at
most k other elements of T non-trivially.
To construct a lattice, let A C M be a maximal set of distinct points
which are separated by a distance of at least r. Zorn's lemma implies that
such a set must exist. Then let V be the set of balls of radius r whose
centres are the elements of A.
For any lattice V set

C°(r) = {/ : T -> R | / is bounded}.

The space of Haefliger functions on M is a quotient space of this space.

Denote by d(-, •) the distance function on M. A permutation n of F is
bounded if

sup d(U,ir(U)) < oo.

t/er
The group G of all bounded permutations acts on C°(T) by composition,
that is

(**/)(E0 = /(^(CO).
Set

Hr = linear span of {/ - it* f \ f € C°(T), n £ G}.

The space of Haefliger functions Ch(M) for M is the space

Ch(M) = C°(r)/Wr,
where Tir is the sup norm closure of Hr- Denote the class of / in Ch{M)
by [/]. Then [/] — 0 provided that for all e > 0 there is a representative
/ i G [/] so that sup \fi(U)\ < e.
uer
Note that if f(U) = ~f{rr{U)) for all U € f C T, and f n i r ( f ) = 0, then
we may set f(U) = 0 for all U e T U 7r(r) without changing the Haefliger
class of the function / . To see this, define g(U) = f(U) for U £ T and
#(£/) = 0 otherwise. Then [g — n*g] = 0, and / i = / — (g — it*g) satisfies
fi(U) = 0 for all U e f U 7r(f), and /i(C7) = /([/) otherwise.
A priori, Ch{M) depends on the choice of lattice T. However, this is
not the case.
T h e o r e m 1 Ch{M) does not depend on Y.
300 JAMES L. HEITSCH

Proof. Let Ti and T2 be two lattices for M and set T = Ti U T 2 . Now

r may not be a lattice as the centres of distinct balls may be arbitrarily
close, but there is still a k so that each element of T meets at most k
other elements of T. It addition, C°(T)/Tir still makes sense. With these
observations, it is an easy exercise to show
C°(F1)/Hri =* C°(T)/nr * C0(r2)/Wr2.
•
Similarly, one can show that Ch(M) does not depend on r.

2.2 The trace

Given a bounded measurable function g on M and any partition of unity
* = {^u} subordinate to the cover of M given by the elements of the
lattice r , define J g € C°(T) to be the function

J d){U)= j^u(x)g(x)dx

where dx is the volume form on M. It follows easily from the definitions

that the Haefliger function [J g] does not depend on * .
For any bundle E, denote by C(E) the bounded measurable sections
of E, by C°°(E) the bounded smooth sections, and by Co°(.E) the smooth
sections with compact support. Denote by E <g> E* the bundle n*(E) <g>
TT^E*) over M x M, where 7Ti,7r2 : M x M —> M are the two projections.
For any k € C(E <g> E*), k(x,x) is a linear map on Ex and so has a well
defined trace tr(fc(x, x)) which is a bounded measurable function on M. We
define the Haefliger trace Tr{k) of k to be the Haefliger class of the function
tr(fc), that is
/

Tr(fc) |tr(/c)

(If M is compact, any k e C(E ® E*) defines an operator on C(E) by

(ks)(x) = / k(xJy)s{y)dy,
M
and the Haefliger trace of k is the usual trace of k as in this case, Ch(M)= H)
Denote by Cf>{E <g> E*) the set of k € C°°(E <g> E*) so that there is
s > 0 with k(x, y) = 0 for all (x, y) with d(x, y) > s. In addition we require
that k and all its derivatives be bounded on M x M. Any k e Cf(E®E*)
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 301

defines a bounded smoothing operator on L2(E) with finite propagation

speed and ti(k(x,x)) is a bounded smooth function on M.
An element k G C°°(E ® E*) is basic if there are f C T and n e G so
that for all Ui ^ U2 G f, Ui n U2 = 0 and TT(L/I) n TT(C/2) = 0 and
sup(fc) C Up U x TT(C/).

Note that if k is basic, then sup(/c) n (U x 7r(t/)) is a compact subset of

the open set £/ x 7r([/).
P r o p o s i t i o n 2 ylm/ fc G Cf>(E ® £*) may 6e written as a finite sum
k = k\ + • • • + kg where each ki is basic.
Proof. Choose s > 0 so that k(x, y) = 0 for all x and y with d(x, y) > s.
Because of the bounded geometry of M and the fact that the centres of
the elements of Y are at least a distance r apart, F can be partitioned
into a finite number of sets, T i , . . . T n , so that for all distinct U\,U2 € 1^,
£ = l,...n, d(Ui,U2) > 4r + 2s. This of course implies that Ui n U2 = 0.
If ([/i x U3) n sup(fc) 7^ 0, then d{U\, U3) < s so it further guarantees that
if (Vi x 1/3) n sup(fc) ^ 0 and (U2 x U4) n sup(fc) ^ 0 then U3 n C/4 = 0.
This condition guarantees that the elements irtj £ G chosen below actually
exist.
Again by the bounded geometry of M and the fact that the centres
of the elements of Y are at least a distance r apart, there is an integer p
so that for each U € Y there are at most p elements of Y whose product
with U intersects sup(fc) non-trivially. For a given U, denote these sets by
Ui,... ,Up. (If there are fewer than p such sets, we complete the collection
to a set of p elements by adding the empty set the required number jDf
times). For i = 1 , . . . , n, j = 1 , . . . ,p, choose Ttij € G so that TT1J(U) = Uj
for all U € IV Let {i/^} be a partition of unity subordinate to the cover
given by Y and set

hi(x,y) = Y^ V'l/(a;)V'7ri,j(t/)(y)fc(a;.2/)-
asf ;
Then each kij is basic and k = J2i, ^i,j • ^
Let fci(x,y) G C{E <g> £*), and k2(x,y) G Cf{E <g> E*), and define
ki°k2£ C{E ® E*) by

fci ok2(x,y) = / ki(x,z)k2(z,y)dz,

M
and similarly for k2o k\. We have immediately
P r o p o s i t i o n 3 ki o k2 and k2 o ki are elements of C(E ® E*).
302 JAMES L. HEITSCH

We now come to the central result of the paper, namely the fact that
TV satisfies the following trace property. It is this property which allows us
to extend classical results from compact manifolds to complete manifolds
of bounded geometry.
Theorem 4 Suppose h(x,y) G C(E ® E*), and k2{x,y) G C™(E <g) E*).
Then
Tr(ki ok2) = Tr(k2oki).
Proof. By Proposition 2 we may assume that k2 is basic with corre-
sponding 7r,r. Choose a partition of unity {ipv} subordinate to F so that
for all U £ f, W x W E / ) I sup(fc2)n(t/x7r(C/)) = 1- Then the Haefliger func-
tion Tr(ki o k2) is represented by the function / € C°(T) whose value at
C/GTis

/([/) = / tpu(x)tr( / ki{x,y)k2(y,x)dy) dx

u M
= / tv(ki(x,y)k2(y,x))dydx
U M

which, because k2 is basic, equals

/ / tr (ki(x,y)k2{y,x)) dy dx = I / tr (k2(y,x)k1(x,y)) dxdy

U TV(U) 7r(C/) U

= / tv(k2(y,x)ki(x,y))dxdy
TT(U) M

again because k2 is basic, and this equals

ipn(U)(y) / ti{k2(y,x)ki(x,y))dxdy.
•n(U) M

This last integral is the value at TT(U) of the function g € C°(T) which
represents Tr(k2oki), i.e. it is (Tr~1)*(g)(U). But g and (7r_1)*(g) represent
the same Haefliger function. Thus Tr(fci o k2) = Tr(A;2 o k\). D

3 Dirac complexes and Lefschetz functions

The Haefliger trace adapts extremely well to any situation where the heat
equation method is used. As an example of this, we will outline a proof of
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 303

a Lefschetz theorem for complete Riemannian manifolds of bounded geom-

etry. This of course includes various index theorems as special cases.
Let M be a complete Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry. Fix
a lattice T for M. We assume that each bundle over M comes equipped
with a metric, and if the bundle is a complex bundle, that the metric
is Hermitian. Unless otherwise stated, all objects considered here (e.g.
metrics, connections, bundle maps, . . . ) are assumed to be bounded in the
sense that there are global bounds for the local expressions of the object and
all its derivatives is any local orthonormal framing of the relevant bundle.

3.1 Dirac complexes

A Dirac complex (E, d) on M consists of the following

1. E — (EQ, EI, ... ,Ei), a family of smooth finite dimensional complex

vector bundles over M.
2. d = (do, d\,... , de-i), a family of differential operators where
d% : C?(Ei) -+ C™(El+1),
and di+\ di = 0.
3. Set E = ®iEi and denote the adjoint of di by d*. We assume that E is
a Clifford bundle over the Clifford algebra of T*M, and that there is an
Hermitian connection V on E, compatible with Clifford multiplication,
so that the operator
D = © ( ^ + dU) • C^{E) -> C^{E)
is given by the composition

C^(E) ^ C^{T*M ®E)™ C?(E)

where m is Clifford multiplication.

All the classical complexes (de Rham, Signature, Dolbeault, and Spin)
give rise to Dirac complexes on M provided M supports the necessary
geometric structures for these complexes to be defined.
Denote the space of L2 sections of Ei by L2(Ei). The operators di and
d*_t extend to densely defined unbounded operators
dk : L2(Ei) - L2(Ei+l) and d*_x : L2(Ei) - • L2(E%.X).
As usual with possibly non-compact manifolds, we define
H\M,d) = ker(d l )/(imd i _i ndomdj).
304 J A M E S L. HEITSCH

It is necessary to mod out by imdj_i D dom di, the closure of the image
of di-i in the domain of di, as imdj_i n domdj is in general not a closed
subspace.
Define
A, = di.! d*_, + d* di : CF(Ei) - C?(Ei).
The operator D = ©(d, © d*_x) is a Dirac operator and the fact that M is
complete implies that D is essentially self adjoint [9]. Thus D2 = ©Aj is
also essentially self adjoint, and we can apply the spectral mapping theorem
to each of the A*.
Hodge Theory extends to complete manifolds and we have the following
facts:

• L2(Ei) = ker A» © imaged»_i © imaged*.

• The natural map ker A, —> Hl(E,d) is an isomorphism.

3.2 Geometric endomorphisms

An endomorphism T = (To, • • • , Tg) of a Dirac complex (E, d) is a collection
of complex linear maps
T% : C°°(£,) -> C°°(Ei)
so that diTi = Tj + idj. The most interesting of these are the so-called
geometric endomorphisms [2] defined as follows. Let / : M —> M be a
smooth diffeomorphism of bounded distortion. For i = 0 , . . . ,£, let Ai :
f*(Ei) —> Ei be a smooth bounded bundle map. For s € C°°(Ei) define
(TiS)(x) = Ai,x(s(f(x))).
We assume that the Ai are chosen so that T = (To,... ,Ti) defines an
endomorphism of (E, d).
Example. Let (E, d) be the de Rham complex of M and / : M —> M a
diffeomorphism of bounded distortion. For Ai take the ith exterior power
of the dual df* of the differential df. Then for each i, Ti is just the map / *
on the differential i forms on M.
As diTi = Ti+1du T induces a well defined map T* : Hl(E,d) ->
l
H (E,d). We would like our Lefschetz theorem to relate ^ ( - P ) t r T*
to indices defined on the fixed point sets of / . In general, Hl(E,d) is not
finite dimensional, so the classical trace does not make sense. To get our
theorem, we must recast T* in terms of an operator on L2(Ei) in order to
apply the more general Haefliger trace.
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 305

Denote by Pi : L2(Ei) —> ker(Aj) the projection, and define

T* = PiTiPi : L2{Ei) -> ker(A0 C L 2 ( ^ ) -

We also denote by T* the map PjTjPj o j : ker(Aj) —> ker(Ai) where

j : ker(A;) —> L2{Ei) is the injection. It follows from results of [13] that
the Haefliger trace Tr (T*) exists and is finite.
Definition 5 The Lefschetz function L(T) of the geometric endomorphism
T is the Haefliger function for M given by
e
L(T) = £(-irn(ir).
i=0

That this is a reasonable definition is a result of the fact that the diagram

ker Aj * - ker A*

Hl{E,d) - H^E^d)
commutes.

4 Fixed point indices and the Lefschetz theorem

In this section, we describe the restrictions we place on the fixed point set
N oi f and state our Lefschetz theorem.
We assume that AT is a disjoint union of closed submanifolds ./V = UiVj
of M. As they are disjoint and closed, each Ni admits a positive function
ti{x) so that

K(Ni) = {x£M\ d(x, Nt) < ei(x)}

is an embedded normal disc bundle in M and we may assume that these

disc bundles are pairwise disjoint.
We further assume that / is non-degenerate on N. This means that
/» restricted to the normal bundle of N in M does not have 1 as an eigen
value at any point in TV, i.e. / has no transverse invariant directions. Note
that the identity map IM of M satisfies this condition.
Suppose that a is a smooth volume form on TV, and denote its restriction
to TV; by di. We define the Haefliger function JN a as follows. Let {Vv} be
a partition of unity subordinate to the cover by the elements of the lattice
306 JAMES L. HEITSCH

r . Then JN a = [g] where g is the function on T

i
NiHU

The fact that only a finite number of Ni n U ^ 0 follows from the facts that
U is compact, /|AT = IN and that the Ni are disjoint and closed.
Theorem 6 (Lefschetz Theorem) Let M, (E, d),f,A andT be as above.
Associated to N is a smooth volume form a which depends only on f, A, the
symbols of the Aj, the metrics and their derivatives to a finite order only
on N, so that in Ch.(M)

L(T) = J a.
N

For the classical complexes and T = f* acting on forms, a is given

by the classical local integrand of the Atiyah-Singer G Index Theorem [4].
So, if M is a compact manifold, special cases of this theorem recover the
Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem, [5], the Atiyah-Singer G Index Theorem [4],
and the Atiyah-Bott Lefschetz Theorem for geometric endomorphisms, [2].
If (E, d) is an arbitrary Dirac complex and Ni = {x} is a single point,
then

J2(-V)tvAitX
i=0
| det(/ x - dfx
For the classical complexes with T = f* and Ni = {x}, the a^ may be
further identified. For this see [2] and [3].
If / = IM, then N = M and we define 1(D), the index of D by 1(D) =
L(IM). AS an example of the theorems available in this case, we state only
the following.
Theorem 7 Let M be an even dimensional complete Riemannian Spin
manifold of bounded geometry. Let p^, be the generalized Atiyah-Singer
operator, [15], associated to the complex vector bundle E. Then in Ch(M)

I(p+E)= j ch(E)A(M)

where ch(E) is the Chern class of E, and A(M) is the A genus of M.

There are similar theorems for the other classical operators.
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 307

5 An example

In this section, we give an example of a non-compact complete Riemannian

manifold M which is a covering of S4, the surface of genus 4, and a diffeo-
morphism / : M —> M of bounded distortion which has two fixed points
in the interior of each fundamental domain of the covering M —» £4. This
example is a single generic leaf of the foliation defined in Section 4 of [13],
to which the reader is referred for the proofs of the claims made here.
Let II C SL2R be the subgroup generated by the elements a.j = #~ J a 0-?,
j = 0 , . . . , 7 where 8 is rotation by 7r/16 and

d 0
a Od-1

where d is chosen so that U\SL2R/S02 — £4. Let III C II be gen-

erated by {aflajl\i,j = 0, 3, 4, 7} U {af lafx \ i, j = 1,2,5,6}. Then
M = Ui\SL2R/S02 and il/IIi ~ Z2 * Z2 ^ £>oo so M is non compact.
Note that D^ is solvable so also amenable.
Let / be the diffeomorphism of M determined by p, rotation of the
Poincare disc by 7r/2. Take for the fundamental domains of £4 a regular
16-gon centred at zero in the Poincare disc and all its translates under II.
This determines a set of fundamental domains in M. A careful reading of
Section 4 of [13] shows that / fixes each fundamental domain of M, (i.e.
for any fundamental domain D in the Poincare disc, there is an element
7 € III so that p{D) = 7(.D)). / acts on each fundamental domain of
M by rotation by TT/2. In each such fundamental domain, the only fixed
points are the centre and the 16 vertices. But the vertices are identified in
groups of 8 by Fix so in each of these fundamental domains there are exactly
three fixed points and at each fixed point, df acts by rotation by TT/2. By
slightly altering the fundamental domains we have chosen (namely adding
a small neighbourhood of every other vertex and deleting a corresponding
neighbourhood of the other vertices), we obtain new fundamental domains
so that each has exactly two fixed points contained in its interior.
M has all four classical complexes defined on it, and the local indices at
the fixed points for T = f* are all non trivial. For the de Rham complex
they are all —2, for the Signature complex — 2i, for the Dolbeault complex
with k = 0, they are 1/(1 — i), and for k = 1, they are i / ( l — i), and for the
Spin complex they are ± i / \ / 2 depending on which lifting of df one uses.
308 JAMES L. HEITSCH

6 Proof of Lefschetz theorem

As noted above, each A, is an essentially self adjoint operator on L2(Ei).

In addition, it is non-negative, so any bounded Borel function g on [0, oo)
applied to Aj yields a well defined bounded operator p(Aj) on L2(Ei) whose
Schwartz kernel we denote by kg(x, y). Denote by S(R+) the Schwartz class
functions on R restricted to [0,oo). If g is a Schwartz class function on R,
we denote its Fourier transform by g~.
We now recall three theorems from [13]. The proofs for the case consid-
ered here are essentially the same as those given in [13] and so are omitted.
Theorem 8 If g G S{R+), then kg{x,y) G C°°(E <g> E*), (so Tr{g(Ai))
exists and is finite), and the map g —> kg is continuous. Ifg G CQ°(R), the
compactly supported functions, then kg G Cf°(E <8> E*).
Theorem 9 Suppose that g G S(R+), B is a differential operator on Ei
(whose coefficients, with respect to orthonormal bases, and all their deriva-
tives are uniformly bounded), and T = (To,... ,T() is a geometric endo-
morphism of(E,d). Then Tr(BTig(Ai)) and Tr(TiBg(Ai)) exist and are
finite.
Corollary 10 For i = 0 , . . . ,£ and t > 0, Tr(Tie~tAi) exists and is finite.
Theorem 11 Tr{T*) = l i m ^ ^ Tr{Tte-tAi).
Note that the convergence in Theorem 11 is pointwise and not uniform,
so when applying a linear functional to Ch{M) as in Section 7 below, one
needs to check that the functional commutes with taking limits. This does
not happen in general. For an explicit counter example see [19], and for a
systematic discussion, [11].
As the proof of the following theorem is where the trace property of
Tr is most central, we will outline that proof here. For details see [13],
Section 5.
Theorem 12 For all t > 0,
i
Y^i-lYTriTie-^)
i=0

is independent oft.
Proof. We use Quillen's formalism of the supertrace [17]. Let E = ®Ei
and E+ = ®E2i and E~ = @E2l+l. An operator A on E which preserves
this splitting is called even and one that reverses it is called odd. The super
trace applied to an even operator A is defined to be

Trs(A)=Tr(A|E+)-Tr(^|E-).
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 309

Note that if A and B are both even operators, then Tr s (AB) = Trs(BA),
while if both are odd, Tr a (AB) = -Trs(BA).
Set

T = ®U0T„ d = ®todi, d*=@tld*, A = ©t0Al.

T and A are even while d and d* are odd and these operators satisfy

A = dd* + d*d, dA = Ad, d*A = Ad*, and Td = dT.

It is not difficult to show that if <p{x) is an analytic function whose

restriction to R+ is in S(R+), then
d<p(A) = <p(A)d and d*<p(A) = y?(A)d*.
For s > t > 0 set

ip(x) = e~tx - e~sx and ip(x) = <p{x)/x

and note that both restricted to R+ are in S(R+). As
e
^ ( - l ) l T r ( T ; e - ' A i ) =Trs(Te-tA),

we must only show that Tr s (TV(A)) = 0.

By Theorem 9, we have that both Trs(Tdd*ip{A)) and Trs(Td*dip(A))
exist and are finite, so we have

Txs(Tdd*xp{A)) + Tr,(Td*dV(A)) = Trs{Tdd*^(A) + Td*#(A)).

But from the definitions, this last equals
Tr s (TAy>(A))=Tr s (7V(A)),

which is what we want to show is zero. As Trs(Tdd*ip(A))=Trs(dTd*ip(A)),

this will follow if we show that
Trs{dTd*ip(A)) = -Tvs{Td*dip{A)).
Theorem 8 implies that if ipn € S(R+) converges to ip, then

lim Tr(dTd>„(A)) = Tr(dTd*V(A))

n—*oo

and

lim Tr(T<f di/>n(A)) = T r ( T d * # ( A ) ) .

n—>oo
310 J A M E S L. HEITSCH

Set ViO) = {\/2)4>{x/2) and ip2{x) = e~txl2 + e~sxl2. Then V i > 2 re-
stricted to R+ are in S(R+), and ip = ipifa- Choose sequences ipi,n £
S(R+) converging to tpi with xpi^n E CQ°(R). Then

Tr s (dTcTV(A)) = lim Tr,(drd*(V>i,„tf 2 .n)(A))

= lim Tr s (dTd*Vi,„(A)^2, n (A))

= lim T r , ( ^ , n ( A ) d T d > i , n ( A ) )
by Theorem 4 (so it is here that we use the trace property of Tr). But
lim Tr.(^ 2 ,n(A)dTd , ^i, n (A)) = - lim Tr s (Tcf Vi,„(A)V>2,n(A)d),
n—»oo n—»oo
since both V2,n(A)d and Td*tp\%n(&) are odd operators. This last term
equals
- lim Tr s (Td*# 1 , r i (A)V 2 ,n(A)) = - lim Tr s (Td*d(Vi,„V2,n)(A))
n~*oo n—>oo

= -Tr s (Td*d^(A))
which completes the proof of Theorem 12. •
4
Corollary 13 L{T) = lim t ^ 0 ^ ( - I J ^ f f ' e - ' ' )
To finish the proof of our Lefschetz theorem, we have
Theorem 14 Associated to N is a smooth volume form a which depends
only on / , A, the symbols of the Aj, the metrics and their derivatives to a
finite order only on N so that in Ch(M)

\hnJ2(--LYTr(T;e-^)= / a.

The proof of this theorem is a highly technical local computation and

is identical to that given in [13] and so is omitted.

7 Functionals on Ch(M)

The space Ch(M) is somewhat difficult to understand. In the special case

that M is compact, Ch(M) = R. One of the main results of [7], Theo-
rem 3.1, is that Ch(M) ^ 0 if and only if M satisfies Condition (15) below.
However, even in the simple case of M = JR, it is difficult to give a good
description of this space. To obtain usable invariants, we need to exhibit
interesting linear maps from Ch(M) to more tractable spaces, especially,
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 311

maps to -R or C. Given the result of Block and Weinberger quoted above,

it should not be surprising that Ch(M) is particularly susceptible to aver-
aging operations, one of which we give below. For more in this vein, see
[18] and [1].
Suppose that M is a complete Riemannian manifold of bounded geom-
etry. Given xo e M and s > 0, denote by B{XQ, s) the ball in M of radius
s and centre xo. Assume that for some XQ € M and any fixed t,

lim ^ffo'*)) = 1. (15)

s-.oo V0l(-B(X(), s + tj)
Let T be a lattice in M and denote the centre of U € T by xu. Set
rs = {uer\d(x0,xu)<s}.
For any [/] G Ch(M), define A : Ch{M) -* R as follows.

(
A([f]) = lim „°, \..
P r o p o s i t i o n 16 A : Ck(M) —> R is well defined.
Proof. We first show that

F(s)
vol(B(x0,s))
converges as s —> oo. Since the centres of the Us are uniformly separated
and M has bounded geometry, there is a constant C so that for any dif-
ference of two concentric balls, B = B(xo,s + t) - B(x0, t), the number of
elements of T with centres in B is bounded by Cvol(B). If | / | is bounded
by Cj, it follows immediately that

< CfC vol(B).

xuEB

In particular, this holds if t = 0, so F(s) is a bounded function and we need

only show that for bounded t > 0,
lim F(s + t) - F(s) = 0.
s—>oo

Note that t may vary with s, but it is a bounded function of s. Given any
set B C M, denote by f(B) the sum

f(B) = J2 f(U)
xu&B
312 JAMES L. HEITSCH

and write B(s) for B(XQ,S) and vB(s) for vol(B(xo,s)). Then
f(B(s + t)) f(B(s))
F(s + t)-F(s)\
vB(s + t) vB(s)
f{B(s)) f(B(s)) f(B(s + t)-B(s))
< +
vB(s + t) vB{s) vB(s + t)
1 1 vB(s + t) -vB(s)
< CfCvB(s) + CfC
vB{s+t) vB(s vB(s + t)
,vB{s f t ) - u B ( s ) vB{s)
2C/C- 2CfC(l
vB(s + t) vB(s + t)
which by our assumption goes to zero as s —> oo.
To show that ^4([/]) is independent of the choice of / , we need only
show that for any / e C°(T) and 7r e G,

lim
Y,T.[W)-**f{u)]
0.
vB{s)
Let Cf be a bound for / (and so also for n*/), and let t be a bound on the
distance that n moves elements of I\ i.e. for all U 6 T, d(xu,xn^)) < t.
Then
Er.[/(^)-*V(tO] /(B(s))-7r*/(B(s))
u5(s) u£(s)
Since 7r moves elements of V at most a distance t, each element in f(B(s — t))
occurs in w*f(B(s)). Thus f(B(s)) and ir*f(B(s)) differ on at most the
number of points in B(s) — B(s — t). Thus
/(B(S))-7r*/(B(3)) [vB(s) - vB(s - t)}
< 2CfC
vB(s) vB(s)
As above, this last goes to zero as s —> oo. •
Recall that the manifold M of our example above supports the four clas-
sical complexes. It is not difficult to see that M also satisfies Condition 15.
For the classical complexes, the operators Aj commute with the action of
the covering group of M over E4. The diffeomorphism / also commutes
with this action, so we are in the situation considered by Atiyah in [1]. It
follows easily that for the operators in Theorem 11, the linear functional A
is the Atiyah trace (given by integration over a single fundamental domain,
which is a compact set) divided by the volume of the fundamental domain.
As the Schwartz kernel of the Tie~tAi is uniformly bounded and converges
pointwise to the Schwartz kernel of T* and A is integration over a compact
set, A does commute with the limit in Theorem 11. Thus we have the
following.
 T R A C E S AND INVARIANTS FOR NON-COMPACT MANIFOLDS 313

T h e o r e m 17 Let M and f be as in the example above and denote by V

the volume of a fundamental domain for £4 in the Poincare disc. Then
-4
• For the de Rham complex, A(L(f*)) = -r—
—Ai
• for the Signature complex A(L(f*)) — -—-
2
• for the Dolbeault complex with k = 0, A(L(f*)) = — —-, and for
(l-i)V
2%
k = 1, A(L(f*))
l-i)V

• for the Spin complex A(L(f*)) — ——— depending on which lifting of

df one uses.

References
1. M.F. Atiyah, Elliptic operators, discrete groups and von Neumann al-
gebras, Asterisque, 3 2 / 3 3 (1976), 43-72.
2. M.F. Atiyah and R. Bott, A Lefschetz fixed point formula for elliptic
complexes I, Ann. of Math., 86 (1967), 374-407.
3. M.F. Atiyah and R. Bott, A Lefschetz fixed point formula for elliptic
complexes II, Ann. of Math., 88 (1968), 451-491.
4. M.F. Atiyah and G.B. Segal, The index of elliptic operators: II, Ann.
of Math., 87 (1968), 531-545.
5. M.F. Atiyah and I.M. Singer, The index of elliptic operators: I, Ann.
of Math., 87 (1968), 484-530.
6. O. Attie and S. Hurder, Manifolds which cannot be leaves of foliations,
Topology, 35 (1996), 335-353.
7. J. Block and S. Weinberger, Aperiodic tilings, positive scalar curvature,
and amenability, Journal AMS, 5 (1992), 907-918.
8. J. Block and S. Weinberger, Large scale homology theories and geom-
etry, in Geometric Topology, ed. W.H. Kazez, Amer. Math. Soc,
Providence, R.I., 1997.
9. P. Chernoff, Essential self adjointness of powers of generators of hy-
perbolic equations, J. Func. Anal, 12 (1973), 401-404.
10. A. Connes, Geometrie Non-Commutative, InterEditions, Paris, 1990.
11. D. Guido and T. Isola, Noncommutative Riemann integration and
Novikov-Shubin invariants for open manifolds, J. Func. Anal., 176
(2000), 115-152.
314 JAMES L. HEITSCH

12. J.L. Heitsch, Bismut Superconnections and the Chem Character for
Dirac Operators on Foliated Manifolds, K-Theory, 9 (1995), 507-528.
13. J.L. Heitsch and C. Lazarov, A Lefschetz theorem for foliated mani-
folds, Topology, 29 (1990), 127-162.
14. J.L. Heitsch and C. Lazarov, A general families index theorem, K-
Theory, 18 (1999), 181-202.
15. H.B. Lawson and M.-L. Michelsohn, Spin Geometry Princeton Univer-
sity Press, Princeton, N.J., 1989.
16. A. Phillips and D. Sullivan, Geometry of leaves, Topology, 20 (1981),
209-218.
17. D. Quillen, Superconnections and the Chem Character, Topology, 24
(1985), 89-95.
18. J. Roe, An index theorem on open manifolds I, J. Diff. Geo., 27 (1988),
87-113.
19. J. Roe, An index theorem on open manifolds II, J. Diff. Geo., 27
(1988), 115-136.

Received July 31, 2000, revised November 17, 2000 and February 14, 2001.
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 315-332

HILBERT MODULES OF FOLIATED MANIFOLDS W I T H

BOUNDARY

MICHEL HILSUM
Institut de Mathematiques, C.N.R.S., 175,
rue du Chevaleret, 75 013 Paris,
e-mail: [email protected]

We define in this article the notion of boundary Hilbert module over a C*-algebra B
and show that the class in K*(B) defined by such a module is null. This generalizes
the bordism invariance of the index of elliptic operators. Some consequences on
foliated manifolds are derived, such as obstructions on the existence of a riemannian
metric with longitudinal positive scalar curvature

1 Introduction

The bordism invariance of the index of the Dirac operator on smooth spin
manifolds has been established by M.F. Atiyah and I.M. Singer, and play
an important role in the first proof of the index theorem for elliptic op-
erators [17]. It has been generalized in various geometric situations: for
smooth families of Dirac operators by W. Shih [20], for coverings of a man-
ifold with principal countable discrete groups by J. Rosenberg [19]; for
correspondences between smooth manifolds, using bivariant K-theory, by
A. Connes and G. Skandalis [4]; alternative analytical proofs where given
of [20] by R. Melrose and P. Piazza [14] and by L. Nicolaescu [16], and of
[19] by E. Leichtnam and P. Piazza [12]. In each of these situations, the
corresponding index is a class in the K-theory group of a C*-algebra.
Here we wish to settle an general result in the context of Hilbert modules
over C*-algebras. We introduce a notion of Hilbert module with boundary
over some C*-algebra B. We also define partitioned Hilbert module over B.
These objects behave well with respect to processes of pasting and cutting,
similarly as cutting a partitioned manifold along the separating manifold
gives two manifolds with boundary.

315
316 MICHEL HILSUM

The main result of this article states that the index class in K*(B) de-
fined by the boundary of such an Hilbert module is null (Theorem 4.3).
There are in fact two cases, the even-dimensional case, in which the bound-
ary module is Z/Z 2 -graded, and the index has value in K0(B), and the
odd-dimensional, with no grading, where K\{B) is concerned. We have
treated here only the odd case.
For proving this, we develop an idea due to N. Higson which relates
this problem to Callias or Dirac-Shrodinger type operator on partitioned
manifolds [6], [18]. These operators have been first studied by C. Callias,
and have been since the subject of several works by N. Anghel, J. Bruning,
H. Moscovici, U. Bunke and M. Lesch (cf ref. in monograph [13]).
Given an even partitioned module, Theorem 4.2 states the equality be-
tween the index class in K\(B) of the Callias type operator and the index
class of the operator on the partitioning module.
These notions are quite general and it appears that index bordism in-
variance is a rather analytical property.
We specialize then these results to Hilbert modules arising from foliated
manifolds.
Let (W, F) be a spin foliated closed manifold of class C 0 , o °. We use the
longitudinal Dirac operator A acting on some Hilbert module £ over the C*-
algebra of the foliation C*(W, F), defined by A. Connes [3] (cf. minicourse
in these proceedings by H. Moriyoshi [15]).
We obtain then a bordism invariance property of the longitudinal index
class [£, A] e K*(C*(W,F)) (Theorem 5.2).
Let (Woo,g) be a smooth Riemannian manifold, and K : W^ —> R the
scalar curvature of g, which is a smooth function. One important problem
in Riemannian geometry is to determine topological obstructions to the
existence on Woo of a Riemannian structure with positive scalar curvature
(cf. [11] for a survey). Recall A. Lichnerowicz's Theorem stating that if
Woo is closed and spin with K > 0, then
(AiWoo), [Woo]} = 0, (1.1)
where A(W) is the A-genus of the tangent bundle of the manifold.
Then Theorems 4.2 and 4.3 gives as corollaries obstructions for a mani-
fold (W, F) to be equivalent by a transverse bordism to a foliated manifold
with strictly positive scalar curvature (Proposition 6.2), which straightens
an earlier result of J. Rosenberg [19]. Similar conditions occur when (W, F)
separates a foliation with strictly positive scalar curvature and Proposi-
tion 6.3 generalizes a theorem of J. Roe [18]. When the foliation is of class
C°°'°°, using the fundamental class of A. Connes sect. III.7 [3], we derive, in
Section 7, cohomological obstructions, among them A. Lichnerowicz's (1.1).
 H l L B E R T MODULES O F FOLIATED MANIFOLDS W I T H BOUNDARY 317

2 Preliminaries

Let B a C*-algebra and £ a Banach right B-raodule ; then £ is said to be a

Hilbert module over B if it comes with a sesquilinear map (.,.) : £ x £ —> B
such that for £,77 G £, a G B, one has (£,77)* = (»7, £)\ (£>0 ^ 0,{^, 077) =
(£,77)0, and the map £ —> ||(£,£)ll 3 i s the norm on £. As usual we denote
by £(£) the C*-algebra of bounded adjointable operators of the B-module
£, and by K.(£) the closed ideal of compact operators off, generated by the
rank one operators of the form ( —> £(77, £), for £,77 G £. Let D a densely
defined closed operator on £, commuting with the action of B. The adjoint
of D is the operator with domain the set of £ G £ such that there exists
77 G £ satisfying for every ( G £ the equality (£>(,£) = {C,,rj) and then
D*£ = 77. The operator is said to be symmetric if (D^,rj) = (£,,Dr)) for
£, 77 G dom-D, and selfadjoint if D = D*. For a densely defined operator D
of B-module, we define C{D) the subalgebra of C{£) of operators a G £•{£)
such that a(dom D) C dom Z? and such that the graded commutator [D, a)
extends to an element of £(£).
Lemma 2.1 Let D be a closed densely defined B-operator on £ such that
D* is densely defined. For any a G £(D), one has a* G C(D*), and [a,D]*
is the closure of[D*,a*].
Proof. For £ e domD, 77 edomD*, the equality (D£,,a*rj) = ([a, D]£,,ri}+
(a£, D*ri) shows that a*n € dom D* and (D*a* - a*D*)r) = [a, D}*n. D
Given a closed linear operator D on £, we shall denote by W(D) the
Hilbert B-module domD equipped with the B-product (£,77) + {£>£, D77).
Recall that a core or an essential domain for a closed operator D is a dense
subspace of W(D).
An operator D is said to be regular or affiliated if 1 + D*D and 1 +
DD* are surjective operators of £, and in that case the inverse operators
(1 + D*D)~1 and (1 + DD*)-1 belongs to C{£) [10]. If £> = D*, then these
conditions are equivalent to the surjectivity of im(i -I- T). The following is
elementary
Lemma 2.2 An closed densely defined B-operator D on £ is regular if and
only if the natural continuous injection W(-D) —> £ is adjointable
We precise now some terms which will be used in the sequel,
i) An unbounded module over B is the data of a Hilbert module £ over
B with an unbounded closed densely defined regular operator T com-
muting with B. We shall call (£, T, r) an even unbounded module if r
is a unitary involution such that TT + TT = 0.
ii) A symmetric module over B is an unbounded module (£,T) with
T c T*.
318 MICHEL HILSUM

iii) A closed module over B is an unbounded module (£ , T) with T = T*

and (i + T)-1 e K(£).
Recall that if (£,T) is a closed module, we can associate an element
[£,T] G Ki{B) as follows [21]: as the operator F = T(l + T2)~i satisfies
F* — F G fC(£) and F2 — 1 G /C(£) and its image in the quotient C*-algebra
C{£)/K,{£) is a projection, it gives a class in Ko{C(£)/K.(£)). Then [£,T]
is the image of this class by the index map KQ{C{£)/K,{£)) >-> K\{K.{£)),
followed by the natural inclusion K\{K{£)) —* K\{B).
Analogously, to a closed even module (£,T,T) corresponds a class in
K0(B).
We end this section with a lemma which will be useful later. Let £\,
and £2 two Hilbert B-modules, T\ a selfadjoint regular operator on £\ and
T2 a selfadjoint operator on £2 possibly singular. Let / € £(£i,£ 2 ) such
that /(domTi) C domT 2 , and such that the operator T 2 / - fT\ defined on
domTi extends to a bounded adjointable map which we shall denote by a.
By the lemma above, the adjoint of a is the closure of the densely denned
/*T 2 — Tif*. The map ti/(£) = / £ for £ £ domTi defines a continuous
map from W(Ti) to W(T2), commuting with B and of norm less than
VlNP + ll/ll2-
L e m m a 2.3 The map Uf is adjointable and we have, for 77 € domT 2
u*fV = f*ri + (i + Ti)" 1 ^?? + (1 + T i 2 ) - V ( z + T2)V-
Proof. Let denote by Wf the operator on the right hand side above. For
£ G domTi and r\ G domT 2 , we have WfT] G domTi. Put £ = (i + T2)?7 and
0 = (i + Ti)£, we have then

= {t, (i+Ti)-x(r + m - t)-v)cr2+o^?>

+ (Tie ) T 1 (i + T i ) " ^ / * + (Ti - t) _1 o*)(T2 + »)>7>
= ((Ti + i)" 1 *, (Ti + i ) " 1 ^ * + (Ti - iTla*)Q
+ ((Ti + i)-1^, (Ti + i ) " 1 ^ / ' + (Ti - i)"1a*)C>
= (e,(r + (Ti-»)-V)c>
= ((/ + a(Ti+t)-1)fl,0
= {(T2+i)/(Ti+i)-^,C) = ((T2 + i)ft,(T2 + i)ri)
= (uf£,ri) + (T2UfS,T27i).
a
Let us finally recall the definition of the external tensor product of two
regular operators Tj acting on £;, for i = 1,2, this is an operator S acting
 HlLBERT MODULES OF FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 319

on the external tensor product of Hilbert modules £\ ® £2 with domain

defined as follows: let W(Ti) <g> W(T2) be the tensor product ohf Hilbert
module, and Ij : W(T\) —> £ — j the canonical injection. Then I = I\ (&I2 •
W(Ti) <g> W(T 2 ) -» £1 <g> £ 2 is adjointable [8, 10]. Then let domS = im J
and for ^ e domT,-, one set S(£ <8> £2) = Tifi <g> £2 + £1 ® T2£2- It is
essentially defined on the algebraic tensor product V\ <g>2?2 for any essential
domains T>i of Ti: and moreover, if (1 + T*Ti)~l 6 )C(£i), for i = 1, 2, then

3 Partitioned and boundary modules

We define now an operator useful for the sequel. Let (£, T) be an unbounded
module over B, with T = T*. Let Tj, i = 0,1, be the unitary on C 2 , given by

Let ^(^(T) acting on the tensor product of Hilbert modules £(,<g>.L2(R)<g)C2

be defined by the formula
*oo(T) =T®l®TQ + l®d1®Ti,
where d\f{u) = ^ . Then ^^(T) is essentially selfadjoint on the algebraic
tensor productf d o m T ® C£°(R) <g> C 2 , and for £1,^2 in that subspace, one
has the more familiar form
+ + 3l
•^-(*v*. 0(iM-& £)- <>
We denote by *(T) acting on £ <g> L 2 (R) <g> C 2 be the closure of the
restriction \&ooCT) on the algebraic tensor product domT<g>C£°(]0,1[)®C2.
Given </? e C([Q, 1]), we denote by
m(<p) = 1 (8) (f ® 1
the operator in £(£ <g> L ([0,1])) <g> C 2 ) obtained by multiplication by ip on
2

the second term of the tensor product.

Lemma 3.1 The operators *(T) and^^T) are regular. For0eC°°([0,1])
one has m(6) e £(*(T)*) and moreover i/ 0(0) = 0(1) = 0, t/ien
m(0)dom*(T)* C d o m ^ ( T ) . / / ( i + T ) " 1 e /C(<f), then ( l + ^ T ) * * ^ ) ) - 1
is a compact operator.
Proof. As \I>(T) is an external tensor product, the first and last asser-
tions follow. As m(0) G £( , I'(T)), Lemma 2.1 gives the third assertion.
It suffices then to prove that 0£ € dom^'oo(T') for support 0 c]0,1[. Let
320 MICHEL HILSUM

£ G dom*(T)* and ip e Cc°°(]0,1[) such that <p6 = 6 and ip'O = 0. Then

from Lemma 2.1, for 77 e d o m * 0 0 ( T ) we get the following equality which
shows that 0f G d o m ^ ^ T )

D
We introduce now the notion of partitioned module. Let

- (£, £), r) be an even unbounded module with D = D*.

- (£b,T) a closed module over B.

Suppose that there exist projections q~, p and q+ in C{£) such that
1 = q~ + p + q+ and
imp~£ 6 ®L 2 ([0,l])<g>C 2 .
Assume that the involution T commutes with q± and restricts on imp to
1 <g> 1 ® T 0 TI. For any ip £ C([0,1]), let a(ip) G C(£) be the operator given
by the formula
a(ip) = ip(0)q~ + m(ip) + ip(l)q+•
Definition 3.2 With these hypothesis, the unbounded module (£, D, T) is
partitioned by (£b,T) if the following properties hold

a. For every <p G C£°([0,1]), we have a(<p) domD C domD

b. If <p e CC°°(]0,1[), and if £ € domD or f e d o m * ( T ) , then
Da(<p)£ = 9(T)<p£.

c. It ip,ip e C°°([0,1]) such that support^ n support V' = 0, then

a{ip)Da(t/}) = 0.

From this definition, we see that the operator D is well known on imp
and condition b) gives a kind of locality property of this operator. There
is no interplay of the action of D on imq~, imp, and imq+.
Example 3.3 The simplest construction is given by £ = £b <8> L2(R) <g> C 2
with D = ^' 0 0 (T), with obvious formulae for p and 9*.
Lemma 3.4 For any v? G C°°([0,1]) , we have a(y?) G £(£>). 7 / X ° ) =
<p(l) = 0, tfien a(y?)(£> + i)~l G £ ( £ ) .
 HlLBERT MODULES OF FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 321

Proof. Suppose first support(y) C]0,1[, and let ip G C£°(]0,1[) such

t h a t tpip = ip. T h e n by properties b, c of t h e definition, one has [D, a(<p)} =
[D,a(ip)]i> = [$>(T),a(<p)]ip. T h u s [D,a(<p)] = (1 ®<p'®n)p is bounded.
Suppose then <p(0) = <p(l) = 0. Then there exists a sequence <pk in
C£°(]0,1[) such t h a t ip'k converges uniformly to ip'. For £ G d o m D , one
has lim Dipk£ — lim([D, <pk) + <PkD)£ = lim(l <g> tp'k <E> Ti)p£ + lim <£>&£>£ =
(1 ®<p'®T 1 )p£ + y>.D£. As D is closed, Zfy£ = lim D<pk£, and thus [£>,</?] =
(1 <E> y ' <8> Ti)p is bounded.
In general every <p can be written tp = <p\ + <p>2 where support ipi C [0, A [
and (/?2(0) = </>2(l)- Suppose then t h a t s u p p o r t ^ C [ 0 , | [ and let <p(t) —
ip(t) on [0, i [ a n d <£(i) = </?(l - 1 ) on ] | , 0 ] . Then one has a(<£) G £ ( D ) a n d
thus a(<p) G £ ( £ ) ) by property c.
To prove t h a t a ( y ) ( D + i ) - 1 G /C(£), it suffices by continuity to take tp G
C ~ ( ] 0 , 1 [ ) . T h e closure W 0 on W(£>) of £ 6 <g) C c °°(]0,1[) <g> C 2 is isomorphic
W ( ^ , ( T ) ) , a n d we have a factorization of a(ip)(i + D)~l by

£ i ! ± ^ W{D) J^U Wo • £•
By Lemma 2.3, t h e m a p £ —> a(</>)£ from W ( D ) to Wo is adjointable,
and t h e injection Wo —> £ is compact. •
We come now to t h e main notion of this article. Let
- (£, S,T) be an even symmetric module over B.
- (£b,T) a closed module over B.
Suppose that there exist projections q, p in £(£) such that 1 = q + p
and
imp~£ b <g)L 2 ([0,l])<g>C 2 .
Assume that the involution r commutes with q and restricts on imp to
1 <8> 1 ® TQT\. For any ip G C([0,1]), let b(ip) G £(£) be the operator given
by the formula
6(V>) = m(ip) + ip(l)q.
Definition 3.5 With these notations, the closed module (£a,T) is the
boundary of (£, S, r) if the following properties hold
a. For every ip G C~([0,1]), with <p(0) = 0, one has 6(</?)(dom S*) C d o m 5 ,
and S*6(p) = Sb(ip).
b. If </> G C c °°(]0,1[), and if £ G d o m S or £ G d o m ¥ ( T ) , then
S<p£ = * ( T ) ^ .
322 MICHEL HILSUM

c. For every ip G C°°([0,1]) with supportip f~l support </? = 0, one has
b{<p)S*b(ip) = 0.
Example 3.6 We can take £ = £b® L2([0, +oo[) <g> C 2 with S the closure
on Cc(]0, +oo[) of the matrix given by the formula (3.1), in which case the
boundary is given by (£b,T).
Remark 3.7 Suppose (£, S, r) and (£;,, T) satisfies the preceding conditions,
but with b(ip) replaced by b(ip) = m(ip)+ip(l)q and the condition a replaced
by the analogous condition a with </?(l) = 0. The one says that (£b,T) is
a right boundary. The two definition are related as follows: we see that
under the unitary U of £b <8> L2(R, C) implemented by the map

MU)J V-&(i-«).
from L ([0,1]) <g> C to L ([0,1]) ® C 2 , the operator * ( - T ) becomes
2 2 2

/ 0 - £a + T N
--£-
U**(-T)U = fa." "
\ «
3u i - o

We see then that if (£b, —T) is the boundary of {£, S, r) in the sens of
the definition 3.8, then replacing b(ip) by b(ip) = (q + pU)b(tp)(q + pU),
the closed module (£b,T) becomes the right boundary of (£,S,T) (and
inversely).
Lemma 3.8 Let {£, S, r) be an unbounded module with boundary as in the
definition above. Then for any (f G C°°([0,1]) ; one has b(<p) € £(S) and
b(<p) e £(S*).
Proof. The proof of b(ip) G £(S) is the same as in Lemma 3.4. The last
assertion follows then from Lemma 2.1. •
We relate now the two notions of partition and boundary. Let (£, D, r)
be an unbounded module partitioned by (£b,T) with projections q~,p,q+
and satisfying to the definition 3.2. We can form the Hilbert module
£ = imp + q+ and set b{ip) = (p + q+)a(tp) for <p G C([0,1]). Let S
the operator obtained by taking the closure of the restriction of D to the
subspace linearly spanned by £ G dom£> such that a(<^)£ = 0 for some
<pecc(]0,i]).
Proposition 3.9 The triple (£,S,T) is a symmetric module which admits
(£b,T) as boundary. Moreover, ifq~(l + D2)~l G )€((£)), then one has
(l + S*Sy1 eJC(£).
Proof. For the first assertion, the only point to check is the regularity
of S. Let 9 G Cc°°([0,1[) such that 6 = 1 in a neighbourhood of 0. Then for
 H l L B E R T MODULES O F FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 323

f € domD, j] £ d o m * ( T ) , one has a(l - 9)£ £ domS, 6(0)T? G d o m S and

S(a(l - 0)£ + 6(0)77) = Da(l - 0)£ + *(T)6(6»)r/.

From Lemma 2.3, we see that that the map (£,77) —> (o(l — 0)£, 6(0)77)
from W(D)ffiW(*(T)) to W(5) is a surjective and adjointable and the for-
mally same map to £ is adjointable too. By a classical result of Mishchenko,
there exists a right inverse to this map, and thus the canonical injection
W(5) —> £ which factors through a product of adjointable maps, is in
£(W(S),£).
For the second assertion, let W C W(D) be the closed subspace gener-
ated by the elements £ G domZ) such that q+£ = 0. The hypothesis implies
that the natural injection W —> £ is compact but as W = W(S), this is
equivalent to suppose that the natural injection W —> £ is compact. •
Inversely, let (£,S,T) a symmetric module with boundary (£b,T) and
projectors p,q satisfying to the definition 3.5. Let (£i,Si) another sym-
metric module with right boundary (£{,,— T), pi,Qi the projectors, as in
the remark above. We can form the Hilbert module £ = imqi © £b £S>
L 2 ([0,1],C 2 ) ffiimq. Let 0 £ C°°([0,1]) such that 0 EE 1 in a neigh-
bourhood of 1, and 0 = 0 near 0, and set D the operator with domO =
61 (9) dom Si + 6(1 - 9) dom S and for f <E dom S and C e dom Si

D(6i(<9)£ + 6(1 - 0 ) 0 = (1 ® U)Slbl{9)i + S6(l - 0)C (3.2)

In order to ensure that D is well defined, we have to show that 61 (0)£ 4-

6(1 - 0)( = 0 implies Si&i(0)£ + S6(l - 0)C = 0. But there exists ip £
C£°(]0,1[) such that ip = 1 on support(0(l - 0) and thus Si&i(0)£ + S6(l -
0)C = *(T)V»(6i(0)C + 6(1 - 0 ) 0 = 0. Analogously, Lemma 3.1 shows that
the operator D is symmetric and does not depend of the choice of 0.
P r o p o s i t i o n 3.10 The triple (£,D,f) is an unbounded module with D =
D* and is partitioned by (£b,T).
Proof. Let us show that D is selfadjoint, and let £ £ domD*. We have
identically (D£, () = (£, D*Q for £ = 6i(0)£ + 6(l -9)n, and then by letting
77 = 0, Lemma 3.8 implies 61 (0)£ G domSi, and thus 6i(0)C G dom Si.
Analogously, one has b(9)( G domS, which shows that domD = domD*.
It follows then from Lemma 2.1 that the map (£, rf) —> (61(0)£, 6(1 — 0)77)
from W(Si) © W(S) to W(D) is a surjective and adjointable map. There
exists a right inverse to this map, and thus the canonical injection W(D) —>
£ is adjointable. •
324 MICHEL HILSUM

4 Callias type operators

In this section we introduce Callias type operator for partitioned Hilbert

modules (cf. mem. [13]). Usually, such operators are defined for odd di-
mensional manifolds. The present definition concerns the even dimensional
case, and agrees with U. Bunke's work [2].
Let now an even unbounded module (£, D, r) over B, with D selfadjoint.
For a G £(£), the operator D + ra is a bounded perturbation of a regular
operator, and is also regular, and let

F(a) = (D2 + 1)-HD + TCL).

As (D + T ) 2 = D2 + 1, one has (D + T)'1 G C(£) and F{\) = (D2 +

l)-i{D + r) is a unitary. The equality F{a) = F ( l ) +T{D2 + l)~i(a- 1),
shows then F(a) G £{£)•
Lemma 4.1 Let a = a* G £>(D), satisfying [D,a](D 4- i ) _ 1 G fc(£) and
(a2 -l)(D + i)~l G K(£). Then the following relations hold F'(a)- F'(a)* £
K{£) andF(a)2 - 1 eK{£).
Proof. We have D(D2 + l)~\ = (D2 + l)~\D and (D2 + l)~ir =
2
T(D + 1)~2. Thus to prove the first relation, it remains to show that
[a,(D2 + 1)-*] G K(£). It suffices to prove that [a, (D2 + l)" 1 ] £ K(£)
and as (i + D)~1(—i + D)~x = (1 + D 2 ) - 1 , we are reduced to show that
[a,(D ± i)-1} G K(£). For £ G £, one has (i + £>) _1 £ e domD and
[a, (i + D)-1}^ = (i + D) _1 [Z?,o](i + £>) _1 £, and by hypothesis this last
operator is compact.
For the second relation, we have that F(a)2 = F(a)F(a)* modulo K.(£)
and thus the following operator is compact

F(a)F(a)* - 1 = (D2 + l)~i(D2 + a2 + T[D,a])(D2 + 1)"* - 1

= (D2 + l)-i(r[D,a}+a2-l)(D2 + l)-i.

D
This lemma shows that under these conditions the couple (£, F(a)) de-
termines a class in K\(B) [21]. Recall that to the unbounded module
(£b,T) with T = T* and (i + T ) " 1 G K.(£) is also associated a class in
Ki(B) as follows: the operator F = T(l + T 2 ) " 1 satisfies F - F* G K(£b)
and F2 — 1 G IC(£b), and the class of (£b,T) is by definition the one of the
couple (£b, F) in KX(B). For any V € C°°([0,1]) such that ip(l) = - 1 and
V>(0) = 1, y/(°) = V'(l) = 0. w e set ify = F(a(rp)). From the Lemma 4.1,
the couple (£, F^) determines also a class in K\(B).
 H l L B E R T MODULES O F FOLIATED MANIFOLDS W I T H BOUNDARY 325

Theorem 4.2 Let (£b,T) be an unbounded module over B, which parti-

tions the unbounded module (£,D,T). For any ip as above, the classes in
Ki{B) of (£b,T) and of (£,F^,) are equal.
Proof. We prove first the assertion in the particular case where £ =
£b <g> L 2 ( R , C 2 ) and D = *oo(T). We know that Ki(B) is canonically
isomorphic with the bivariant group KKl(C, B) of G. Kasparov. Let a €
KK\C,C0(R)) and (3 e KK1 {C0{H), C) be the dual Dirac and Dirac
elements as introduced in [9]. They are mutually inverse, in the sense that
a ®c0(R) 0 — Id and (3 <8>c a = Id . Let z — [£b,T], and form the external
cup-product (3 <g)C z £ KK0(C0(R), B).
Then, by using the characterization of cup products by connections [3,
IV.A], one finds that the class of F^ in KKl(C,B) is the cup product of
a with (3 ®c z. By associativity of the cup-product, one finds

[£, F^] = a <8>c0(R) (P ®c z) = (a <S>Co(R) /3)®cz = z.

For the general case, one can suppose that £ = £b ® £ 2 (R) <8> C 2 . In-
deed,let £\ = £ © £o where £0 = B <g> L 2 (R) <8> C 2 , n = T ® T0 and
Di = D ® 1 ® L where L = -^ ® r i . By the first step the module (5o, 1 <8>L)
gives the null class in Ki(B), and the classes defined by D and D\ in K\(B)
are then equal. By the stabilisation theorem of G. Kasparov ([21], Theorem
6.2), the modules ker(ri ± 1) are stabilized, and isomorphic to £b <8> L 2 (R).
Let now for t e]0,1] the Hilbert module given by

£t = imq~ ®(£b®L2(l-r\t-l},C2))®imq+,

and £0 = £b ® L 2 (R, C 2 ). By using the Propositions 3.10 and 3.9, one gets
an evident selfadjoint operator Dt on £t- Let Do = ^oo{T). Then with
obvious notations the family Ft = (Dt+at('ip))(D2 + l)~2 gives a homotopy
between F0 and Fi in KKl{C, B), and thus [Fi] = [F0] = [£b, T}. D
T h e o r e m 4.3 If the closed module (£b,T) is the boundary of a symmetric
module (£,S,T) such that (1 + S*S)~1 £ K.(£), then one has [£b,T] = 0 in
the group K\(B).
Proof. Let £ be the partitioned Hilbert module obtained by adding
£b ® L2(] - oo,0]) ® C 2 and let D the corresponding operator. For any
ip G C°°[0,1] with V(0) = 1, V(l) = - 1 and V'(°) = V>'(1) = 0, we
have a ( » - 1 G /C(D), and thus F(a(V>)) - F ( l ) £ /C(5), where F(o) =
(D 2 +1)~ 2 (D + ra) is defined as before. As F ( l ) is invertible, by Theorem
4.2, we have [£b,T] = [£,F(1)\ = 0 in K^B). D
326 MICHEL HILSUM

5 B o r d i s m of foliations

Let (W, F) be a closed (i.e. compact boundaryless) foliated manifold of

class C 0 ' 0 0 . We suppose for simplicity that d i m F is odd.
We need the longitudinal index class of the foliation (W, F) [3], which
is the subject of the minicourse by H. Moriyoshi in these proceedings [15].
We recall briefly its definition.
Let G be the holonomy groupoid of the foliation (W, F) with source and
target maps r, s : G —> V, and C*{G) the reduced C*-algebra of G, also
denoted C*(W,F). We assume that the tangent bundle to the foliation F
is spin and let S be a spinor bundle, and A\ the longitudinal Dirac operator
acting C°'0O{W, S).
Then by taking the pull back s*(S) of S on G, one can form a Hilbert
module £ over B, and the pull back of A\ on G is a closable selfadjoint
regular operator on £. Letting A its closure, then the couple {£,A) is a
closed module.
The class of (£,A) in Ki(C*(W,F)) is the longitudinal index class of
the spin structure on F.
Let (V, E) be a connected compact foliated manifold such that W is a
union of connected component of the boundary V, and that the foliation
E is transverse to W and intersects W along F.
By [5], Lemma 3.5, one has a tubular neighbourhood U of W with a
C0'°°-diffeomorphism 9 : U -> W x [0,1], such that E ~ F © (U x R) on
U w.r.t. 9. We may choose a riemannian structure g along the leaves on V
satisfying
g = dt2 © /i,
where /i is a riemannian structure along the leaves of F, and we fix a
spinor bundle SE for E compatible with S, in the sens that the restriction
of SE to U is equal to the product of S by the standard spin bundle of
T[0,1] = [0,1] x R. Now let D/ be the longitudinal Dirac operator acting on
C°'°°(V, SE)- Then one has an isomorphism C°'°°(U, SE) ^ C°'°°(W, S) ®
Cc°°([0,1]) ® C 2 , and one has [13]

Let iJ the holonomy groupoid of the foliation (V, E) and let H^ =

{l'j'r(l)->s(l) ^ W} C H. Then G is a closed and open subgroupoid of
H$, in general non trivial, and H$ is a closed subgroupoid of H.
The restriction of the source map s : H —> V to i/$f is a covering of the
foliation F. The pullback by this map of S and of Ai gives rise to a closed
 H l L B E R T MODULES OP FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 327

module {£b,A) over C*{H$).

As G is open and closed in H$, one has a morphism C*(W, F) —»
C*(H%), and a m a p $ : K»(C*(W,F)) -> K „ ( C * ( # $ 0 ) , and by construc-
tion, one has

$([£,A)) = [Sb,A]. (5.2)

Let H.y = { 7 ; s ( 7 ) e V,r(7) e W} C H. T h e n similarly, there is

a Hilbert C*(H$)-module J ' associated to S*(SE), and the longitudinal
Dirac operator on E determines an operator D on J. Let £+ C J the sub-
module generated by section of S*(SE) whith support in the complementary
of r*{U).
Recall t h a t a submanifold W of V transverse to E is said to be faithful
if it intersects all the leaves of E.
L e m m a 5.1 Using 9 : U —> [0,1] x W, one has an isomorphism J =
(£b <8> L 2 ( [ 0 , 1 ] , C 2 ) ) © £+. With respect to this isomorphism, the closed
module (£b,A) is the boundary of (J,D,T).
Moreover, ifW is a faithful transverse to the foliation on V, then (1 +
D*D)~l is a compact operator of J.
Proof. T h e restriction groupoid H^ gives rise to a C*{V, E) - C*(H^)
Hilbert bimodule. Let Dy be the longitudinal Dirac operator on C*(V, E).
Then D = Dv <2>C-(V,B) Id.
On t h e complete manifold V = (] - oo, 0] x W) U V one has a foliation
E of class C°'°° which extends trivially E. W i t h evident notations, by
[Proposition 5.2] [7], the longitudinal operator Dy is regular on E. T h u s ,
by Proposition 3.9, Dy is regular and (1 + DvDv)~x is compact. This
implies t h a t D is regular.
If W is faithful, there the bimodule gives a Morita equivalence between
C*(V,E) and C*(H%). Then as (1 + DvDv)~l is compact, the operator
l
(1 + D*D)~ is compact. •
This last lemma and Theorem 4.3 give now immediately
T h e o r e m 5.2 Suppose that dV = W and that W is a faithful tranverse to
(V,E). Then one has $({£,A\) = 0 in K*(C*(H%)).
Remark 5.3 Last theorem is not true if the hypothesis W faithful is dropped.
Here is a counter-example communicated to us by the referee whom we
t h a n k s gratefully.
Let T 2 be the two-torus and F C T(T2) a Kronecker foliation of irra-
tionnal slope. T h e n t h e T h o m isomorphism in K-theory for R-actions [3]
shows t h a t t h e longitudinal index class from the spin structure is a gener-
ator in K!(C*{T2,F)) = Z2.
328 MICHEL HILSUM

Let Vx = T2 x [±, 1] and let W = T2 x {1} and Wx = T2 x {£}. There

exists a two dimensional foliation on V\ transverse to W and inducing F,
and for which W\ is a leaf: this foliation can be obtained by extending
the product foliation near W and tabulating leaves by rotating along Wi
(leaves wind around W\). Let E the foliation on the solid torus V —
D2 x S1 obtained by extending this foliation by a Reeb component on the
complementary of V\ — W\.
Then W is not faithful, C*(H$) is Morita equivalent to C*(T2, F), and
3>([£,J4]) 7^ 0. Therefore, the conclusion of the theorem is not satisfied.
Now suppose that dV = W = W1l)W2 where (Wi, Fi), (W2,F2) be are
closed manifold with spin foliation of class C 0 ' 0 0 , and that there exist a spin
transverse foliated bordism (V, E) between them. Let Bj be the reduced
C*-algebra of (Wj,Fj) and Bj the reduced C*-algebra of the groupoid Gw\,
and $j : K*(Bj) —> K*(Bj). Again , we assume that W is faithful; the
under these conditions
Corollary 5.4 / / ^ ( [ ^ A ] ) ^ 0, then [£2,A2] ^ 0.
Proof. There is a Hilbert module £j over C*{H^) built from H$ =
s-1(Wj)r\r-1(W), with a representation C*(Bj) -> £(£,•). This bimodule
gives a class in the bivariant K-theory group [Sj] € KK(Bj,C*(H^)), such
that the associated homomorphism Ki(Bj) —> K\{C*{H^)) is injective.
Keeping the above notations, one has C*(W, F) = B\® B2 and $ = [£\] o
$1 — {£2] ° ^2- By the last proposition and using injectivity, one gets the
conclusion. D
Remark 5.5 As mentioned in the introduction, there are analytical proofs
of bordism invariance in various geometric situations [4, 1, 14, 16, 12]. It
relies essentially on the exact sequence in bivariant K-theory for B a C*-
algebra of G. Kasparov [9]

-> KK°(C0(V - W), B) -> KK\C(W), B) -> KK\C(V), B) ->,

where dV = W and B is a separable C*-algebra.

It is less elementary as it uses pseudodifferential calculus. However, one
can guess that its works for B = C*(V,E) and this would give in that
situation an alternative proof of Theorem 5.2.

6 Foliation with longitudinal positive scalar curvature

Let (W, F) be a foliated manifold of class C 0 - 00 and g a C 0 ' 0 0 -riemanman

structure along the leaves. The longitudinal scalar curvature is the smooth
 HlLBERT MODULES OF FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 329

function KI : V —> R the value of which at x E V is equal to the scalar

curvature of the restriction of g to leaf which contains x.
One may asks under which condition m should be positive. J. Rosenberg
[19] and A. Connes [3] obtained the following
Proposition 6.1 Let (W, g) be a smooth spin foliated manifold and g a
longitudinal riemannian metric with strictly positive scalar curvature. Then
the longitudinal index class of the spin structure in K*(C*(W,F)) is nul.
Using the result of the last section , one then obtains
Corollary 6.2 Let (W\, F{), {W2,F2) be closed manifold with spin folia-
tions of class C 0 ' 0 0 , and let (V,F) a transverse faithful bordism between
(Wi,Fi) and (W2,F2). If ®i([£i, Ai}) ^ 0, then (W2,F2) cannot carry a
riemannian structure with strictly positive longitudinal scalar curvature.
Now we focus on the following situation: (V, E) is foliated manifold of
class C 0 ' 0 0 (V is not assumed to be compact), and (W, F) a codimension one
closed foliated submanifold, faithfully transverse to E. We choose a tubular
neighboorhood U ~ [—1,1] x W and the foliation E and F are assumed to
have compatible spin structure. We define as above (£,A) (resp. (£b,A),
(J,D,T)) the longitudinal index classes oiC*{W,F) (resp. C*(G%)).
Suppose now that Vis separated or partitioned by W, which means that
V - W = V+ U V- where V_, V+ are open and V-DV+- 0.
Then as in Lemma 5.1, the unbounded module (J,D,T) is partitioned
by(£,i).
In this situation, we obtain a generalization of a previous results of
M. Gromov-B. Lawson [11] and of J. Roe [18].
Proposition 6.3 Let (W, F) be a closed spin foliated manifold of class
C 0 ' 0 0 which separates faithfully (V, E) as in conditions above. If there exists
c > 0 such that the longitudinal scalar curvature satisfies K > c onV, then
$([£,A])=0inK.(C*{H%)).
Proof. The Bochner-Weitzenbock formula tells us that

D2 = V*V + R,

where k = K O r and V are the pullbacks of the Clifford connection and of

the scalar curvature on J.
Let tp be a smooth function on V which modulo CC(V) is equal to 1
on V_ and to -1 on V- and such that \\dtp\\ < %. Let then F^ = (1 +
D2)?(D + Tip) is invertible, with i> is the pullback of xjj. One | | F ^ , i ^ - l | | =
||(1 + D2V)?{$2 - 1 + [ D V l $ ) ( l + £>v)*ll < !- w h i c h s h o w s t h a t Fi- is

invertible. By Theorem 4.2, it follows that [£, A] = 0 in Ki(C*(H%)). D

330 MICHEL HILSUM

7 Example: the smooth case

We illustrate this by several geometrical examples. There are spin foliated

manifolds for which we know that [£,A] ^ 0 , for example all foliations
which comes from a free action of a simply connected solvable Lie group
II.C [3]. Here are another examples.
Suppose that (W, F) is a foliation of classe C 0 0 ' 0 0 . Let 11 C H* (W, R) be
the subring generated by Pontryagin classes of the quotient vector bundle
TW/F, Chern classes of holonomy invariant complex vector bundles on
W, and the image of WOq in H*(W,R) by the Weil homomorphism (q =
dim W — dim F). Then A. Connes has proved that every w e K determines
a homomorphism u>„ : K*(B) —> R such that III.7 [3]

u,.([£,A]) = {A(F)/\w,[W]), (7.1)

where A(F) is the A-genus of the tangent bundle of the manifold, a universal
polynomial in the Pontryagyn classes of F.
Proposition 7.1 Let (W,F) be a foliated manifold of classe C00'00 which
is a faithful tranverse boundary component of a compact foliated manifold
of class C0'00. If there exists u e 11 such that (A(F) A w, [W]) ^ 0, then
QifrAVjLOinKWiHft)).
Proof. Form the construction of the fundamental class [3], Section III.7,
as Hyy is itself a groupoid of local tranverse diffeomorphisms of (W, F), each
u> G 1Z defines similarly a map <D* : K,,{C*{Hy^)) —> C such uJ*([£b,A\) =
(A(F) Aw, [W]). The assertion follows now from relation (5.2). •
Thus if (W, F) satisfies conditions of Theorem 5.2, or of Proposition 6.3,
the longitudinal index class implies the annulation of all the caracteristic
numbers in the r.h.s. of Equation (7.1).
There always exists w G H*(W, R) such that A(F)Acu = A(W) ; in par-
ticular, if $([£, A]) = 0, then one recovers Lichnerowicz's condition (1.1).
Remark 7.2 In the case where W is the boundary of V, the construction
works if we only suppose that the foliations are oriented, by using the
signature operator alongs the leaves instead of the Dirac operator. The
condition in the last proposition becomes (L(W) A ui, [W]) =£ 0, where
L(W) is the L-genus of the bundle F.
Furthermore, if (V, E) is assumed to be a class C°°'°° then Stokes' The-
orem gives directly (A(F) A u>, [W]) = 0 for every ui £ H.
 HlLBERT MODULES OF FOLIATED MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 331

References

1. P. Baum and R.G. Douglas, Relative K homology and C*-algebras,

K-Theory, 5 (1991), no. 1, 1-46.
2. U. Bunke, A K-theoretic relative index theorem and Callias-type Dirac
operators, Math. Ann., 303 (1995), 241-279.
3. A. Connes, Non-Commutative Geometry, Academic Press, New-York,
1994.
4. A. Connes and G. Skandalis, The longitudinal index theorem, Tohoku
J. Math., 317 (1994), 521-526.
5. C. Godbillon, Feuilletages: etudes geometriques, Progress in Mathe-
matics, no. 98, Birkhauser Verlag, Leipzig, 1991.
6. N. Higson, A note on the cobordism invariance of the index, Topology,
30 (1991), 3.
7. M. Hilsum, Fonctorialite en K-theorie bivariante pour les varietes lip-
schitziennes, K-theory, 3 (1989), 401-440.
8. K. Jensen and K. Thomsen, Elements of Ki^-theory, Birkhauser,
Boston, 1991.
9. G.G. Kasparov, The operator K-functor and extensions of C* -algebras,
Math. U.S.S.R. Izv., 16 (1981), 513-572.
10. E.C. Lance, Hilbert C*-modules, L. N. Ser., no. 210, London Mathe-
matical Society, Cambridge University Press, 1994.
11. B. Lawson and M.-L. Michelsohn, Spin Geometry, London Mathemat-
ical Society. L. N. Ser., no. 210, Cambridge University Press, Saint
Louis, 1994.
12. E. Leichtnam and P. Piazza, Spectral sections and higher Atiyah-
Patodi-Singer index theory on Galois coverings, G.A.F.A., 8 (1996),
3-26.
13. M. Lesch, Operators of Fuchs type, conical singularities, and asymp-
totic methods, Teubner-Texte ziir Mathematik, no. 136, B.G. Teubner,
Stuttgart, 1997.
14. R.B. Melrose and P. Piazza, Families of Dirac operators, boundaries
and the b-calculus, J. Diff. Geom., 46 (1997), 99-179.
15. H. Moriyoshi, Operators algebras and the index theorem for foliated
manifolds, Foliations: Geometry and Dynamics (Warsaw), in these
proceedings, World Scientific, 2001, 127-155.
16. L. Nicolaescu, Generalized symplectic geometries and the index of fam-
ilies of elliptic problems., Mem. Amer. Math. Soc, 609 (1997).
17. R.S. Palais, Seminar on the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, Annals of
Math Studies, no. 21, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1965.
18. J. Roe, Partinioning noncompact manifolds and the dual Toeplitz prob-
332 MICHEL HILSUM

lem, O p e r a t o r algebras and applications, no."?" London Math. Soc.

Lecture Notes Ser., 135, Cambridge University Press, 1988.
19. J. Rosenberg, C*-algebras, positive scalar curvature, and the Novikov
conjecture., Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes E t u d . Sci., 5 8 (1983), 409-424.
20. W. Shih, Fiber cobordism and the index of a family of elliptic differen-
tial operators, Bull. Amer. Math. S o c , 72 (1966), 984-991.
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1993.

Received November 3, 2000, revised July 3, 2001.

Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawet WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 333-349

N O N - E U C L I D E A N A F F I N E LAMINATIONS

VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH
CNRS UMR-6625, IRMAR,
Universite Rennes-1, France,
e-mail: [email protected]

The purpose of the present paper is to discuss examples of affine Riemann surface
laminations which do not admit a leafwise Euclidean structure. The first example
of such a lamination was constructed by Ghys [5]. Our discussion is based on the
geometric methods developed by Lyubich, Minsky and the author [13], [12], which
rely on the observation that any affine surface A gives rise in a natural way to a
hyperbolic 3-manifold SjA with a distinguished point at infinity. In particular, we
give a new interpretation and a generalization of the example of Ghys.

1 Affine and hyperbolic laminations

In this Section we recall the basic facts on the relationship between affine
and hyperbolic laminations. Although our exposition is self-contained,
more details on this relationship can be found in [12].

l.A Affine and Euclidean surfaces

By endowing a Riemann surface S with an atlas of coordinate charts with
transition maps from a given pseudo-group C (contained in the pseudo-
group of all holomorphic maps) one can define finer geometric structures
on S.
Definition 1.1 We shall say that S is

(i) an affine Riemann surface, if C is the group of all complex affine maps
z H-> az + b, a , i ) 6 C , a / 0 ;
(ii) a Euclidean surface, if C is the group of all maps z <—> az + b, a,b 6
C, \a\ = 1 (so that the transitions are Euclidean motions).

333
334 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

If S is an affine surface, then its tangent and cotangent bundles (and

hence all tensor bundles) are endowed with a natural flat connection. Being
parallel with respect to this connection means to have constant coefficients
in any affine coordinate chart (the reader is referred to [3] and [8] for general
notions from the theory of affine manifolds). So, one can talk about parallel
vector fields, forms, Riemannian metrics, etc. on S. In these terms a
Euclidean surface is just an affine surface endowed with a parallel conformal
metric.
An affine Riemann surface structure is the same as a complex affine
structure, or, in "real terms", a projective Euclidean (= similarity) struc-
ture. In particular, an affine plane is R 2 endowed with the class of all
multiples of a given Euclidean structure.
Any complete affine surface is a quotient of the affine plane by a freely
acting discrete group of Euclidean motions. Therefore, for any such surface
the affine structure can be refined to a Euclidean one, i.e. there exists a
parallel conformal metric. However, this is no longer true if we pass from
a single surface to a collection of surfaces assembled into a lamination.

l.B Hyperbolic space

Before describing a relationship between affine surfaces and 3-dimensional
hyperbolic geometry, let us first recall the basic notions concerning the
hyperbolic space.
The sphere at infinity <9H3 is the boundary of the visibility compact-
ification of the 3-dimensional hyperbolic space H 3 . The space H 3 with a
distinguished boundary point q € <9H3 is called pointed at infinity.
By Vq — 9 H 3 \ {q} we denote the punctured visibility sphere. The
hyperbolic space H 3 is fibred over Vq by means of the projection pq which
assigns to any h € H 3 the uniquely determined point pq{h) 6 Vg such that
h lies on the geodesic joining q and pq(h).
Definition 1.2 ([9]) Let (H 3 , q) be a pointed at infinity hyperbolic space.
The choice of the point q £ 9 H 3 determines the Busemann cocycle (3q on
H 3 x H 3 by the formula

Pq(hi,h2) = \im[d(hi,h) -d(h2,h)] ,

h

where h € H 3 converges to q in the visibility topology.

Definition 1.3 The horosphere centred at q and passing through a point
h £ H 3 is the level set of the Busemann cocycle:

Hor q (/i) = {h' e H 3 : f3q(h, h') = 0} .

 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 335

By Hor(H 3 ,g) we denote the space of' horospheres centred at q, and by

Hor(H3)= (J Hor(H 3 ,g)

3
9S9H

the space of all horospheres in H 3 . The center of a horosphere T 6 Hor(H 3 )

is denoted T ^ e <9H3.
Below we shall usually omit the subscript q when the point at infinity
q is fixed.
These notions are best illustrated by looking at the upper half-space
model

H ^ C x l + = {(z,t):zeC,(>0}, dp2 = |rfz|

^2+ ^ , (1.4)

where \dz\2 is the standard Euclidean metric on C.

The geodesies in this model are either Euclidean half-circles orthogonal
to the boundary plane or vertical lines, and the visibility sphere is the union
of the distinguished point at infinity q — oo and the boundary plane

V = {(z,t) :z€C,t = 0} = dU3\{q}.

The Busemann cocycle with respect to the point q = oo is

MM =**$$• (1-5)

Thus, the horosphere Hor(/i) is the horizontal coordinate plane passing

through h, and the map b is the coordinate projection h — i > z(h) (see
Figure 1).

l.C Hyperbolization of affine surfaces

P r o p o s i t i o n 1.6 The punctured visibility sphere V = 9 H 3 \ {q} of a
pointed at infinity hyperbolic space (H 3 ,^) is endowed with a natural struc-
ture of an affine plane.
Proof. The projection p allows one to identify any horosphere Hor(/i)
with the punctured visibility sphere V. Denote by Eh the Riemannian
metric on V obtained by restricting the hyperbolic metric onto Hor(h) and
then projecting it onto V. By formula (1.4)

K - ^ , (1.7)
336 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

<7 = CO

Hor(/t) h

V^C
(»

Figure 1.

so that (V,Eh) is a Euclidean plane. Further, by (1.5) the structures £/> for
different h are all proportional, and
Eft!
exp[/?(/n,/i 2 )]- (1-8)
£/i 2

•
Conversely, let us show that any affine surface gives rise to a pointed at
infinity hyperbolic 3-manifold.
Definition 1.9 Let 5 be a Riemann surface. The elements of the scaling
bundle

p:SjS-^S

over S are conformal circles in the tangent spaces TZS, z £ S. Any circle
h G SjS can be considered as the unit circle of the associated conformal
Euclidean metric Sh on T p ^5. Below we shall often identify h and Eh, and
consider SjS as the bundle of conformal Euclidean metrics on tangent spaces
TZS, zeS.
We can use formula (1.8) to define (3(h\, /12) for any two points hi, /12 €
SjS from the same fibre. Therefore, any fibre of p is endowed with the
metric

d(hi,h2) = \P(hi,h2)\ , phi = ph2 (1.10)

 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 337

Proposition 1.11 If A is an affine plane, then SjA is given a natural

structure of a pointed at infinity hyperbolic space.
Proof. We shall realize A as the boundary plane of the hyperbolic space
in the upper half-space model. The fibres of the bundle p : SjA —> A
are endowed with the metric (1.10), and the points of 9)A are themselves
metrics on tangent spaces TZA. In order to combine them and produce a
metric on SjA we shall need the affine connection over A.
Since A is simply connected, the affine connection (being flat) gives
natural bijections between all fibres of p which preserve the distance (1.10).
These bijections are obtained by the parallel transport of metrics e^, h G
SjA and provide us with a product structure on SjA. In other words, any
metric s^ extends from the tangent space TPhA to a Euclidean metric (also
denoted Eh) on A (note that because of this formula (1.8) for the Busemann
cocycle now makes sense for all h\,h,2 € SjA, not just for those from the
same fibre).
Now taking the product of the metric Sh and the fibre metric (1.10)
gives precisely the Riemannian metric (1.4). D
We shall call the constructed correspondence Sj between affine planes
and pointed at infinity hyperbolic spaces the hyperbolization functor.
Remark 1.12 In the same way one can easily see that the hyperbolization
functor Sj is bijective between the category of complete affine surfaces and
the category of complete hyperbolic 3-manifolds obtained by factorizing
a pointed at infinity hyperbolic space (H3,q) by a freely acting discrete
horospheric group (i.e. the one which preserves the horospheres centred
at q).

l.D Affine and Euclidean laminations

Let now £ be a Riemann surface lamination, i.e. the leaves of C are Rie-
mann surfaces, and there is an atlas of local charts ("flow boxes") such that
the transition maps are conformal and transversely continuous. Further re-
stricting the class of leafwise transition maps one gets affine and Euclidean
laminations (cf. Definition 1.1). Their leaves are affine and Euclidean sur-
faces, respectively. If the leaves of an affine lamination are isomorphic to
the standard affine plane C, we also call it a C-lamination.
Now one can ask whether, given an affine lamination A, its structure
can be refined to that of a Euclidean lamination. In other words, whether
one can choose a Euclidean {= parallel) metric on every leaf of A (in [5]
this is called uniformization).
As we have already mentioned, a single leaf of an affine lamination is
338 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

always uniformizable. However, the problem is that the leafwise Euclidean

metrics have to be consistent with the lamination structure, i.e. have to
be "well-behaved" when one passes from one leaf to another one. In the
lamination setup (with no transverse smooth structure) one can deal either
with the continuous or with the Borel category.
Definition 1.13 An affine lamination is uniformizable in the continuo-
us (resp. Borel) category if it admits a leafwise parallel metric which is
transversely continuous (resp. Borel).
Below for simplicity we shall only deal with the affine C-laminations,
although all the considerations carry over to general affine laminations as
well (cf. Remark 1.12 and Remark 1.17 below).
Let A be a C-lamination. Then the application of the hyperbolization
functor $j to the leaves L of A gives rise to the lamination H = f)A (the
hyperbolization of A) whose leaves are pointed at infinity hyperbolic 3-
spaces f)L. The lamination Ti is a 1-dimensional fibre bundle p : Ti —> A
over A. The leafwise Busemann cocycles piece together a global Busemann
cocycle (3 on Ti,
The elements of H can be considered as Euclidean conformal metrics on
the tangent spaces to points of ,4 (cf. Definition 1.9). Therefore, sections
a : A —> Ti of the fibre bundle p are in one-to-one correspondence with
leafwise conformal Riemannian metrics on A- Sections corresponding to
parallel (= Euclidean) leafwise metrics are precisely those which consist of
leafwise horospheres, i.e. those for which (3{a{zi),a{z2)) = 0 for any zi,z2
from the same leaf in A.
Theorem 1.14 A C-lamination A is uniformizable in the continuous (resp.
Borel) category if and only if the Busemann cocycle on the lamination Ti
is cohomologically trivial in the transversely continuous (resp. Borel) co-
homology, i.e. if and only if there exists a transversely continuous (resp.
Borel) function f : Tt —> R such that

P(h1,h2) = f(h2)-f(h1) (1.15)

for any two points hi, hi from the same leaf in Tt.
Proof. If a : A —> Ti is the section corresponding to a parallel leafwise
metric on .4, then
P(hi, h2) = P(hi,o- o p(hi)) + P(a o p(hi), a o p(/i 2 )) + /3(a o p(h2), h2)
= f(h2)-f(hi)

with f(h) = (3(<j o p(/i), h). Therefore, the graph of the section a coincides
with the level set / _ 1 ( 0 ) .
 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 339

Conversely, if p satisfies (1.15), then t h e level set / _ 1 ( 0 ) is t h e graph of

a uniquely defined parallel section a.
Clearly, t h e function / and the section a are continuous (resp. Borel)
simultaneously. •
C o r o l l a r y 1.16 Let an affine lamination Abe a quotient of a C-lamination
A with respect to a discrete group G of automorphisms. Then A is uni-
formizable in the continuous (resp. Borel) category if and only if the Buse-
mann cocycle on A is cohomologically trivial by means of ascertain trans-
versely continuous (resp. Borel) G-invariant function on fiA.
Remark 1.17 In order t o make Theorem 1.14 valid for general affine lami-
nations one has t o pass t o the leafwise de R h a m cohomology by replacing
t h e B u s e m a n n cocycle with the appropriate differential 1-form (the differ-
ential of t h e Busemann cocycle with respect to the second argument). T h e n
t h e above Corollary would follow from Theorem 1.14 directly applied to the
quotient lamination A.

2 F o l i a t i o n s a n d l a m i n a t i o n s a s s o c i a t e d 'with t h e h y p e r b o l i c
space

2. A Tautological foliations

T h e simplest building blocks of an affine lamination are the s t a n d a r d affine

planes. As we have seen, such a plane arises as the punctured visibility
sphere Vq = 9 H 3 \ {q} of a pointed at infinity hyperbolic space ( H 3 , g ) .
Conversely, the hyperbolization functor ^ allows one to recover the space
( H 3 , q) from Vq. Varying t h e b o u n d a r y points q € 9 H 3 we obtain a family
of affine planes Vq, q G <9H3.
D e f i n i t i o n 2.1 T h e tautological C-foliation Ao is the foliation of the lo-
cally compact t o t a l space

«9 2 H 3 = <9H3 x d H 3 \ diag = ( J P , x {q} (2.2)

qedn3
with t h e leaves Vq. Its hyperbolization Ho = $)Ao is called the tautological
pointed at infinity hyperbolic foliation. T h e total space of Ho is

H 3 x <9H3 = ( J H 3 x {q}
qedH3

and the leaves are pointed at infinity hyperbolic spaces ( H 3 , g ) . T h e Buse-

m a n n cocycle on Ho is
P{(h1,q),(h2,q))=pq(h1,h2).
340 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

2.B Parametrizations of the unit tangent bundle

Denote the unit tangent bundle of the hyperbolic space by UH3 with the
canonical projection

p : f/H 3 -+ H 3 ,

and let 7 = {"fT}Tem be the geodesic flow on UH3. The endpoints of the
geodesic determined by a tangent vector v 6 UH are denoted -y±00(v) G
dH 3 . By

Hor(w) = Hor 7 «. ( „ ) (p(u)) = {h £ H 3 : / ^ ( ^ ( p ^ K / i ) = 0}

we denote the horosphere centred at the point 7°°(t;) and passing through
the point p(v). Clearly,

Hor(ui) = Hor(u 2 ) <=>• Hor(7Ti>i) = Hor(7 T u 2 ) Vr e R ,

so that the formula

7 T Hor(u) = Hor(7 T u) , r e R (2.3)

determines an action of the geodesic flow on the space Hor(H 3 ). There are

7°°(tO=<7+ = T,

7-°°(w)=9-

Figure 2.

two natural parametrizations of the space t / H 3 (see Figure 2).

 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 341

Proposition 2.4 The map

v^{p(v)n°°(v)) (2-5)
3 3 3
from UH to the space H x 9 H is a dijfeomorphism. For any (h,q+) G
H 3 x 9 H 3 the associated vector v G C/H3 is the directing vector of the
geodesic ray issued from the point h in the direction q+.
Proposition 2.6 The map
v^(y-°°(v),Ror{v)) (2.7)

from UH.3 to the space

0H3xHor(H3)\{(g,T):g = Too}= |J 7>Too x {T} (2.8)

T<EHor(H3)

is a dijfeomorphism. For any g_ G <9H3, Y G Hor(H 3 ) with g_ ^ T ^ the

associated vector v G C/H3 is the tangent vector to the geodesic joining q-
with Too o-t the point of its intersection with the horosphere T.

2. C Stable and strongly stable foliations

Recall the definitions of two natural foliations associated with the geodesic
flow on UH3:
Definition 2.9 Two vectors ui,i>2 G UH3 belong to the same leaf of the
stable foliation Ws of the geodesic flow if
lim sup dist(7*i>i, 7*^2) < 00 , (2-10)
t—>+oo
and to the same leaf of the strongly stable foliation Wss if
lim dist(7'ui,7^ 2 ) = 0 , (2.11)
t—>+oo
where dist denotes the metric on UH3.
Condition (2.10) means that 7°°(vi) = 7°°(i>2)- Therefore,
Proposition 2.12 The identification (2.5) establishes an isomorphism be-
tween the foliations Ho and Ws.
Condition (2.11) means that Hor(t;i) = H o r ^ ) (this is why W s s is also
often called horosphere foliation). Therefore,
Proposition 2.13 Under the identification (2.7) the foliation W s s is iso-
morphic to the foliation of the space (2.8) with the leaves Vy^ x {T}.
Corollary 2.14 The foliation W s s is a Euclidean foliation.
342 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

Proof. Indeed, the leaves of W s s can be identified with horospheres in

3
H , so that they are endowed with the natural Euclidean structures induced
by the Riemannian metric on H 3 . •
In terms of the coordinates (<?_, T) (2.7) the geodesic flow on t / H 3 takes
the form
7 T (g_,T) = (<?-, 7 T T ) , (2.15)
ss
so that it acts by affine laminar automorphisms of W mapping (not iso-
metrically!) concentric horospheres one onto the other. The foliation .Ao is
the result of factorization of Wss by the geodesic flow (so that the space of
.4.0 has one dimension less than the space of Wss). This is the reason why
the leaves of A) carry just a natural affine structure (the "scale" having
been lost as a result of the action of the geodesic flow). On the hand, Ao
is, of course, uniformizable.
The total space of the hyperbolization $jWss is
|J $)VToo x {T} = H 3 x Hor(H 3 ) .
3
TeHor(H )

The Busemann cocycle on fyWs is

f3((h1,T),(h2,T))=pTx(h1,h2). (2.16)
The action of the geodesic flow on UH3 (2.15) induces its action on SjWss
7 T (/i,T) = (/ 1 , 7 T T) (2.17)
by isometries between leaves.

2.D Laminations associated with Kleinian groups

The roles of two factors <9H3 in the definition (2.2) of the total space 9 2 H 3
of the foliation Ao are quite different: the first one (the "leafwise direc-
tion" ) is indispensable if we want to have a C-lamination, whereas nothing
prevents us from replacing the second one (the "transverse direction") with
an arbitrary subset of 5 H 3 . Therefore, for any subset X C <9H3 the space

Ax = [J Vg x {q}
qex
is endowed with a lamination structure (this is not a foliation unless X is
a submanifold of 9H 3 ).
Definition 2.18 ([12]) Let G be a Kleinian group. The lamination AG —
3
-4A(G) > where A(G) C 9 H is the limit set of G, is called the affine lamina-
tion associated with the group G. The corresponding hyperbolic lamination
 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 343

Ti-G — &-A.G associated with the group G is t h e product lamination of t h e

total space H 3 x A(G).
Since t h e limit set is G-invariant, the group G acts on AG by laminar
affine maps and on Tic by laminar isometries. Moreover, the action of G
on H 3 (and, therefore, on t / H 3 = H 3 x 9 H 3 ) is discontinuous, so t h a t it is
also discontinuous on HG — H 3 x A(G). Denote by MG the corresponding
quotient hyperbolic lamination.
Remark 2 . 1 9 Although the quotient hyperbolic lamination MG always
makes sense, the quotient of the affine lamination AG by the action of
t h e group G is well-defined ( = the action of G on AG is discontinuous)
only if G is an elementary group.

2.E Non-triviality of the Busemann cocycle

If the group G is non-elementary, then the Busemann cocycle of the lam-

ination MG is non-trivial for an obvious reason: it is non-trivial for t h e
leaves in M G corresponding to fixed points of the hyperbolic elements in
G. Denote by A 0 = Ao(G) C A t h e set of all such fixed points. It is not
h a r d t o see t h a t even if we discard the set AQ (i.e. remove from MG all
leaves with non-trivial Busemann cocycle), t h e n t h e Busemann cocycle of
the lamination

M'G = H'a/G , H'G = H 3 x (A(G) \ A„(G))

is non-trivial in the continuous cohomology. We shall prove a stronger

result:
T h e o r e m 2 . 2 0 For any non-elementary Kleinian group G the Busemann
cocycle of the lamination M'G is non-trivial in the Borel cohomology.
Proof. Fix for convenience a reference point o € H 3 (its choice is ir-
relevant for w h a t follows) and take a probability measure \x on the group
G such t h a t t h e first moment ^Z„eG d(o, go) ^(g) is finite and fi(g) > 0
for all g £ G. Denote by /J,°° the product measure on the space G°° of
sequences g = (01,52, ••• )• Every g € G°° gives rise to the (random) se-
quence hn = hn(g) = g\gi.. .gno € H 3 which /u°°-a.e. has t h e following
properties (see [11]):

(i) There exists a limit

/loo = hoo(g) — lim hn £ dH3 ,

n—>oo
and t h e image v of the measure ^°° under the m a p g >-* h00(g) is
purely non-atomic.
344 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

(ii) If U denotes the Bernoulli shift (51,32, • • •) *-* (<?2,93, • • •) hi the space
(G 0 0 ,^ 0 0 ), then
hoo(Ug) = g^hooig) .

(iii) There exists a number I = 1{JJ) > 0 (the same for a.e. g € G°°) such
that

-d(o,hn) —> I .
71 n—>oo

(iv) The distance between hn and the geodesic ray joining the points o £ H 3
and hoo e <9H3 is o(n).
Combination of (iii) and (iv) implies that /i°°-a.e.

-Phx(ho,hn)^l. (2.21)
n
Assuming that the Busemann cocycle on M.'G is trivial, i.e. there exists
a G-invariant Borel function / on H.'G such that
0q(huh2) = f(h2,q)-f(h1,q). (2.22)
put
F(g) = f(o,h00).
As it follows from (i) above, i^(Ao) = 0, so that the function F is /z°°-a.e.
well-defined. Then
/3/joo (o, hn) = f(hn, /loo) - / ( O , /loo) = / ( 5 1 5 2 • • • 3 n » , /loo) - / ( O , /loo)
1
= f(o,g- ... fljV^oo) - /(o-^oo) = ^(f/ n 9) - ^ ( 9 ) •
Since U preserves the measure n°°, (2.21) would be then impossible by
the Poincare recurrence theorem, which gives the sought for contradiction.
•
Corollary 2.23 There is no Borel G-equivariant map assigning to every
point q G A(G) \ Ao(G) a horosphere centred at q.

3 An example of a non-Euclidean affine foliation

The first example of an affine foliation A which is not Euclidean was given
by Ghys [5] (also see [6]) on the base of a construction of non-standard
deformations, of Fuchsian groups due to Goldman [7] and Ghys [4] (note
that a completely different example is given in [12]). Here we shall recast
the example of Ghys by making more transparent its connection with the
 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 345

foliations associated with t h e geodesic flow on H 3 . T h e dimension of our

example is lower as instead of the group SL(2, C) of isometries of H 3 con-
sidered by Ghys in [5] we deal directly with the space C/H 3 (on the other
hand, our example is real, whereas the foliation of Ghys is holomorphic).
T h e argumentation is also different: it is based on the recent results [2], [10]
on t h e ergodicity of the horocycle foliation on abelian covers of hyperbolic
manifolds rather t h a n on the more restrictive ergodicity of the geodesic flow
used by Ghys (which allows us to drop t h e compactness assumption, see
Remark 3.13).
For an arbitrary Kleinian group G the Busemann cocycle on t h e hyper-
bolic foliation A 4 G is cohomologically non-trivial (Theorem 2.20); however,
M.G does not correspond to any affine foliation (see Remark 2.19). On t h e
other hand, recall t h a t the tautological affine lamination *4o can be consid-
ered as a quotient of the strongly stable foliation W s s of the geodesic flow
with respect t o the action of the flow (see formula (2.15) and the ensuing
discussion). This factorization preserves t h e leafwise affine structure, but
destroys the Euclidean structure. T h e example exploits t h e same idea, but,
in order to have a discontinuous action, we replace the "whole" geodesic
flow with a one-dimensional representation ( = character) of the group G.

3. A Twisted action

Take a compact hyperbolic manifold H and put G = iri(H). T h e actions

of G and of t h e geodesic flow 7 on ITH3 commute (note t h a t only the first
of these actions is isometric!). We shall now define a new "twisted" action
of G on [ / H 3 by combining the original action of G with the geodesic flow.
From now on we shall assume that the first Betti number of G is positive,
i.e. the group Hom(G, R) = HX(H, R) of additive real-valued characters of
G is non-trivial.
Remark 3.1 Although H o m ( G , R ) is trivial for certain cocompact Kleinian
groups, it is plausible (according to [15, p. 98]) t h a t if G is a lattice (in
particular, if G is cocompact), t h e n it always has the so-called Millson
property: there exists a finite index subgroup G ' c G such t h a t H o m ( G ' , R)
is non-trivial. This property has been proved for several classes of lattices.
D e f i n i t i o n 3 . 2 T h e twisted action Tx of the group G on UH3 determined
by a character \ G Hom(G, R) is

r»v = 9 o 7x<») (v) = 7 x ( 9 ) o g(y) , (3.3)

where in t h e right-hand side v 1—> gv is t h e s t a n d a r d action of G on C/H 3

(see Figure 3). We shall also use the same notation Tx for the action of the
346 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

group G on the space of horospheres Hor(H 3 ) defined by the formula

T ST = 7 X(9) 0 ff(T) = g 0 7 X(9)( T ) ]

where 7 now stands for the action (2.3) of the geodesic flow on Hor(H 3 )
Then in the coordinates (q, T) (2.7) on C/H3

TS(q,T) = (gq.TST) .

Figure 3.

3.B Admissible characters

Definition 3.4 A character \ S Hom(G,R) is admissible if the action Tx
is free, proper and totally discontinuous.
One can easily see that all characters sufficiently close to the identity
in Hom(G,IR) are admissible. The following complete description due to
Salein [14] was pointed out to us by Ghys. Note that although Salein deals
with compact hyperbolic surfaces only, his proof based on a criterion of
Benoist [1] almost verbatim carries over to compact hyperbolic manifolds
of higher dimensions as well.
Definition 3.5 The stable norm on Hom(G,R) is

11X11 = sup ^
gea Kg)
 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 347

where
1(g) = min{d(h,gh) : h € H3} , ge G,
denotes the length of the closed geodesic on H associated with the conju-
gacy class of g in the group G.
Proposition 3.6 The action Tx is admissible iff \\x\\ < 1.
Remark 3.7 As a motivation for this result note that if \(g) = ~K9) f° r a
certain element g € G, then T£v = v for any vector v G C/H3 tangent to
the axis of g.

3. C Absence of Euclidean structures

The action Tx preserves the foliation Wss and its affine (but not Euclidean,
unless x = 0!) structure.
Definition 3.8 For an admissible character x £ Hom(G, R) denote by Bx
the affine foliation of the quotient manifold UH.3/TX obtained by factorizing
the strongly stable foliation W s s by the action Tx.
For x = 0 the foliation BQ is just the strongly stable foliation of the
geodesic flow on U"H3/G, so that it is endowed with a natural leafwise
Euclidean structure.
Theorem 3.9 If X ¥" ®> then the affine foliation Bx does not admit any
Borel Euclidean structure.
Proof. Since Bx is defined as the quotient of the strongly stable foliation
Wss by the action Tx (3.3), by Corollary 1.16 we have to prove that the
Busemann cocycle (2.16) on the hyperbolization f)W s s is not cohomological
to zero by means of a certain Borel T x -invariant function:
/3((hi, T), (h2, T)) = f(h2, T) - f(hlt T) ,
f(T°(h,?))=f(h,r) VgeG, (h,T)ef)Wss-
We shall prove it under the only assumption that x ? ^ 0 (i.e. without
requiring that the character x D e necessarily admissible).
Indeed, if (3.10) were satisfied, then, as it follows from formula (2.16)
for the Busemann cocycle on SjWss, the function / would be expressed as
/(/>,T) = ^ ( T ) + / 3 T o o ( T , / i ) , (3.11)
3
where ip is a function on the space of horospheres Hor(H ), and fir^ (T, h)
denotes the common value Pr^fi', h), h' e T.
On the other hand, as it follows from (2.17), the action Tx on the
hyperbolization SjWss has the form
T9(h,T) = ( 5 / i , T | T ) .
348 VADIM A. KAIMANOVICH

Therefore, using (3.11) and the fact that (7TT)oo = Too for any r £ l and
T € Hor(H 3 ), we obtain
f(T°(h, T)) = f(gh,T9T) = tp{T°T) + 0groo(T°r,gh)

= cp(T9T) + /3 Too (7*<»>T, T) + /3 Too (T, h)

= <p(T°T)-x(g)+0T„(?,h).
The latter formula compared with (3.11) implies that / is T x -invariant iff
the function ip on Hor(H 3 ) satisfies the relation
V ^ T ) - x(9) = <p(?) V 5 e G, T € Hor(H 3 ) . (3.12)
In particular, the function <p has to be invariant with respect to the
standard action of the kernel Go = kerx of the homomorphism \. On
the other hand, the horosphere foliation on the abelian cover H 3 /Go of
the compact manifold H = H 3 / G is ergodic with respect to the smooth
measure class, which is equivalent to ergodicity (again with respect to the
smooth measure class) of the action of Go on the space Hor(H 3 ), see [2],
[10]. Therefore, the function <p must be a.e. constant, which is impossible
for x 7^ 0 m view of formula (3.12). •
Remark 3.13 The only property of the manifold H used in the proof of
Theorem 3.9 is ergodicity of the horosphere foliation on its homology cover.
It was proved in [10] that if the geodesic flow on a hyperbolic manifold
H = H 3 / G is ergodic with respect to the Liouville measure (= the group G
is of divergent type), then the horosphere foliation on the homology cover
of H is also ergodic. Therefore, Theorem 3.9 is valid not just for compact
manifolds, but also for all hyperbolic manifolds with ergodic geodesic flow.

References

1. Y. Benoist, Actions propres sur les espaces homogenes reductifs, Ann.

of Math., 144 (1996), 315-347.
2. M. Babillot and F. Ledrappier, Geodesic paths and horocycle flow on
abelian covers, 1-32, Proceedings of the International Colloquium on
Lie groups and Ergodic Theory, Bombay, 1996, eds. S.G. Dani, Narosa
Publ. House, Bombay, 1998.
3. Y. Carriere, Un survol de la theorie des varietes affines, Seminaire de
theorie spectrale et geometrie Chambery-Grenoble 1987-1988, 9-22.
4. E. Ghys, Flots d'Anosov dont les feuilletages stables sont differen-
tiables, Ann. Sci. Ecole Norm. Sup., 20 (1987), 251-270.
 NON-EUCLIDEAN AFFINE LAMINATIONS 349

5. E. Ghys, Sur I'uniformisation des laminations paraboliques, 73-91, in

Intagrable systems and foliations, Progress in Math., 145. Birkhaiiser,
Boston, 1997.
6. E. Ghys, Laminations par surfaces de Riemann, Panoramas et Synthe-
ses, 8 (1999), 49-95.
7. W. Goldman, Non-standard Lorentz space forms, J. Diff. Geom., 21
(1985), 301-308.
8. W. Goldman, Projective geometry on manifolds, Preprint, 1988.
9. V.A. Kaimanovich, Invariant measures of the geodesic flow and mea-
sures at infinity on negatively curved manifolds, Ann. Inst. H.
Poincare, Phys. Theor., 53 (1990), 361-393.
10. V.A. Kaimanovich, Ergodic properties of the horocycle flow and classi-
fication of Fuchsian groups, J. Dynam. Control Sys., 6 (2000), 21-56.
11. V.A. Kaimanovich, The Poisson formula for groups with hyperbolic
properties, Ann. of Math., 152 (2000), 659-692.
12. V.A. Kaimanovich and M. Lyubich, Conformal and harmonic measures
on laminations associated with rational maps, Stony Brook, preprint
2001-5.
13. M. Lyubich and Y. Minsky, Laminations in holomorphic dynamics, J.
Diff. Geom., 47 (1997), 17-94.
14. F. Salein, Varietes anti-de Sitter de dimension 3 possedant un champ
de Killing non trivial, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 324 (1997),
525-530.
15. E.B. Vinberg, V.V. Gorbatsevich and O.V. Shvartsman, Discrete sub-
groups of Lie groups, 1-124, in Lie Groups and Lie Algebras II (A.L.
Onishchik, E.B. Vinberg eds.), Springer, Berlin, 2000.

Received November 7, 2000, revised September 20, 2001.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 351-354

TRANSVERSE LUSTERNIK-SCHNIRELMANN CATEGORY

AND NON-PROPER LEAVES

REMI LANGEVIN
Laboratoire de Topologie, Departement de Mathematiques,
Universite de Bourgogne, B.P. 47 870, SI 078 Dijon, France,
e-mail: [email protected]

PAWEL G. WALCZAK
Wydzial Matematyki, Uniwersytet Lodzki,
ul. Banacha 22, 90-238 Lodz, Poland,
e-mail: pawelwal@math. uni. lodz.pl

T h e transverse Lusternik-Schnirelmann category for foliated manifolds

(as well as its s a t u r a t e d version) has been defined in [2]. T h e article [1]
contains t h e definitions, motivation and the survey of results concerning
these notion obtained until now. In this note, we present some observations
made recently by the authors and related to the presence of non-proper
leaves in foliated manifolds. We would like to mention t h a t our results are
valid in any codimension on arbitrary, a priori non-compact, manifolds.
To begin with let us accept the following definition: A leaf L on a foliated
manifold ( M , JF) has pathwise non-trivial holonomy when there exists a loop
7 : [0,1] —> L on L such t h a t the holonomy m a p /i 7 : V —> T, V being a
neighbourhood of the origin 7(0) in a transversal T, admits no non-trivial
p a t h s 5 : [0, e) —> T consisting of points fixed by /i 7 . More precisely, if S
is such a p a t h , then there exists a sequence (sn) of positive reals such t h a t
sn —> 0 as n —> 00 and h-y(5(sn)) / S(sn) for any n.
Proposition 1 If a leaf L has pathwise non-trivial holonomy, U is an open
neighbourhood of L in M and H : U x [0,1] —> M is a foliated homotopy
for which HQ = idu and H\{U) C L', V being a leaf, then V = L and
Ht(L) C L for any t 6 [0, 1].
Proof. Let A C [0,1] be the set of all t such t h a t HS(L) C L for any
s <t. Clearly, A is non-empty and closed. Assume t h a t to = maxj4 < 1.

351
352 R. LANGEVIN AND P.G. WALCZAK

Take a loop 70 : [0,1] —» L with pathwise non-trivial holonomy. Let

x
o = 7(0), xt = Ht(x0) and j t = Ht ° 70 for t G [0,1]. Since -yto is a loop
on L one can consider the holonomy map along it. This holonomy map
is conjugated to that one along 70, so holonomy along 7t0 is also pathwise
non-trivial. The curve [to, to + e) 3 t —> xt is non-trivial in the transverse
direction, therefore there exists a sequence (s„) of reals such that sn > to,
sn —* ^o as n —> 00 and

h-,t0(xSn) ¥= xSn (1)

for any n. Using a foliated chart around xto one can see that (1) implies that
the leaf distances dyr(yn,xtri), where yn = /i 7t (xXn) satisfy the condition

djr(yn,xsJ>A,neN, (2)
where A > 0 is a constant which depends on the choice of the foliated chart
only. (See Figure 1, where t — sn for a large n.)

L
U

Figure 1.

On the other hand, the leaf curves 7 t and j t , 7t(s) = hltQ|[0is](xt), have
the same origin xj, stay in the same leaf and - for t sufficiently close to to -
project to curves in L. From the uniform continuity of H\jt0 ([0,1]) x [0,1] it
 TRANSVERSE LUSTERNIK-SCHNIRELMANN CATEGORY 353

follows that these projections are uniformly close in L, therefore, 7t and j t

are uniformly close in Lt, the leaf through xt, for t close to to- Consequently,
dr(yn,Xs„.) —> O a s n ~ » oo. (3)
Clearly, (3) contradicts (2). ^
P r o p o s i t i o n 2 If L is non-proper and has pathwise non-trivial holonomy,
then L admits no open neighbourhoods which can be deformed into a leaf
by a foliated homotopy.
Proof. Assume that U is an open neighbourhood of L &nd H : Ux
[0,1] -> M is a foliated homotopy with H0 = idy and HX{L) C L', U being
a leaf. By Proposition 1, V = L and Ht(L) C L for any t.
Fix xo € L and set j(t) = Ht(x) for t € [0,1]. 7 is path in L, so one can
choose a chain V0,VU... ,Vk of foliated charts, members of a good foliated
atlas on M, along 7. We can assume that Vi C V; C £/, We can also choose
another good foliated chart W0 around x 0 and make it small enough to
satisfy the condition
(Vt € [0, l])(3i € { 0 , 1 , . . . , *}) Wt C V, (4)
where Wt = Ht(W0). (If we like, we can add that Wi C 14.)
Since WQ is connected, so is Wu and therefore Wx is contained in a
single plaque of Vk. On the other hand, since L is non-proper, L n W0
consists of infinitely (but countable) many plaques. Therefore, there exist
j € { 0 , 1 . . . , k} and arbitrarily close real numbers *i and t2 such that
h < *2, Wtl U Wt2 C Vj, WH n L intersects at least two plaques while Wt2
is contained in a single plaque of Vj (see Figure 2), a contradiction. •

Figure 2.
354 R. LANGEVIN AND P.G. WALCZAK

The above observation can be expressed in terms of transverse Lusternik-

Schnirelmann categories as follows:
Corollary 1 If a foliated manifold (M, T) contains a non-proper leaf with
pathwise non-trivial holonomy, then the saturated transverse Lusternik-
Schnirelmann category of T is infinite. •
In the case of foliations of codimension-one we obtain also the following.
Corollary 2 If a codimension-one C2'-foliation J7 of a compact manifold
M contains an exceptional minimal set E, then the saturated transverse
Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of J- is infinite.
In fact, by Sacksteder Theorem, E contains a resilient leaf with linearly
contracting holonomy, such a leaf is non-proper and has pathwise non-trivial
holonomy.
Comparing the above observations with those of [2] (and other papers
listed in [1]) one can expect that any basic function on a foliated manifold
(M, J7) has infinite number of critical leaves provided that J- has a non-
proper leaf with pathwise non-trivial holonomy.

Acknowledgments

While preparing this article the second author was supported by the Uni-
versite de Bourgogne and by the Polish KBN grant P03A 033 18.

References

1. H. Colman, LS-categories for foliated manifolds, in Foliations: Geom-

etry and Dynamics, eds. P. Walczak et. al., World Sci. Publ., 2001,
17-28.
2. H. Colman, E. Macias-Virgos, The transverse Lusternik-Schnirelmann
category of a foliated manifold, Topology, 40 (2000), 419-430.

Received June 18, 2001.

Procccdi/Tids of
FOLIATIONS: G E O M E T R Y AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 355-370

S T R U C T U R A L L Y STABLE DIFFEOMORPHISMS HAVE N O

C O D I M E N S I O N ONE PLYKIN A T T R A C T O R S O N
3-MANIFOLDS

VLADISLAV MEDVEDEV
Department of Applied Mathematics, Nizhny Novgorod
State Technical University
24 Minina Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603600, Russia,
e-mail: [email protected]

EVGENY ZHUZHOMA
Department of Applied Mathematics, Nizhny Novgorod
State Technical University
24 Minina Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603600, Russia,
e-mail: [email protected]

Let / be a structurally stable diffeomorphism of a closed 3-manifold M3. We

show that the spectral decomposition of / has no non-orient able codimension one
expanding attractors. This means that a structurally stable diffeomorphism of a
closed 3-manifold has no codimension one Plykin attractors.

Introduction

The most investigated structurally stable systems are codimension one

Anosov diffeomorphisms and Morse-Smale systems (see reviews [1], [15],
and [25]). For example, any codimension one Anosov diffeomorphism is
conjugate to a hyperbolic torus automorphism ([4], [14]). The natural gen-
eralization of Anosov diffeomorphisms are diffeomorphisms satisfying the
axiom A of Smale [25], so called yl-diffeomorphisms. A structurally stable
A-diffeomorphism of the n-torus T " (n > 2) with an orientable codimen-
sion one expanding attractor fi can be obtained by Smale's surgery ([25],
p.788-789) a codimension one Anosov diffeomorphism. They are called DA-
diffeomorphisms, where the abbreviation DA means Derived-from-Anosov.

355
356 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Note that due to the orientability of ft, the accessible boundary of any
component of T™ - ft from within T™ - ft consists of pairs of codimension
one unstable manifolds, so-called 2-bunches (see definitions in Section 1).
A first example of a codimension one non-orientable expanding attractor
was constructed by Plykin [19] on a two-sphere S2. A feature of Plykin's
structurally stable diffeomorphism / : S2 —» S2 is the existence of so-called
1-bunches. To be precise, if ft is a non-orientable codimension one (i.e., one-
dimensional) expanding attractor of / , then there exists a component of
S2 - ft with an accessible boundary consisting of a unique one-dimensional
unstable manifold. In [21], Plykin constructed a codimension one non-
orientable attractors with 1-bunches on open n-manifolds, n > 3 (in the
same paper, he classified, up to conjugacy, diffeomorphisms restricted on
some neighbourhoods of attractors). Bearing in mind these examples, we
call that a codimension one expanding attractor ft is a codimension one
Plykin attractor whenever ft has 1-bunches.
Let us give the sketch of Plykin's construction. Denote by J : T™ - • Tn
the involution x —> —x (mod 1) which has 2™ fixed points v\,... , «2" • Take
the DA-diffeomorphism g :Tn -» Tn with the codimension one orientable
expanding attractor ft9 such that g commutes with J and has the fixed
points vi, . . . ,i>2"- Due to Theorem 2.3 [21] (see the careful construction
in [11], [23] for n = 2 and [5] for n = 3 as well), such g exists. Denote by
q : Tn —> Tn IJ the natural projection which is a double branched covering
with the branch points v\, . . . , v2^• It is not hard to see that the quotient
space T2/J is a 2-sphere. Since g{—x) — —g(x), we obtain an induced
diffeomorphism f : S2 -^ S2 with the one-dimensional Plykin attractor
g(ft s ). As to n > 3, the branch points must be removed to get a codimension
one Plykin attractor on a smooth manifold. Thus, M = q(Tn — U2=1i>i) is an
open smooth n-manifold, n > 3, which admits an induced diffeomorphism
with the codimension one Plykin attractor g(ftg).
As to closed n-manifolds, n > 3, up to now, there are no examples
of diffeomorphisms with codimension one Plykin attractors. Nevertheless,
such diffeomorphisms were investigated. In [12], one proved that if a closed
n-manifold Mn, n > 3, admits a codimension one expanding attractor (ori-
entable or non-orientable), then Mn has a nontrivial fundamental group.
In particular, there no diffeomorphisms of n-sphere Sn, n > 3, with codi-
mension one Plykin attractors. The more precise result was obtained in
[21], where one proved that ^ ( M " ) contains a subgroup isomorphic to the
integer lattice Z n . In [17], Plante proved that an orientable codimension
one expanding attractor defines a nontrivial element of homology group. In
particular, a closed manifold Mn has a nontrivial homology group Hi ( M n ) .
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFFEOMORPHISMS 357

In this paper we prove that a structurally stable diffeomorphism of a

closed 3-manifold has no non-orientable codimension one expanding attrac-
tors.
Theorem 3.1 Let f : M3 -> M3 be a structurally stable diffeomorphism
of a closed 3-manifold M3. Then the spectral decomposition of f does not
contain non-orientable codimension one expanding attractors.
This theorem and the following lemma
Lemma 2.2 A codimension one expanding attractor fi of an A-diffeomor-
phism f : M3 —> M3 is nonorientable iff ft is a Plykin attractor.
imply that a structurally stable diffeomorphism of a closed 3-manifold has
no codimension one Plykin attractors.

1 Main definitions

We begin by recalling several definitions. Further details may be found in

the books [11], [16], [23], and reviews [1], [25].
A-diffeomorphisms.
Throughout the paper M " is a closed n-dimensional manifold endowed
with some Riemannian metric d. Recall that a diffeomorphism / : Mn ->
Mn is said to be an A-diffeomorphism if the nonwandering set NW(f)
of / is hyperbolic and periodic points are dense in NW(f). The stable
manifold Ws(x) of a point x 6 NW(f) is defined to be the set of points
{y £ Mn such that d{f^x, fiy) —> 0 as j —> +oo}. A stable manifold is an
injectively immersed Euclidean space for each x e NW(f). The unstable
manifold Wu(x) of x is the stable manifold of x for the diffeomorphism
f-1. By definition, let W*{x) C Ws{x) (resp. W?(x) C Wu{x)) be an e-
neighbourhood of x in the intrinsic topology of the manifold Ws(x) (resp.
Wu(x)), where e > 0.
Basic sets.
Let / be an A-diffeomorphism of a n-dimensional manifold Mn. It
was shown by Smale [25] that NW(f) is a finite union of pairwise disjoint
/-invariant closed sets fii, . . . ,fifcsuch that every restriction f\ilt is topo-
logical^ transitive. These ft, are called the basic sets of / . A basic set ft
is called an expanding attractor if there exists a closed neighbourhood U of
fl such that f(U) C int U, C\j>of*{U) = Q, and the topological dimension
dimO of fi is equal to the dimension dim(£Q) of the unstable splitting EQ.
If dimfi = n — l, then Q is called an expanding attractor of codimension
one. It is well known (see e.g., [18], [26]) that a codimension one expanding
attractor consists of the (n — l)-dimensional unstable manifolds Wu(x),
358 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

i £ ( l and is locally homeomorphic to the product of (n - l)-dimensional

Euclidean space and a Cantor set.
For dimE^ = 1, we shall denote by (x,y)s (resp. [a;,2/]s) an open (resp.
closed) arc of Ws(z), z € ft, with endpoints x, y G W(z).
By definition, let W*{x) C Ws{x) (resp. W?{x) C Wu(x)) be the e-
neighbourhood of x in the intrinsic topology of the manifold Ws(x) (resp.
Wu(x)), where e > 0. Following [6], a basic set ft is called orientable if for
any a > 0, /? > 0 the index of the intersection W£(x) n WJf(a;) does not
depend on a point of this intersection (it is either + 1 or —1).
Structurally stable diffeomorphisms.
Let Diff1(Mn) be the space of C 1 diffeomorphisms of Mn endowed
1
with the uniform C topology. Two diffeomorphisms f,g£ Diff1(Mn)
n n
are called conjugate if there is a homeomorphism ip : M —> M such that
<p o f = g o tp. A diffeomorphism / is said to be structurally stable if there
exists a neighbourhood U of / in Diff1 (Mn) such that any diffeomorphism
g € U is conjugate to / .
According to [22], [13], a diffeomorphism / is structurally stable if and
only if it is an A-diffeomorphism and for any points x, y £ NW(f) the
manifolds Ws(x), Wu(y) have transversal intersections (if non-empty). The
last condition is called the strong transversality condition.
Boundary periodic points.
Let ft be an expanding attractor of codimension one. A point p £ ft is
called a boundary point if at least one component of Ws(p) — p does not
intersect fl. Boundary points exist (see e.g., [6], [14], [19]) and satisfy to
the following conditions:
• There are finitely many boundary points
• Any boundary point p £ fi is periodic.
• There is a unique component of Ws(p) - p denoted by W^(p) which
does not intersect Q.
• Given a point x 6 Wu(p) — p, there is a unique arc (x,y)s denoted by
(x, y)s$ such that (x, y)s n ft = 0, y € fl.

Bunches of codimension one expanding attractors.

Let G C M be an open set with a boundary dG. The subset 5(G) C dG
is called an accessible boundary from G if for every point x E S(G) there
exists an open arc a which is in G and x is an endpoint of a.
Let ft be a codimension one expanding attractor of / . Due to [6], [20],
the accessible boundary S(M —ft)is a finite union of unstable codimension
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIPFEOMORPHISMS 359

one manifolds, each one is called a boundary unstable manifold through a

boundary periodic point of ft. The boundary unstable manifolds of fi splits
into a finite number of so called bunches in the following way. The family
of pairwise disjoin unstable manifolds W u ( p i ) , . . . , Wu(pk) is said to be a
k-bunch if there are points Xi £ Wu(pi) and arcs (xi,yi)s^, yi £ Wu(pi+\),
l<i<k, where Wu(pk+i) = Wu{p1) (thus, yk £ Wu{pi)) and the number
A; can't be increased (i.e., there are no (A; + l)-bunches containing the given
one), see Figure 1. The points p i , . . . ,pk are called associated.

Figure 1. (a) 1-bunch, (b) 2-bunch, and (c) 3-bunch.

Ply kin [21] proved that if n = dim M > 3, then any bunch of £} is either
a 1-bunch or 2-bunch. It is not difficult to see that if Cl is orientable, then
every bunch of 0 is a 2-bunch (see the beginning of the proof of Lemma
2.2). So the boundary periodic points of orientable fi split into disjoint
pairs of associated points.
A codimension one expanding attractor ft is called a codimension one
Plykin attractor if fi has 1-bunches.

2 Preliminaries

In the next lemmas we keep the following notation. Let fi be an expanding

attractor of codimension one and let B be a bunch of fi. According to
[21], B is either a 1-bunch or 2-bunch. In the last case, B consists of two
unstable manifolds Wu(p) and Wu(q), where p, q are boundary associated
periodic points. If B is a 1-bunch, we will assume that Wu(p) = Wu(q)
and p — q. The following lemma holds.
360 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Lemma 2.1 There is a homeomorphism

V : (Wu(p) -p)U (Wu(q) - q) -> (Wu(p) - p) U (Wu(q) - q)
with the following properties
• Given any point x £ Wu(p) — p,
<p{x) e {Wu(q) -q)n Ws(x)
and moreover, (x,<p(x))s = (X,<P(X))Q i.e., the arc [x,tp(x)]s intersects
0 at the ends points x, ip(x) only.
• If m is the period of p, then m is the period of q as well and moreover,
V ° fnrn\(W(P)-P)U(W(q)-q) = I""1 ° <P\(W«(P)-p)U(W"(q)-q), (1)
m u
where n £ Z. In particular, the maps f , ip commute on (W (p) —
p)U(Wu(q)-q).
• (p extends to the homeomorphism (denoted by the same letter)
ip : Wu{p) U Wu(q) -^ Wu(p) U Wu(q),
by letting ip(p) = q and ip(q) = p.
• (f2 = id.
Proof. This lemma is a consequence of Lemmas 2.1, 2.2 [6], and Theo-
rem 2.1 [21], For the reader's convenience we give the sketch of the proof.
Given any point x 6 Wu(p) there is a unique point y 6 Wu(q) such that
(x,y)s = (x,2/)g, and vise versa (see Section 1). Let the map
ip : {Wu{p) - p) U (Wu(q) -q)-> (Wu(p) - p) U {Wu{q) - q)
be given by (f(x) = y whenever (x, y)s = (x, y)^. By this definition, ip2 = id.
Thus,
ip(Wu(p) -p) = (Wu(q) - q) and <p(Wu(q) - q) = (Wu(p) - p).
According to the theorem on the continuous dependence of stable manifolds
on initial conditions [25], ip is a homeomorphism. Due to the invariance of
fi, the point q has the same period m as p. Since Ws(Cl) is invariant under
/ , we have that
f"1 ° <p\(W«(p)-p)U(W(q)-q) =V° fm\(W(p)-p)U(W»(q)-q)-
It implies the relation (1).
Because of the restriction fm\wu(p)-P has the only hyperbolic fixed
point p, there is a closed disk Dp C Wu(p) bounded by the closed curve
Sp = dDp homeomorphic to the circle such that p € int(Dp) and Dp C
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFFEOMORPHISMS 361

int(fm(Dp)). Since tp is a homeomorphism, S^ = <p(S{) is a circle. Ac-

cording to Shoenflies's Theorem, S% bounds in Wu(q) the disk denoted by
Dq. It follows from the relation (1) that q € int(Dq).
The restriction fm\wu(q)-q has the only fixed point q, which is hyper-
bolic and repelling. Hence,

C\fim(DP)=P, f)fjm(Dq) = q.
j<0 j<0

Due to (1),
V o fjm(Dp -p)= Pm o V{Dp -p) = fjm(Dq - q).
Similarly, tp o fJm(Dq — q) = fjm(Dp — p). Hence, ip extends to the home-
omorphism Wu{p) U Wu{q) ->• Wu{p) U Wu{q) if we put <p(p) = q and
<p(q) = p. a
The following theorem is the crucial step to prove the main theorem.
Theorem 2.1 Let f : M3 -> M 3 be an A-diffeomorphism of a closed 3-
manifold M3. If f has a codimension one Plykin attractor Ct, then M3 is
non-orientable.
Proof. Because of Q, is a Plykin attractor, fi has 1-bunches. Let
Wu(mo) C Q be the unstable manifold forming a 1-bunch of ft, where
mo is a boundary periodic point. Without loss of generality we can assume
that mo is a fixed point of / .
According to Lemma 2.1, there is the homeomorphism tp : Wu(m0) —>
u
W (m0) such that:

1. For x <= Wu(m0) - m0, tp(x) <E (Wu(m0) - m 0 ) n Ws{x).

2. For x € Wu{m0) - m 0 ,
(x,V(x)y = (x,^(x))llcWs(x).

3- <p o /|ivu ( m o ) = / o ip| W u (roo ).

4. ip2 = id and mo is the only fixed point of tp.
For the sake of simplicity, we divide our proof into several steps. The end
of the proof of each step will be denoted by o.
Take a point XQ € Wu(m0) such that x0 ^ m 0 . Let Da C Wu(m0)-m0
be a family of closed disks (the index a ranges over the interval [0; 1]) with
the following properties:
• x0 £ D0, <p(x0) <£ D0.
• Do n ip(Do) = 0.
362 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

• Dai c Da2 whenever a\ < a.^.

• The boundary dDa depends continuously on a.
• <p{x0) G £>i.

Such a family of the disks Da exists because the unstable manifold Wu(mo)
is homeomorphic to the Euclidean plane R 2 and XQ ^ ip(xo)-

9(D S )

Figure 2. The curve C = C 0 i U C\%.

Step 2.1 There exists the index a^ € (0; 1) such that

<D^Daon <p(Dao) = dDao n d(ip(Dao)).
Proof of Step 2.1. If ct\ < a.2, then tp(Dai) C ip(Da2) because <p is a
homeomorphism. Since Do H f{D0) — 0, we have that Da n tp(Da) = 0
for a is sufficiently small. On the other hand, Dai n <p(Dai) 7^ 0 because
¥>(xo) £ -^l- Since the boundary 9£) a depends continuously on a and </? is
a homeomorphism, the boundary d<p(Da) = ip(dDa) depends continuously
on a as well. Hence there exists a0 € (0; 1) such that the disks Dao, ip(Dao)
have a non-empty intersection at points of their boundaries only (Figure 2).
o
Step 2.2 T/iere ea;isi5 a curve C C W " ( m o ) - m 0 with no self-intersections
such that CC\<p(C) = {xo,tp(xo)}, where xo, <p{xo) are the endpoints of C.
Proof of Step 2.2. According to Step 2.1, there is a point x\ € dDaQ D
<p(dDao) for some eta £ (0,1). Since <p2 = id and TUQ is the only fixed point
of (p, we have that <p(xi) G 9-Dao D <p(dDao) and vK^i) 7^ ^ I -
Note that Dao is homeomorphic to a disk. Hence there is a path C01 C
£>ao with no self-intersections and such that C01 connects the points XQ,
x\. Due to step 2.1, the interior of Dao and the image of the interior under
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFPEOMORPHISMS 363

ip have no intersections. Therefore, y(Coi) C tp(Dao) is a path with no

self-intersections. Moreover, </?(Coi) connects the points <p(xo), <p(xi) and
Coi n <p(Coi) = xx. Obviously, the curve tp{Coi) does not divide the disk
(p(Dao). Hence there is a path Cn with no self-intersections connecting
the points tp{xa), x\. Moreover, we can assume that y(Coi) nCi2 = <p(xo)-
By definition, put C = Coi H Co- Since <^2 = id, it follows that C has
no self-intersections and C D </>(C) = {a;0,<p(a;o)}, where XQ, <p(x0) are the
endpoints of C o
Step 2.3 The set Mc = UX£c{x,y)$ is homeomorphic to an open Mobius
band. Moreover, any arc (x,y)i is transversal (in topological sense) to the
middle line of the Mobius band.
Proof of Step 2.3. Consider the open rectangle P = ^x^c-x0{x^v)%-
Then the set Mc is obtained by adding to P the arc (XO,<P(XQ))Q. By
the relation ip2 = id, the addition above one can represent as gluing two
opposite sides in the closed rectangle clos(P) by an orientation reversing
homeomorphism. Hence, Mc is homeomorphic to an open Mobius band.
By construction, any arc (x,y)^ is transversal (in topological sense) to the
middle line of the Mobius band, o
By Step 2.2, the union C U <p(C) = c0 is a simple closed curve on the
unstable manifold Wu(mo). Therefore, CQ bounds on Wu(mo) an open disk
denoted by Dc.
Step 2.4 m 0 G Dc.
Proof of Step 2-4- The exterior of Co on Wu(mo) is homeomorphic to an
open annulus. By construction, ip(co) = c 0 . Since <p is a homeomorphism,
it follows that <p{Dc) — Dc and ip(c0 U Dc) = Co U Dc. Hence, <p has a
fixed point on Co U i} c . By lemma 2.1, m 0 is the unique fixed point of (p.
Therefore, TUQ G DC. O
Step 2.5 There exists an open subset C3 C M3 that is homeomorphic to
the product Mb x (0,1), where Mb is an open Mobius band.
Proof of Step 2.5. We keep the notation of the steps above. Take an
open simple arc IQ C DC such that lo D <p(lo) = 0 and one of endpoints of /o
is xo. Because of <p(xo) ^ XQ and ip is a homeomorphism, such an arc exists.
Since the intersection <p(C) PlC consists of only two points xo and <p(xo), it
follows that there is the open strip Pi C Dc bounded by the curve C and
the arcs l0, <p(lo) such that ip(Pi)nP\ = 0. By Lemma 2.1, m 0 ^ <p(Pi)UPi.
Therefore <p{Pi) is the open strip bounded by the curve (p(C) and arcs lo,
(p(lo)- As a consequence, the union P = <p(lo) UloU <p(P\) U Pi is an open
strip in Dc. Moreover, one of the component of the boundary dP is the
boundary dDc = ip(C) U C of the disk Dc (Figure 3).
364 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Figure 3. The disk Dc and the strip P = Pi U ip(Pi) Ul0U <p(l0).

Let C\ be the side of the rectangle Pi C Dc which is opposite to the side

de f
C = C0. Note that the other pair of the opposite sides /0 and <p(lo) of Pi
is invariant under <p (i.e., one side maps onto other by <p). Therefore there
exists a splitting of the closed rectangle <^(/0)U/oUPi UCoUCi into pairwise
disjoint arcs Ca (the index a ranges over the interval [0,1]) such that the
endpoints of each arc maps onto other by ip. Moreover, without loss of
generality we can assume that the arcs Ca form a topological foliation on
the closed rectangle <p(lo) U h U Pi U Co U C\. It follows from the equality
ip(Pi) n Pi = 0 that the union Ca(p(Ca) is a closed simple curve for any
a € [0,1]. As a consequence, the family Caip(Ca), a € [0,1], forms a
topological foliation on the strip P with leaves Ca<p(Ca) are closed simple
curves and each one is invariant under ip.
Similarly to the proof of Step 2.3, one can prove that each closed curve
Caip(Ca) is a boundary of the set Ma - Uxeca\jv(ca)(x,<J>(x))l, which is
homeomorphic to an open Mobius band Mj,. Since stable manifolds are
pairwise disjoint, we see that the sets Ma are pairwise disjoint as well. The
theorem on the continuous dependence of invariant manifolds on initial
conditions [25] implies that the sets Ma depend continuously on a. Since
the strip P is homeomorphic to the product S1 x (0,1) (here S1 is a circle),
it follows that the open subset
C 3 = ^xeP{x,ip{x))l = UQ(E(o,i)Ma
is homeomorphic to the product Mb x (0,1). o
It is well known that a Mobius band is a non-orientable surface. Hence,
C 3 is a non-orientable 3-manifold. As a consequence, M 3 is a non-orientable
3-manifold as well [9]. This concludes the proof. •
Corollary 2.1 Suppose the condition of Theorem 2.1 holds and R is a
component of M3 — Q, such that the accessible boundary S(R) of R contains
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFFEOMORPHISMS 365

a 1-bunch of fi; then the fundamental group m (R) is nontrivial.

Proof. By the proof of Theorem 2.1, there is an open subset C3 C
R n (Ws(Cl) - ft) homeomorphic to the product M& x (0,1), where Mb is
an open Mobius band. Therefore, R is a non-orientable open manifold. It
follows the nontriviality of 7r1(J?). •
Recall that a codimension one foliation T on M 3 is called a Reeb fo-
liation if every leaf of T is homeomorphic to a plane K2 (in the intrinsic
topology) [24].
The following lemma says that the nonorientability of a codimension
one expanding attractor fl is equivalent to fi being a Plykin attractor.
L e m m a 2.2 A codimension one expanding attractor fl of an A-diffeomor-
phism f : M 3 —> M3 is nonorientable iff ft is a Plykin attractor.
Proof. Let 0 is a codimension one Plykin attractor. Then VI has a 1-
bunch Wu(m0), where m 0 is a boundary periodic point. Hence there exists
an arc
(x,y)ll = (x,y)s C\Vs(x), (x,y) s f~l ft = 0, x,y € Wu{m0) - m0.
Take a disk D C Wu{mQ) such that x,y £ D. Since D C fl, D has a
neighbourhood U with a local product structure such that the component
oiUr\Wu{m0) containing D divides U into two open domains, say Ui and
U2, each one homeomorphic to a 3-ball.
Note that the unstable manifold Wu(mo) can be endowed with a nor-
mal orientation because Wu(m0) is homeomorphic to Euclidean space M2.
Therefore, is we suppose that the arc [x, y]J intersects Wu(mo) at x, y with
the same index of intersection, then (x,y)^ has to intersect both Ui and
U2- Since (x,y)s n 0 = 0 and U has a local product structure, [/; fl fi = 0,
i = l , 2 . This contradicts the property of O being locally homeomorphic
to the product of a Cantor set and a ball [18], [26]. As a consequence, arc
[x,y]0 intersects Wu(mo) at x, y with opposite indexes of intersection, and
thus fl is nonorientable.
Let us assume now that Q is a nonorientable codimension one expanding
attractor. We have to prove that ft is a Plykin one. Suppose not. Then all
bunches of il are 2-bunches. Take a 2-bunch B C fl and denote by K the
component of M3 — O such that the accessible boundary of K contains B,
C SK. Since / is structurally stable, it follows that KUB is homeomorphic
to the product M2 x [0; 1] (in the intrinsic topology) [8]. This fact and
Plykin's Theorem on the embedding of Cl into a codimension one foliation
(see the Theorem on invariant foliations [21], p.93) imply that Vl can be
embedded into a Reeb foliation denoted by T. Moreover, since the unstable
manifolds of ft form a C1 lamination [10] (see also [23], Ch. 12), we can
366 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

assume that T is a C1 foliation as well.

In [24], Rosenberg proved that if a closed three-manifold M3 admits
a C2 Reeb foliation, then M 3 is homeomorphic to the three dimensional
torus T 3 . The main technic in the paper [24] is a moving of an embedded
2-disk D2 C M 3 in a general position under the C 2 Reeb foliation T so
that J- induces on D2 a foliation with Morse's singularities of the center
and saddle types. Franks (see the proof of Lemma 5.1 [4]) showed that
Rosenberg's technic works for C 1 foliation as well. So, M 3 — T3.
Let us show that T is transversally orientable. Let TT : M3 —> T3 =
R / Z 3 be a universal cover, where Z 3 is the group of integer shifts of R 3
3

which is isomorphic to the fundamental group 7Ti(T3). Let T be the cov-

ering foliation for T under TT. Obviously, T is a Reeb foliation. Since R 3 is
simply connected, T is transversally orientable. Due to [2], one can assume
that T is defined by a Pfaff 1-form of the kind

dz = P(x, y, z)dx + Q(x, y, z)dy,

where (x,y,z) are Cartesian coordinates. It follows that T is transversally
oriented because the group Z 3 of covering maps consists of Euclidean trans-
lations which preserve orientation of 1R3. Hence the lamination formed by
the unstable manifolds of points of fi is transversally oriented as well. This
implies that 0 is an orientable attractor. The contradiction concludes the
proof. •

3 Proof of the main theorem

Theorem 3.1 Let f : M 3 -> M3 be a structurally stable diffeomorphism

of a closed 3-manifold M 3 . Then the spectral decomposition of f does not
contain non-orientable codimension one expanding attractors.
Proof. Assume the converse. Then the spectral decomposition of /
contains a codimension one Plykin attractor, say O. By definition of Plykin
attractors, there is an open component R C M3 —fisuch that the accessible
boundary of R contains the 1-bunch Wu(mo) C fi, where mo is a boundary
periodic point. Without loss of generality we can assume that m 0 is a fixed
point, passing if necessary to some degree of / .
According to Theorem 2.1, M 3 is non-orientable. Let M3 be an ori-
entable manifold such that p : M3 —> M 3 is an (nonbranched) double
covering for M3. Then there exists a diffeomorphism / : M3 —> M3 which
cover / i.e., f op = po f. Let us prove that / is an A-diffeomorphism.
It is obvious that if x 6 M3 is a nonwandering point of / , then p(x) is a
nonwandering point of / because p is a local homeomorphism. Therefore,
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFPEOMORPHISMS 367

NW(f) C p~1(NW(f)), where NW(g) means the nonwandering set of

the map g. Because / is an A-diffeomorphism, the periodic points of / are
dense in NW(f). Since p is a double covering, we see that a preimage of any
periodic orbit of / is either one periodic orbit or two periodic orbits of / . As
a consequence, the periodic orbits of / are dense in p~1(NW(f)). Hence,
p-^NWif)) c NW(f). This proves the equality NW(f) = p-^NWif)).
The hyperbolicity of NW{f) implies the hyperbolicity of NW(f) because
p is a local diffeomorphism. Thus, / is an A-diffeomorphism.
Because of / is a structurally stable diffeomorphism, / satisfies to the
strong transversality condition [13]. Since p is a local diffeomorphism, we
see that / satisfies to the strong transversality condition as well. By Robin-
son's theorem [22], / is a structurally stable diffeomorphism.
Let us show that the preimage p _ 1 (fi) contains a codimension one ex-
panding attractor. By definition of a basic set, there is an orbit O(xo) of
some point xo £ fi which is dense in fi. The preimage p~1(xo) consists of
two points xi, x2. Clearly, the union 0(xi) U 0(x2) is dense in p _ 1 ( 0 ) ,
where 0(xi) is the orbit of the point Xi (i = 1,2). Thus,

clos O(xi) U clos 0{x2) = clos {0(xx) U 0(x2)) = P _ 1 ( ^ ) ,

where clos (N) means a topological closure of N. Obviously, each of the

set clos 0{x\), clos 0(2:2) is closed, invariant, and contains an everywhere
dense orbit. As a consequence, clos 0(xi) and clos 0(x2) are basic sets
of / . Since a spectral decomposition is unique [25], it follows that either

p _ 1 (ft) = clos 0(xi) = clos 0(x2)

is one basic set or clos 0{xi), clos 0{x2) are different basic sets. In both
cases, we denote clos 0(£i) by Cl.
Because 0 is a codimension one expanding attractor, Cl is locally home-
omorphic to the product of a Cantor set and the plane R 2 . Hence, 0 is
locally homeomorphic to the product of a Cantor set and the plane R2 as
well. It follows that the topological dimension of Cl is equal to the dimension
of the unstable splitting restricted on Cl. Since p is a local diffeomorphism,
dimE% = 2, i 6 fi. As a consequence, 0 is an expanding attractor of
codimension one.
Recall that the manifold M 3 is orientable. Due to Theorem 2.1, the
expanding attractor fi has no 1-bunches. Plykin [21] proved that for the
manifold dimensions dim M™ > 3 any codimension one expanding attractor
can contain 1-bunches and 2-bunches. Hence, H contains only 2-bunches.
Let fh\ G fi be a lift under p of the point mo. Because p is a double
covering, rhi is a boundary periodic point of the codimension one attractor
368 V. MEDVEDEV AND E. ZHUZHOMA

Cl. Since every bunch of fi is a 2-bunch, it follows that there is the bound-
ary periodic point m 2 £ 0, m 2 ^ rhi, associated with rhi. Let W^(rhi)
(1 = 1,2) be the component of Ws{fhi) —rrii such that flr\W^(rhi) = 0. In
[8], it was shown that W^(rhi) and W^rh-z) belong to the unstable man-
ifolds Wu{a.\) and Wu(ak+i) respectively of the repelling periodic points
d i , dfc+i (note that the proof of this result uses the fact that M3 is closed),
Figure 4. Moreover, there are repelling periodic points d i , . . . ,&k+i and
saddle periodic points Pi, . . . , Pt of index 2 such that the following condi-
tions hold:
1. The set

012 = {m 1 }UTy 0 s (mi)UdiUP^ s (Pi)UPiUd 2 U...UP fc Ud i;+ iUTy 0 s (m 2 )U{m2}

is homeomorphic to an arc with no self-intersections whose endpoints are
rhi and m 2 . 2. a i 2 — (mi Um 2 ) C M3 — 0 . 3. The repelling periodic points
di alternate with saddle periodic points P, on the arc ai2-

Figure 4. The arc 012.

Let us prove that p(m 2 ) = mo- According to Lemma 2.1, if xn —» mi

as n —> oo, then yn —>• m 2 , where x n 6 W u ( m i ) , y„ € Ws{fh,2), and
{.xn,yn)s = {xn,yn)s0- Since (£„,y„) s Uf2 = 0 and p(fi) = ft, it follows that

M ( * n > y n ) 0 ) = (P(^n),P(jfn))0-

The inclusionp(x n ) € Wu(m0) implies p(yn) £ Wu(rrio) because of Wu(rrio)

is a 1-bunch. Since p is a continuous map, p(xn) —> p(rhi) = mo and
P(Vn) -> p(m 2 ). From the inclusion p(yn) G Wu(mo) and Lemma 2.1 it
follows that p(yn) —> mo. Hence, p(m 2 ) = m 0 .
Because of the relation P°f = f°p, p maps the invariant manifolds of
/ into the invariant manifolds of / . Then

# | W ) =p(Wi(fh2)),p(a1) =p(ak+1),
 STRUCTURALLY STABLE DIFFEOMORPHISMS 369

p(W s (Pi)) = p{Ws{Pk)),p{Pl) = p(Pk),p(a2) = p(ak),....

Since the repelling periodic points en alternate with saddle periodic points
Pi on the arc a\2, we see that the number of periodic points on a\2 is odd
because the endpoints both are of saddle type. As a consequence, there
is either a periodic point ctj with p(Ws(Pi-i)) = p(Ws{Pi)) or a periodic
point Pi with p{W({Pi)) = p(W£(Pi)), where W?(Pi), Wj(Pi) are different
components of Ws(Pi) — Pi. In both cases, there is a point (a; or Pj) at
which p is not a local homeomorphism. This contradiction concludes the
proof. •

Acknowledgments

The research was partially supported by the INTAS grant 97-1843 and
RFBR grant 99-01-00230. The authors are grateful to D. Anosov, S. Aran-
son, V. Grines and M. Malkin for useful discussions. We thank a referee
for useful remarks.

References

1. D. Anosov. and V. Solodov, Hyperbolic sets, in Sbornik of ser. "Mod-

ern Problems of Math." ed. D. Anosov, Dynam. Systems-9, 66 (1991),
12-99.
2. S. Aranson and E. Zhuzhoma, On topological equivalence of codimen-
sion one Reeb foliations on a three dimensional torus, in Methods of
Qual. Theor. of Diff. Eq., Gorky, (1978), 41-44 (in Russian).
3. R. Bowen, Periodic points and measures for axiom A diffeomorphisms,
Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 154 (1971), 337-397.
4. J. Franks, Anosov diffeomorphisms, in Global Analysis, Proc. Symp.
in Pure Math., AMS 14 (1970), 61-94.
5. J. Franks and C. Robinson, A quasi-Anosov diffeomorphism that is not
Anosov, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc, 223 (1976), 267-278.
6. V. Grines, On topological conjugacy of diffeomorphisms of two a dimen-
sional manifold onto one-dimensional orientable basic sets I, Trans.
Moscow Math. Soc, 32 (1975), 31-56.
7. V. Grines, On topological conjugacy of diffeomorphisms of two a dimen-
sional manifold onto one-dimensional orientable basic sets II, Trans.
Moscow Math. Soc, 34 (1977), 237-245.
8. V. Grines and E. Zhuzhoma, Structurally stable diffeomorphisms with
codimension one basic sets, preprint, Universite de Bourgogne, Labo-
ratoire de Topologie, Dijon, no 223 (2000).
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9. J. Hempel, 3-manifolds, Princeton, Annals Math. Studies, 86 (1976).

10. M. Hirch and C. Pugh, Stable manifolds and hyperbolic sets, in Global
Analysis, Proc. Symp., Amer. Math. Soc, 14 (1970), 133-163.
11. A. Katok and B. Hasselblatt, Introduction to the Modern Theory of
Dynamical Systems, Encyclopedia of Math, and its Appl., Cambridge
Univ. Press.
12. H. Kollmer, On hyperbolic attractors of codimension one, in Geometry
and Topology, Lect. Notes of Math., 597 (1976), 330-334.
13. R. Mane, A proof of C1 stability conjecture, Publ. Math. IHES, 66
(1988), 161-210.
14. S. E. Newhouse, On codimension one Anosov diffeomorphisms, Amer.
J. Math., 92 no 3 (1970), 761-770.
15. I. Nikolaev and E. Zhuzhoma, Flows on 2-dimensional manifolds, Lect.
Notes in Math.,1705, Springer Verlag, 1999.
16. Z. Nitecki, Differentiable dynamics, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1971.
17. J. Plante, The homology class of an expanded invariant manifolds,
Lect. Notes Math., 468 (1975), 251-256.
18. R. V. Plykin, On the topology of basic sets of Smale diffeomorphisms,
Math. Sbornik, 84 (1971), 301-312 (in Russian).
19. R. V. Plykin, Sources and sinks of A-diffeomorphisms of surfaces, Mat.
Sbornik, 94 (1974), 223-253.
20. R. V. Plykin, On hyperbolic attractors of diffeomorphisms, Usp. Math.
Nauk, 35 3 (1980), 94-104 (in Russian).
21. R. V. Plykin, On the geometry of hyperbolic attractors of smooth cas-
cades, Usp. Math. Nauk, 39 (1984), 75-113 (in Russian).
22. C. Robinson, Structural stability of C 1 diffeomorphisms, J. Diff. Eq.,
22 no 1 (1976), 28-73.
23. C. Robinson C, Dynamical Systems: stability, symbolic dynamics, and
chaos, Studies in Adv. Math., Sec. edition, CRC Press.
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169-203.

Received June 7, 2000, revised January 5, 2001

Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 371-386

ON EXACT POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3

TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science,
Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Ookubo Urawa, Saitama 338-8570, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

A Poisson manifold is called " exact" if its Poisson bi-vector field represents a triv-
ial element in the Poisson cohomology. We investigate some topological properties
of the foliation which is associated with an exact Poisson manifold and construct
explicit examples of exact Poisson structures on closed 3-manifolds which are dif-
ferent from homogeneous ones.

1 Introduction

A Poisson manifold is a pair (M, II) of a C°°-manifold and a 2-vector field

on it, which satisfies
[11,11] = 0 ,
where [• , •] denotes the Schouten bracket.
We call the condition [II, II] = 0 for a 2-vector field II the Poisson
condition and II the Poisson bi-vector field. The Poisson bracket {/, g} of
f,ge C°°(M) is then defined by
{f,g} = U(df,dg).
It satisfies the following well-known properties.
(1) (/,<?) >-> {/, g) f,g e C°°(M) gives a Lie algebra structure (over R)
on C°°(M), that is, the pairing {/,g} is skew-symmetric bilinear and
satisfies the Jacobi identity {/, {g, h}} + {g, {h, / } } + {h, {/, g}} — 0,
(2) {/, gh} = {/,g}h + g{f, h} holds for f,g,he C°°{M).
For any 2-vector field II on M, we define a homomorphism of bundles
I = IU- T*M -> TM
371
372 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

which is given by
Ix{ax) = Ux(ax, •) = i Q x n , ax € T*M,
at each point x G M. Here, we used the notation of interior product to
express a contraction of tensors.
The rank of the linear map Ix is called the rank of H at x and it is
denoted by rank Hx. If the rank Il x is constant on the whole manifold,
(M, II) is called regular. In this paper, we are mainly concerned with regular
Poisson manifolds.
One of the geometric aspects of a Poisson manifold (M, II) is the fact
that the distribution (plane field) given by
Image/ X <ZTXM
is integrable ([9]), and hence it defines a smooth foliation when (M, II)
is regular. We denote this foliation (=integrable distribution) by T —
T-R. It is called the characteristic foliation of (M,II), and its leaves are
called symplectic leaves, since II restricted to each leaf naturally defines a
symplectic structure on it.
It is natural to ask to what extent J-JJ reflects the properties of II.
In Section 2, we review basic facts on the Schouten bracket, especially
its relationship with the generalized divergence. We also give a condition
for a plane field defined by a regular 2-vector field to be integrable. It is
expressed in terms of the Schouten bracket and the generalized divergence
of II. In Sections 3, 4, 5, we consider exact Poisson manifolds. A Pois-
son manifold (M, II) is called an exact Poisson manifold, if there exists a
vector field Z such that [Z, II] = —II ([1], [9]). From the view point of
Poisson cohomology, this means that a Poisson 2-cocycle denned by II is a
coboundary of a 1-cochain. We ask ourselves if this condition imposes any
topological conditions on the characteristic foliation and try to understand
which codimension one foliation of a closed 3-manifold has such an exact
Poisson structure. In Section 3, we will give homogeneous examples of such
structure and characterize them in terms of the homothetic vector field Z.
In Section 4, we investigate the properties of the homothetic vector field
Z and prove it is tangent to the foliation under a mild condition. In Sec-
tion 5, we will carefully construct an example of an exact Poisson structure
which is different from homogeneous ones. Its characteristic foliation is the
one known as a Hirsch foliation and it enables us to get examples with
exceptional leaves.
In this paper, we tried to use vector field description where possible
rather than differential forms since the Poisson structure itself is of vector
field nature. All the manifolds are assumed to be C°°. KPTM denotes
 ON EXACT POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 373

the p-th exterior space bundle of the tangent bundle of M and T(APTM)
denotes the set of smooth section of it, that is, the space of p-vector fields.

2 Generalized divergence and the Schouten bracket

Let M be a smooth manifold and P a p-vector field, that is, P £ T(AP(TM))

( p > 0 ) . Let
c : T{{T*M))®T{AP(TM)) -> T{A{p-l)(TM))
denote the contraction.
Definition 1 Let V be a connection (covariant differentiation) on M and
P a p-vector filed. Then the (p — l)-vector field DivyP given by
D i v v P = c(VP)
is called a generalized divergence of P associated with the connection V.
It is shown that if V is the Levi-Civita connection of a Riemannian met-
ric and P = X is a vector field, Divv-X coincides with the usual divergence
divX with respect to the Riemannian volume Cl, i.e. L\Q = (divX)Q (Lx
is the Lie derivation).
Although the generalized divergence of a p-vector field depends on the
choice of the connection V, we often omit V and write DivP for DivvP.
It is not always true that Div2 = Div o Div = 0. It is proved, however,
if one chooses a connection which preserves a volume form that Div2 = 0
holds. In fact, if V preserves a volume form Ct, one can see the following
relation of Div and d(= exterior differential) holds.
d(Q(P)) = ( - l f f t ( D i v P ) , (p = deg P).
One of the definition of the Schouten bracket [P, Q] is the following ([6]).
Definition 2 Let Div be a generalized divergence associated with a torsion
free connection of M. Let P, Q be p-vector field and q-vector field on M,
respectively. The (p + q — l)-vector field [P,Q] defined by
[P, Q] = Div(P A Q) - (DivP A Q + (-l)pP A DivQ)
is called the Schouten bracket of P and Q.
It is proved that [P, Q] is well-defined, namely, it is independent of the
choice of the torsion free connection involved.
The following is a list of some basic properties of the Schouten bracket
([9]). Here, f,g are smooth functions and P,Q,R are a p-vector field, a
q-vector field and an r-vector field, respectively. Also, we use the interior
product notation for the contraction.
374 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

1. For f,geC°°{M), {f,g} = 0,

2. [/, Q] = idfQ, more generally, [fP, Q) = ( - 1 ) " P A (idfQ) + f\P, Q],
3. [P,Q] = (-1)">[Q,P],
4. Let P = X be a vector field, then [-X", <J] = Xx<3 (the Lie derivative),
5. [P,QAR] = [P,Q]AR + ( - 1 ) ( P - D « Q A [P,R],
6. Div[P,Q] = -[DivP,Q] - (-l)P[P,DivQ], when Div 2 = 0,
7. [P, [Q,P]] = ( - ^ [ [ P . Q l . P ] + ( - l j d ' - 1 " ' - 1 ) ^ , [P,J2]]'(generalized
Jacobi identity).

2.1 Integrability of a plane field

Here, we briefly discuss the integrability of the plane field which is given as
the image of a 2-vector field.
Let II be a 2-vector field on M. Assume the rank of II is equal to 21
(0 < 21 < dimM) everywhere on M. Recall that II defines a distribution
T\i which gives the following subspace of TXM;
^n,x = { n x K , •) G TxM\ax £ T*M}.
We prove the following
Theorem 1 The distribution JFn defined by a regular 2-vector field U whose
rank is 21, is integrable if and only if [U, Ul] — [n, II A • • • A n] = 0 holds.
We first prove following formula.
Lemma 2 If rank II = 21, then
[n,ul] =-2Dwn AU1 ,
where Divn is defined by choosing any torsion free connection on TM.
Proof. Since II A II' = 0, we have
[n,n'] = - D i v I l A l I ; - I T A D i v I l ' . (1)
Plugging the following
Divn' = Divn A n'- 1 + n A Divn'-1 + rn, n'-1] (2)
into the above (1), we have
[n,n'] = -2DivnAn / -n 2 ADivn'- 1 -nA[n,n'- 1 ]. (3)
Again plugging (2) for I — 1 into (3), we obtain
-3Divn A n' - n 3 A Divn'-2 - n2 A [n,n;-2] - n A [n.n'-1]. (4)
 ON EXACT POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 375

Repeating this we have

1-1

[n,n'] = -(z + ijDiviiAii'-J^ir A(n,n'-i] (5)

»=i

Using [II, Uk] = k [II, n] A Uk~l for k > 1, we get

+1
^ )[n, n] A n'- 1 = -{i +1) Divn A n'.
From this, we obtain
[n,n(] = I[U,U]AU1-1 = -2DiviiAir\
D
Proof of Theorem 1. Let Tu be of codimension q and assume it is defined
by a local equation of 1-forms
a.\ = • • • = aq — 0.

Then we have
n ( o , , - ) = 0, j = l,...,q.
Taking the covariant derivative, we have
(Vn)(ai,.) + n(VaJ-)-)=0.
By contraction, we obtain
(DivU)(aj)+U(daj) =0. (6)
Thus, if { a i . . . a , } satisfies the Frobenius integrability condition, H(dotj) =
0 and we have
DivII(aj) = 0.
This shows that DivII is a vector field tangent to Tn and DivII A XI' = 0 ,
since rankll = 21.
Conversely, if DivIlAlT' = 0, fromO = (c^,DivIlAll') = (Divn)(a.,)An'
we can see (Divn)(a.,) = 0 and hence by (6), we get H(daj) = 0 for each
j . This means that each dotj should be of the form
Q

^2 ak A pkj
fc=i
for some 1-forms {Pkj}- This shows {a\,... ,aq} satisfies the Frobenius
integrability condition. •
We get the following well-known fact
376 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

C o r o l l a r y 3 Let (M, II) be a regular Poisson manifold. Then the charac-

teristic distribution is integrable.
Proof. Let rank U = I. Since [11,11] = 0 , [II, II'] = 2l[U,U] A I I ' - 1 = 0.
T h u s , t h e result follows. •
Remark. In a similar way, if dim M = 21 + 1 and r a n k l l = 21, we can show
t h a t t h e characteristic distribution is a contact plane field if and only if
[II,n ( ] is nowhere zero.

3 E x a c t P o i s s o n manifolds of special kind

If a Poisson manifold ( M , II) has a vector field Z which satisfies L z I I =

[Z, n ] = —II, it is called exact. In this case Z is called a homothetic vector
vector field of ( M , II) ([1]). Prom t h e view point of t h e Poisson cohomology,
an exact Poisson manifold is a Poisson manifold whose Poisson bi-vector
field II represents 0 in H^P(M). Recall t h a t t h e Poisson cohomology is
a cohomology whose p - t h cochain group is T ( A P T M ) and t h e coboundary
operator a : T ( A P T M ) -> T(AP+1TM) is given by cr(P) = - [ I I , P] ([9]).
It is not difficult t o give examples of exact Poisson manifolds which are
non-compact. T h e following examples are standard.
E x a m p l e 1 ( C o t a n g e n t b u n d l e s ) Let (T*M,d\) be t h e canonical sym-
plectic structure of t h e cotangent bundle of M , where A is t h e Liouville
form. Let II be t h e 2-vector field on T*M such t h a t II = (dX)~l. Here we
regard dX as an isomorphism T(T*M) —> T*{T*M). Note t h a t this means
7n(<^A) = —II. Using a general formula

(du)(X,-) = Lxoj-d(uj(X,-))

for a 2-form u> a n d a vector field X, we see L r i ( d / ) ^ = 0 and II satisfies

the Poisson condition [H(df, -),Ti] = 0.
Let Z = n(A, •)• T h e n by t h e above, we have LzdX = d(dX(U(X))) = dX.
From this

0 = LZ(ITI ° dX) = Lz(In) ° dX + In o LzdX = Lz(In) ° dX + In o dX.

This means

[n(A,-),n] = -n.
T h u s , (T*M, n , I I ( A , •)) is an exact Poisson manifold.
E x a m p l e 2 ( L i e P o i s s o n s t r u c t u r e ) Let (fl*,n) be t h e Lie Poisson struc-
ture on t h e dual space of a Lie algebra g. T h e Poisson bi-vector field II is
defined as follows. We have an identification T*g* « g* x g " = g* x g by
 O N E X A C T POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 377

translations. If T*g* 9 p,q are represented as p = (a,x),q — (a, y), under

this identification, then II is given by
n Q (p,g) = a([x,y]).
Let Z be the radial vector field on Q*. Namely, Za(a G fl*) is a tangent
vector which corresponds to the curve e* • a in g*. We regard p,q as the
constant 1-forms. In other words, we consider p as a 1-form on g*, given
by a —
i > (a, x), where i £ g = g** is independent of a.
Then we have

Lz{U{p, q)) = Lz(a({x, y])) = ^ | 4 =o(e'a([x, y})) = a([x, y]) = U(p, q).

On the other hand,

Lz(U(p, q)) = (LzU)(Pl q) + U(Lzp, q) + U(p, Lzq)
= (LzU)(p,q).
since p and q are constant fields.
From these we have
(LzU)(p,q) = U(p,q).
This shows (g*,II, — Z) is an exact Poisson structure.
Of course, the homothetic vector field in the above is not unique. In
fact if Z, Z' are both homothetic vector field for II, then the Lie derivative
LZ-Z'^- vanishes. Thus the set of homothetic vector field of a Poisson
structure forms an affine subspace of the vector space of all the vector
fields, whose associated vector space is the space of vector fields which
preserve the Poisson bi-vector field. Recall that any Hamiltonian vector
field I(df), f e C°°(M) preserves IX
Now, we are interested in the following problem:
Problem. On a closed manifold what kind of codimension one foliations
do appear as underlying foliations of exact Poisson manifolds ?
We will consider this problem in the case where M is a closed 3-dimen-
sional manifold.
First, we note that every orientable foliation of dimension 2 is an un-
derlying foliation of a Poisson structure. In fact, let (M, J7) be a foliation
whose leaves are 2-dimensional and let IT € T(A2J7) be a non-zero cross
section. Then II is naturally considered as a 2-vector field on M.
It is easily checked that the image of In coincides with T. The Poisson
condition on II is satisfied since in this dimension, it is equivalent to the
integrability of T (see Section 2).
378 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

3.1 Exact Poisson structure of special kind

In this subsection, we give two examples of exact Poisson manifolds which
we call 'special'. The underlying manifolds are closed and quotients of
3-dimensional Lie groups.
E x a m p l e 3 Let X\, X2, X3 be the right invariant vector field of G =
res
SL(2, R) corresponding to - ( o i ) ' ( o o ) ' ( l o ) Pectively- The
y
satisfy the following bracket relations;
[Xi,X2} = -X2, [Xi,X3] = X3, [X2,X3] = -2X\.
The 2-vector field II = X\ AX2 satisfies the Poisson condition [II, II] = 0
hence defines a Poisson structure. If we choose a uniform discrete subgroup
r of G = SL(2, R), we obtain an induced Poisson structure on M = G/T =
SL(2,i?)/r which is a closed manifold. The underlying foliation Tn is
known as an Anosov foliation spanned by X\ and X2. It is also known that
each leaf of this foliation is dense in M.
Let Z = X\ + aX2, (a is a constant) then
Lzn=[Z,U} = [X1,X1AX2]
= Xi A {x1,x2} = -Xi AX2 = - n .
Thus (M, II, Z) is a closed exact Poisson manifold.
Similarly, we have the following second example.
E x a m p l e 4 Let G be a simply connected 3-dimensional solvable Lie group
whose Lie algebra is generated by Xi, X2, X3 with the relations
[Xi ,X2] = -X2, [Xi, X3] = X3, [X2, X3] = 0.
Like as in the case of Example 3, let II = Xi A X2, Z — X\ + aX2 be
the right invariant fields on G. By the same computation, we see that II
defines an exact Poisson structure and Z is a homothetic vector field. Also,
if we choose a uniform discrete subgroup T, we obtain an exact Poisson
structure on a closed 3-dimensional manifold. In this case, M = G/T is
known to be diffeomorphic to a T 2 -bundle over S1 and the foliation is a
suspension of a dense linear foliation of T2, hence the leaves of Fn are all
dense again.
Note that, in both cases of the above examples, the symplectic leaves
of the characteristic foliations are generated by the vector fields X\, X2
with the relation [Xij-XVj = —X2, which generate the Lie algebra of 2-
dimensional affine group GA. From this, we can see that the leaves are the
orbits of a locally free actions of GA.
 O N E X A C T POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 379

We call the Poisson manifold which is obtained in the above examples

a special exact Poisson manifold. It has a homogeneous structure which is
induced from an invariant Poisson structure on a 3-dimensional Lie group.
One of the property of the homothetic vector field of our special Poisson
manifold is the fact that its divergence (with respect to the canonical volume
form) vanishes everywhere. Indeed, let fi be the volume form on M, such
that Q,(Xi A X2 A X3) = 1. Then by an easy computation we can see
Lz^l — 0 which is, by definition, equal to (divZ)Q, and divZ = 0.
In the following , we will show that this property characterizes the
special exact Poisson manifolds.
T h e o r e m 4 Let (M, H, Z) be a regular exact Poisson manifold, where M
is a closed 3-dimensional. Suppose that the homothetic vector field Z is
divergence free with respect to some volume form Q, on M. Then (M, II, Z)
is diffeomorphic to a special exact Poisson manifold.
Proof. Choose a Riemannian metric on M whose associated volume form
is equal to O. We will use the generalized divergence with respect to the
Riemannian connection of this metric. In the next section, we investigate
some topological properties of the foliation associated with a codimension
one exact Poisson structure. Especially, we prove the homothetic vector
field on a closed manifold is necessarily tangent to leaves everywhere (see
Theorem 9). If we admit this fact, we have Z A II = 0, DivZ = divZ = 0,
hence,

- I I = [Z, n] = DW(Z A n ) - DivZ A II + Z A DivII = Z A DivII.

Since II is nowhere vanishing, this shows that Z and DivII are two vector
fields tangent to the leaves of Txi, and are linearly independent at each
point of M. Taking Div of both sides of [Z, II] = - I I (see Section 2), we
have

[Z, DivII] = -DivII.

This shows that on M there exists an locally free action of the 2-dimensional
affine group GA. Since divZ = 0 and div(DivII) = Div 2 II = 0, we have
Lz$l — 1/Divn^ — 0. This means that the action of GA preserves the
volume fi. Now a theorem of Ghys ([2]) concerning the rigidity of the
action of GA on 3-manifolds says that this action is smoothly conjugate to
one of the standard ones. That is, it is equivalent to a natural action of GA
which is the action on one of the quotient manifolds G/T in the examples
of this section. This means that there is a diffeomorphism tp : M —• G/T
sending Z to Xi and DivII to X^.. •
380 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

4 Exact Poisson structures on closed manifolds

As before, we consider regular Poisson structures and find some topological

properties of exact Poisson manifolds. The main result is Theorem 9 in
which we show that the homothetic vector field is always tangent to leaves
provided the manifold is closed and the associated foliation is of codimen-
sion one.
We start with the following
Lemma 5 Let (M, II, Z) be a regular exact Poisson manifold. Then the
homothetic vector field Z preserves the foliation Tu •
Proof. Let the foliation T\\ be defined locally by Pfafnan forms
ai,...,aq
which span Ker/ri- The relation n ( a j , •) = 0 leads to the equation
{Lzn)(ai) + n(Lzai,-) = 0.
Since (LzTV)(ai) = —II(a,, •) = 0, we have
U(Lzai,-) = 0, (i = l,...,q).
Thus each Lzcii is a functional linear combination of a i , . . . , aq. Now let
X be a local vector field which is tangent to the leaves. Then we have
ax{LzX) = Lz{oi(X)) - (Lzai)(X) = 0, (t = 1 , . . . , q).
Thus LZX is also tangent to the leaves. This means Z preserves the folia-
tion Tj\. •
By the above lemma, the subset of M, where Z is transverse to !Fu, is
an open saturated subset (the subset which is a union of leaves ) of M.
Lemma 6 Let (M, II, Z) be a codimension one exact Poisson manifold.
That is, M is an exact Poisson manifold such that $n is a codimension one
foliation. Let U be an open saturated subset of M, where Z is transverse
to the foliation 3n- Then the foliation !Fn\u restricted on U is defined by
a closed 1-form.
Proof. Take a 1-form a which satisfies In(a) = 0 and a(Z) = 1 on U.
It is easy to see that
da = Lza A a.
By Lemma 5, Lza is a functional multiple of a, hence we have da = 0
on U. D
Lemma 7 Let (M, II, Z) be a regular exact Poisson manifold. If L is a
leaf of J-JI such that Z is tangent to L, then L is a non-compact leaf.
 O N E X A C T POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 381

Proof. Take a leafwise symplectic 2-form u> on M such t h a t In{^>) — n .

If r a n k l l = 2k, the 2fc-form

wk = u> A • • • /\LJ (/c-times)

restricts to a volume form on each leaf. Since the pairing (uik,H ) is

a non-zero constant and LzU.k = — kUk, (Lzu)k,Ilk} is also a non-zero
constant. T h u s t h e restriction (Lzi^k)\L of Lzwk to L is a non-zero multiple
of tjk\L- Since Z is tangent to L, this shows diV( u fc|£)Z = C (the divergence
with respect t o t h e volume w f e |i). for some non-zero constant C. This is
impossible when L is compact. •
L e m m a 8 Let (M, II, Z) 6e a codimension one exact Poisson manifold,
where M is a closed manifold. Then the subset of M, which is the union
of leaves where the homothetic vector field Z is tangent to each leaf is a
non-empty closed saturated set.
Proof. Closedness of the set is clear. If it is empty, Z is transverse to
F n everywhere on M and Z A IIfc is nowhere zero on M (2k is the rank
of II). Let f l b e a volume form on M dual to Z A LTfe ( i.e. ft satisfies
Q(Z A II fc ) = 1). T h e n it is easily seen t h a t d i v n Z = k which is impossible
on a closed manifold M. •
Let ( M , II, Z) be an exact Poisson manifold of a closed manifold, which is
of codimension one. We put rank II = 2k. As we have seen in Lemma 7, t h e
vector field Z is not tangent to a compact leaf. Assume t h a t Z is transverse
to a compact leaf L. Since the 1-parameter subgroup 4>t generated by Z
preserves the foliation F*n, the union U 4£ jj(/>t(L) consists of compact leaves
which are diffeomorphic t o L. If \J jf(j>t(L) is not whole M, t h e r e exists
a leaf which is the limit leaf of a subset of U t e jcj0((L), which itself should
be compact and Z must be transverse to it. This implies t h a t it has to
be contained in U t e j ^ t ( L ) which should be whole M (we assume M is
connected). This contradicts the above Lemma 8
T h u s , we can conclude t h a t (M, LT, Z) has no compact leaves as long
as M is closed. Therefore, for example, there is no exact Poisson struc-
tures on S3 since every codimension one foliation of S3 has a compact leaf
diffeomorphic to T 2 ([7]). Also, we saw Z is not everywhere transverse to
F n - Moreover in the case of special exact Poisson manifold, the homothetic
vector field is everywhere tangent to leaves on the whole manifold. Hence
it is n a t u r a l to ask the following question:
Q u e s t i o n . Are there any examples of ( M , II, Z) on which Z is tangent to
the leaves of F n on one p a r t and transverse to t h e m on the other p a r t ?
T h e following theorem shows there is no such example on a closed man-
ifold provided (M, II, Z) is of codimension one.
382 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

Theorem 9 Let (M, II, Z) be an exact Poisson structure of a closed mani-

fold, which we assume regular and of codimension one. Then the homothetic
vector field Z is tangent to the foliation Tn everywhere on M.
Proof. To the contrary, we assume that there exists an open subset of
M, where Z is transverse to Tj\- Let M — U U U' be the partition into
two part; on U, Z is transverse to Tw and on U', Z is tangent to !Fn- By
Lemma 5, both U and U' are saturated subsets. By Lemma 8, U' is a non-
empty closed set. Since TXL has no compact leaves, the closed saturated
subset U' ^ M has to contain an exceptional minimal set. Let E denote it.
By a theorem of Sacksteder([8]), if a codimension one foliation is of class
C 2 , the exceptional minimal set contains a leaf which has a contracting
holonomy. Take such a leaf L contained in E. Choose a point x e L and
a transverse small arc / « (—1,1) through x, where 0 corresponds to x.
The contracting holonomy gives a germ of a map ip : (—e, e) —> ( — 1,1) at 0
(e > 0 is small). The intersection IDE is a Cantor set and ItlU is a union
of open intervals. Let {</?*} be the 1-parameter subgroup of Z. Since <pt
maps a leaf into a leaf, we can choose and fix a small to so that <pt0 induces
a local diffeomorphism (p of I at x. (consider I as the set of plaques near x).
Clearly, (p fixes IDE and preserves the open intervals of I C\U. It turns
out that the germs of dp and ip at x commute each other. To see this, we
take a loop I in L starting and ending at x which gives the holonomy ip.
Then we choose a chain of distinguished neighbourhoods

{v0,V!,...,Vfe-i, vfc - v0, Vnv+1 + 0(i = o,...,k- i)}

which covers I. Each Vi is assumed to be diffeomorphic to Dn~l x Iit Ii =
(-1,1) and Dn-1 x {t}, (t e U) is a plaque in Vi and Dn~l x {0} is the
plaque where I f~l Vi lies (dim M = n).
The diffeomorphism ipto for small to induces a germ of diffeomorphism
of each Ii at 0, which we denote by 4>i- Cm t n e other hand, we have a
local holonomy translation along t which gives a germ /ij+i,* : (it,0) —»
(/i + i,0). Since the diffeomorphism (pto preserves the foliation, we have
/it+i,i o (pi = (pi+i o hi+iti for each i = 0 , 1 . . . k — 1. From this relation we
an
have ip ° <P = <P ° 4> because ip = hk,k-i ° • • • ° /ii,o d <P = <Po = 4>k-
Since (p has fixed points accumulating to x, by a lemma of Kopell ([5]),
ip can not be of class C 2 , contradicting our assumption that the foliation
is C°° . This proves the theorem. •
In the above theorem, we have in fact proved the following
Theorem 10 Let (M, J7) be a codimension one smooth foliation of a closed
manifold without compact leaves. Let Z be a vector field on M whose 1 -
parameter group of diffeomorphisms preserves T. If Z is tangent to T on
 O N E X A C T POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 383

a non-empty set then Z is everywhere tangent to T.

5 A construction of exact Poisson manifolds

In this section, we will give an explicit example of an exact Poisson structure

which is different from previous ones. The manifold we will construct is a
closed, 3-dimensional and the underlying foliation of the Poisson structure
is a so-called Hirsch foliation ([4]).
We begin with describing such a type of codimension one foliations.
Let So be an orientable 2-dimensional compact manifold whose bound-
ary is a circle (for example 2-disk D2). Make a product S1 x So and
choose an embedding j : S1 —» S1 x So whose image intersects each
{t} x So, {t € S1) exactly at 2-points. Thus the composition
poj-.S^S1,
where p : Sl x So —> S1 is the projection to the first factor, is a double
covering. We choose j so that this double covering is the natural one and
Image j is in the interior of S 1 x So. Delete a small open tubular neighbour-
hood of Image j from S 1 x So- Let N denote the resulting manifold. It will
be helpful to note that N is also obtained as a mapping torus of a diffeo-
morphism of a 3-times punctured surface Si and is a fibre bundle over S1.
There is a codimension one foliation on N defined by the fibres of this bun-
dle. Let dinN denote the 'interior boundary' of N. We fix a trivialization
of the bundle dtnN —> S1 as the boundary of the tubular neighbourhood
of Image j . Similarly, let dexN denote the 'exterior boundary' and we will
fix a trivialization dexN —> Sl as the boundary of S 1 x So-
Let <f> be an element of DiffS1. Then we have a diffeomorphism
4> = (j) x id : S 1 x S1 -> S1 x S 1
which gives a diffeomorphism
/ : dinN - • 8exN.
Identifying the boundary tori of iV through / , we obtain a closed 3-
manifold M. It has a smooth codimension one foliation T<$, which is induced
from that of N. The foliation T$ obtained in this way, is called a Hirsch
foliation.
It is easy to see that the leaves of T$ are all non-compact. If <j> = i^s 1 >
for example, all the leaves of T$ are dense in M. One can also choose <f> so
that T$ has exceptional leaves ([4]).
Now we are going to construct an exact Poisson structure on M. In
the next lemma, we use the following notations. Let UQ (resp. U\) be
384 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

an 'exterior'(resp. 'interior') collar neighbourhood of the unit circle in the

Euclidean plane, (r, 6) is the polar coordinate on R2 — {0}. Let £ i be
the 3-times punctured surface at the beginning of this section and <9£i =
Co U C\ U Ci denote the union of circles where Co is the fibre of the exterior
boundary of TV while C\ and Ci are those of the interior boundary of N.
Lemma 11 On Hi, we have a l-form n which satisfies the following

(1) dr) is a volume form of Hi,

(2) On the neighbourhood of Co, r\ is diffeomorphic to (l/2)r2d0\uo and on
some neighbourhood of Ci,C2, V is diffeomorphic to (l/2)r2dd\u1-

Proof. We choose a volume form Q. on Ei which is described as follows.

First, around the boundary Co, we take a collar neighbourhood which is
diffeomorphic to UQ, around C\ and C2, we take collar neighbourhoods
diffeomorphic to U\. Then, we introduce the Euclidean volume form on
these collar neighbourhoods by the above identification. We extend these
forms to a volume form Q. on the whole £1 in such a way that they are
unchanged in smaller neighbourhoods of the boundary; i.e. Q. — rdr A 9
near the boundary. This Q. is an orientation we consider on S i . If it is
needed, we multiply ft by a suitable positive function and may assume

L Si
Q = TT.

Again fl should be left unchanged in a small neighbourhood of the bound-

ary. Let 7/ be any l-form on Ei which is equivalent to (l/2)r2d8\u0 near
C 0 and to (l/2)r2d6\ul near C\ and C2. Then we have

I H= ( v'
= I rf+j i+f r,'
J Co J C\ J C2

= - ( 1 / 2 ) f 1 d0+ f 1 dd = TT.
Js Js

(Recall that the orientation of Ci is determined by taking the interior prod-

uct ix& by an outward normal X.)
Take the difference Q. — drj' is a closed 2-form whose support is contained
in the interior of S i . By the above it represents zero in ^^ o m p a ct
(IntE x ).
Namely, there exists a l-form 77" whose support is in IntEi which satisfies
n - dn' = drj".
 ON EXACT POISSON MANIFOLDS OF DIMENSION 3 385

Put
Tj = r]' + <q".

Then r\ satisfies the required conditions (1) and (2).

Now, we construct an exact Poisson structure on M.
•
Let IIo be the 2-vector field on Ei such that (fi,IIo)
= 1 and ZQ the
vector field such that

iz0ti = V-
Since LZoQ = diZoQ = dij = $7, we have
o = LZO(CI,TI0) = (L Zo fi,n 0 ) + (n,LZon0)
= (diZon,u0) + {n,LZou0) = I + (n,Lz o n 0 ).
This shows that
LZOIIQ — -IIo.

Now it is not difficult to get a 2-vector field II and homothetic vector

field Z on M. To see this we note that TV is obtained from
[0,1] x E x
by pasting {0} x Ei and {1} x S i by a diffeomorphism k : Ei —> Ei, which
is an involution interchanging C\ and Ci.
Taking — (77 + k*r/) instead of 77 if necessary, we can assume everything is
fc-invariant. Consider the obvious liftings of IIo and ZQ onto the [0,1] x Ei.
Then the fields we are considering on the top and the bottom of the product
manifold fit together under the diffeomorphism k. Thus TV has a well-
defined 2-vector filed and a vector field corresponding to IIo and ZQ. Finally,
pasting the boundary of by a diffeomorphism
/ : dinN - • dexN,
we obtain a 2-vector field II and the homothetic vector field Z on (M, J7).
By our construction, (II, Z) clearly satisfies the relation L^II = —II.
This finishes our construction of an exact Poisson structure on M.
By choosing different diffeomorphisms for / which are essentially diffeo-
morphisms of S1, we get various underlying foliation. For example, when
/ is 'identity', we get a foliation with dense leaves. It is also possible to
choose / so that the foliation contains exceptional leaves ([4]).
Remark. It seems interesting to ask if a similar construction is possible in
higher dimensions. That is, 'is it possible to construct an exact Poisson
386 TADAYOSHI MIZUTANI

manifold starting from a higher dimensional symplectic manifold in stead

of Eo, in a similar way as in the preceding construction?'
Of course the following simple procedure is possible. Let (Mi,Ui, Z\),
(M2,n 2 , Z2) be two exact Poisson manifolds. Let us denote the liftings of
Tl\,Tl2,Zi and Z2 to the product manifold by the same letters. Then we
obtain an exact Poisson manifold (Mi x M2, III + II2, Z\ + Z2).

References

1. P. Dazord, A. Lichnerowicz and Ch.-M. Marie, Structure locale des

varietes de Jacobi, J. Math. Pures et Appl., 70 (1991), 101-152.
2. E. Ghys, Actions localement libres du groupe affine, Invent. Math., 82
(1985), 479-526.
3. G. Hector, E. Macias and M. Saralegi, Lemme de Moser feuillete et
classification des varietes de Poisson regulieres, Publicacions Matem-
atiques, 33 (1989), 423-430.
4. M. Hirsch, A stable analytic foliation with only exceptional minimal
sets, in Dynamical Systems, Warwick, 1974, Lecture Notes in Math.,
468, Springer Verlag, 1975, 9-10.
5. N. Kopell, Commuting diffeomorphisms, Proc. Pure Math. XIV, AMS,
(1970), 165-184.
6. J.L. Koszul, Crochet de Schouten-Nijenhuis et cohomologie, Asterisque,
hors serie (1985), 257-271.
7. S.P. Novikov, The topology of foliations, Trans. Moscow Math. Soc,
14 (1965), 268-304.
8. R. Sacksteder, Limit sets of foliations, Amer. J. Math., 87 (1965),
79-102.
9. I. Vaisman, Lectures on the Geometry of Poisson Manifolds, Progress
in Mathematics, 118, Birkhauser, 1994.

Received November 14, 2000.

FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 387-401

FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME

PRETZEL LINKS

YASUHARU NAKAE
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Tokyo,
Komaba Meguro, Tokyo 153, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

The concept of "foliation cones" was introduced by J. Cantwell and L. Conlon.

They showed that for a taut, transversely oriented foliation on a compact, con-
nected, oriented sutured 3-manifold there are finitely many, closed convex poly-
hedral cones on the space of 1-dimensional cohomology classes. This extends a
theorem of Thurston for fibred 3-manifolds to depth one foliations. We classify
the foliation cones for the sutured manifold obtained from the complement of a
3-component pretzel link with an even number of positive twists by cutting apart
along its Seifert surface.

1 Introduction

In [10] T h u r s t o n introduced a norm x on the space of 2-dimensional homol-

ogy classes of a 3-manifold. He showed t h a t a unit ball Bx with respect to
this norm is a polyhedron whose vertices are lattice points. For a 3-manifold
M which fibres over S1, he showed t h a t the ray determined by the homol-
ogy class of t h e fibre passes through the interior of a top-dimensional face
of dBx. Therefore these fibrations J7 correspond, up to isotopy, to certain
"fibred" rays [T] C ^(M^R).
T h e concept of "foliation cones" was introduced by J.Cantwell and
L.Conlon in [2]. In [3], they showed t h a t isotopy classes of t a u t , trans-
versely oriented foliations T on a compact, connected, oriented sutured
3-manifold ( M , 7) with holonomy only on several leaves contained in DM
correspond to rays in H1(M). Furthermore in [2] they showed t h a t there
are finitely many, closed convex polyhedral cones in H1(M) having disjoint
interiors such t h a t the rays corresponding to such foliations are exactly
those lying in the interior of these cones. This extends t h e above result of

387
388 YASUHARU NAKAE

Thurston for fibred 3-manifolds to depth one foliations.

In this paper, we classify the foliation cones for the sutured manifold
MS(K), obtained from the complement E(n) of a 3-component pretzel link
K with an even number of positive twists, by cutting apart along its Seifert
surface 5.
Theorem 1.1 (Main theorem) Let K = (2Z + 2, 2m + 2, 2n + 2), (l,m, n =
1,2,...) be the three-component (21 + 2,1m + 2,2n + 2)-type pretzel link
with positive twists, and S be the standard Seifert surface for K. Let M$(K)
be the handlebody of genus 2 obtained from the complement of K by cutting
along the Seifert surface, andei ande2 be the basis of H2(Ms(n),dMs(n))
represented by the disks compressing simple closed curves in dMs(n) in
MS(K). Let e 0 be an element of H2(Ms(n),dMs(n)) such that e 0 + ei +
e2 = 0. Then the foliation cones corresponding to foliations of Ms(n) in
H2(MS(K),8MS(K)) are spanned by
(ei, - e 0 ) , ( e 2 , - e 0 ) , ( e 2 , - e i ) , ( - e i , e 0 ) , ( - e 2 , e 0 ) , (ei, - e 2 ) .
In Thurston's theorem for fibred 3-manifold, the cones are related to the
ball of the Thurston norm and thus symmetric. But by Cantwell-Conlon's
paper [2] there are examples where the foliation cones are not symmetric,
e.g. K = (2,2,2) and (2,2,4). It will be shown that the foliation cones for
(2,4,4) are not symmetric.
In the proof of this theorem we shall consider a one-dimensional foliation
£ transverse to T, look at the dynamics induced on a non-compact leaf of
T. Then we shall consider the Markov partitions for this dynamics on a
non-compact leaf of depth one foliation and construct a core of the non-
compact leaf where the dynamics is visualized. We find that the figure of
this core is essentially the same for such n therefore consider a typical figure
of the core. This dynamics is deeply related to structures of the depth one
foliation which is constructed by a procedure of Gabai's theorem, as well
as to a lamination on the non-compact leaf of this foliation constructed by
using Handel-Miller's extension (cf. [4]) of Thurston's theory [1] on the
diffeomorphism of surfaces to non-compact case.
The author would like to express his gratitude to Prof. Ken'ichi Ohshika
for his helpful advices and encouragement. He also thank the referee for
many helpful comments, in particular for pointing out the symmetry of the
cases.

2 Computing examples

In this section, we shall compute several examples to show the strategy of

the proof of our main theorem. For the definition and the construction of
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING T O SOME PRETZEL LINKS 389

foliation cones, the procedure of calculation for a foliation cone and some
notations, the readers are referred to the paper of Cantwell-Conlon [2]. We
work under the hypotheses of [2]. If a sutured manifold M is completely
disk decomposable then by a theorem of Gabai [7] we obtain a depth one,
taut foliation JF and its structure is well understood. In particular for a
pretzel link K with n + 1 components, the manifold MS(K) obtained by
cutting off a complement space E(K) of n along a Seifert surface S becomes
a handle body with genus n and MS(K) is completely disk decomposable.
We consider its taut depth one foliation T, a non-compact leaf L of T and
the element h of an isotopy class for the first return map of the transverse
flow with respect to L. Let {R\, • • • , Rn} be a Markov partition for Z n L
and h, here Z is a set of orbits of the transverse flow which do not intersect
8MS(K).

Figure 1. Seifert surface of (2,4,4) and its sutured manifold

We define the matrix A = (oy) such that

_fl h{Ri) n Rj ^ 0 ,
fltJ
~ jo h{Rl)nRj=$,
and then
T,A = {(... ,Jfc,ifc+i,. • .)|a»fcifc+1 = 1 Vfc € Z}
is the allowable set defined in section 4 of [2]. If i G S^ is a periodic element
of YJA then the homology class I \ of the corresponding closed orbit of the
390 YASUHARU N A K A E

transverse flow is defined. Let {I\} be the classes corresponding to minimal

loops, then a cone is defined by the inequalities {I\ > 0}. When we perform
the disk decomposition of Ms (K) by disks D\, • • • , Dn C M we define the
loops ai which intersects to these disks transversely such that on • Dj = 6ij,
1 < i,,7 < n, with respect to the homological intersection "•". We take
the homology classes e; = [Di] £ H2(MS(K),8MS(K)) for 1 < i < n as
a basis of H2(Ms(n),dMs(K)), and let D0 be a disk in S3 such that for
eo + ei + • • • + en = 0 where eo = [.Do]- In the figures of examples, the
embedded handle body in S3 is viewed from inside. We set notations that
S+ is the component of dTM oriented outwardly and 5_ is that oriented
inwardly. For the orientation of decomposition disks £>i, • • • ,Dn, if the
orientation of the boundary of a disk Di is counterclockwise in the figure
then its orientation is defined as positive and expressed by +Di, and if it
is clockwise then negative and by —Di. We fix a choice of Seifert surfaces
of K as in Figure 1.
E x a m p l e 2.1 We compute the foliation cones corresponding to the 3-
component pretzel link K = (2,4,4). This link, its Seifert surface S and
the sutured manifold MS{K) cutting from the link complements along the
Seifert surface is drawn in Figure 1. 5+ is drawn as dotted or shaded part.
We set labels on the arcs which are the components of intersection of S+

Figure 2. Core of (2, 4, 4)

and decomposing disks as in Figure 1.

First we look at the case when we perform a disk decomposition by
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS 391

using disks {+Di, —.D2}. Then its core K becomes as in Figure 2. We see
by these figures how the laminations T± behaves. We express the Markov
partition {R\, R2, • • • ,Rs} in a form
[ rectangle : labels of stable boundaries on disk ],
as follows.
Rx : AC R2 : BC R3 : AB R4 : DE
R5 : EF R6 : DF R7 : FG Rs : DG
Then the matrix A = (ay) is obtained as follows
/0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0\
0000 1000
00000100
01000000
00 1000 10
10000010
0000000 1
\l 0 0 0 0 1 0 0/
Thus the minimal loops defined by this symbolic dynamics are

T(...1425361...) = 3 ( Q l - 0:2),

(...678...) -Oil

and then the cone to which \T\ belongs is defined by the inequalities

Figure 3. Foliation cones of (2,4,4)

392 YASUHARU NAKAE

{a2 < ai},{a2 < 0}.

The corresponding bases of the cone in H2{M, dM) is the segment [ei, eo]
as in Figure 3.
By symmetry one only has to consider the additional cases {—D\, +D2}
and {+DQ, — D\), then obtains foliation cones corresponding to the pretzel
link K = (2, 4,4) as in Figure 3.
E x a m p l e 2.2 Secondly we compute the foliation cones corresponding to
the pretzel link K = (6, 6,6). This link n, its Seifert surfaces and the sutured
manifold Mg{n) obtained from the link complements by cutting along the
Seifert surfaces are drawn in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Seifert surface of (6, 6, 6) and its sutured manifold

We set labels on the arcs which are the components of intersection of

S+ and decomposing disks as in Figure 4. Now we perform a disk decom-
position for { — Di, +D2}. Then the rectangles of the Markov partition are
the following
Ri :AB R2: BC R3 : CD
Ri : AD R5: AE R6 : AF
Ry '. LG Rg : LH RQ : LI
.ftio '. LJ R\i ' Lfl\ R\2 '• KJ
This Markov partition and the pseudo-Anosov automorphism defines the
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS 393

minimal loops

r(...ij 1 R 2 fi 3 R 4 ...) = 4 ( - a i )
3Q
?(...RwRiiRi2...) = 2-
T h e n t h e cones t o which T belongs is defined by the inequalities

{ai<0},{a2>0},

and a base for this cone in H2(M, dM) is the segment [—ei, e2]. By symme-
try, without calculating other decompositions we obtain t h e foliation cones
corresponding t o t h e pretzel link K — ( 6 , 6 , 6 ) as in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Foliation cones of (6, 6, 6)

Now we show t h e following theorem.

T h e o r e m 2 . 3 For n > 2 let K = ( 2 , 2 , - • • ,2) be the n + 1 component
pretzel link, let et = [Di] be the homology class of the disk Di in the disk
decomposition. For the basis {e^} of H2{Ms{K),dMs{n)) the foliation cones
corresponding to the pretzel link K are spanned by

<ei,e2l... ,en),
( e i , e 2 , . . • , e i _ i , e o , e i + i , . . . ,e„) (i = 1,2, • • • , n ) .

Proof. T h e decomposition disk Dt intersects t h e suture 7 at four points,

then we set labels of intersections between 9 D j and S+ such t h a t DiC\S+ =
Xi U 2/j for (1 < i < n) as in Figure 6.
394 YASUHARU N A K A E

Figure 6. Labels

Then the local situations of the decompositions by +Di or — Di are as

in Figure 7. The proof the Theorem 2.3 is divided into the following two
cases.

decomposed by +Di decomposed by -Di

Figure 7. Local situation for decomposition +Di and — Di

 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS 395

Case 1. The core K corresponding to the decomposition by only the

positive disks {+Di, +D2, • • • , +Dn} is as in Figure 8.

Di D2 h(x,)

h(x2)

J L
h(yn) 3" y* yn h(xn)

Figure 8. Core K of Case 1

The matrix A = (a„) corresponding to this case is Oy = 1 for 1 < i, j <

n, and then the minimal loops are
r(...fcfc...) = Qfc, k — 1,2,--- ,n.
Thus the cone corresponding to this decomposition is defined by the in-
equality {a/c > 0} for fc = 1, 2, • • • , n, and this cone is spanned by (ei, e%,

Case 2. For some i, we decompose by using the negative disk — Di and all
other decomposition is by positive disks +Dj, i.e.
{+£>i, +D2, ••• , + A - 1 , ~Di, + A + 1 , • • • , +Dn}.
The core K corresponding to this decomposition is as in the Figure 9 and
the corresponding matrix A = (a,ki) is given by

1 k = i or I = i ,
a-ki
0 otherwise .

Then the minimal loops are

r
(-ifcifc-) = ak -a.i,{k = !,-•• , i - l , i + !,••• ,n),
( • • • « • • • )
396 YASUHARU NAKAE

Hyi)
N-,
h(xi)

Hy«)
Myi-2) h(yi-l) hixi-i) h(xi-2)

A(v/t2j Myiti) y! xi h(xi*i) HxM)

h(xi) _^^j

Dn-I Dm Hyi)

Hx„)

Figure 9. Core K in the Case 2.

and the foliation cone corresponding to this decomposition is defined by

the inequalities

{ak > on},(k = !,-•• ,i-l,i + l,--- ,n),

{a% < 0}.
In H2{M, dM) this core corresponds to the cone spanned by
(ei,e2,... ,ej_i,eo,ei+i,... ,en).
The set of cones obtained from Case 1 and Case 2 for i = 1, 2, • • • , n fill
up the space of the homology classes H2(MS(K), dMs(n)), thus we obtain
Theorem 2.3. •

3 Proof of main theorem

Now we prove the main theorem of this paper.

Proof of main theorem. We take the Seifert surface for the pretzel link
K = (21 + 2,2m + 2,2n + 2) as in Figure 10.
Then by theorems of Murasugi [9] and Gabai [5] this Seifert surface
has minimal genus, and by a theorem of Gabai [8] this link is not fibred.
For this Seifert surface the sutured manifold MS(K) obtained by cutting
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS 397

Figure 10. Seifert surface of the pretzel link

apart from the link complement along this S is as in Figure 11. As in the
previous section, in Figure 11 we take the labels on the components of the
intersection of the decomposing disks Di and the copy S+ of the Seifert
surface S.

:*X-X'' A
XI fflflllliiltRI
r itw"'" * fc^%
Vm
T"*!*!*!**"
n?.*.**
Zn
ym

Di Di

XI

: : :
x, "' •ill y> z
'
'' X : : -*:s!\;o

Figure 11. Sutured manifold Ms{n)

398 YASUHARU N A K A E

We divide the proof into three cases. Case 1 is the case when all of
I, m and n are greater t h a n 1. Case 2 is when two of t h e m are 1 and
the rest is greater t h a n 1. T h e last Case 3 is when one of t h e m is 1 and
t h e others are greater t h a n 1. In each case we perform six disk decomposi-
tions {+£>!, -D2}, {-Du +D2}, {+D0, - Z M , { - D o , +£>i}, { + D 0 , - D 2 } ,
{—Do, + D 2 } , and we prove t h a t the foliation cone for a disk decomposition
depends only on the choice of decomposition disks but does not depend on
(l,m,n). For each decomposition, let T be the t a u t depth one foliation
constructed by Gabai's method [7].
C a s e 1. First we perform t h e disk decomposition by { + D i , —D2}. T h e n
t h e figure of the core for this decomposition is as in Figure 12.
Using these labels on t h e figure, we see t h a t we can take a Markov
partition as follows:
P : Dz\ Q : DC R : x\ym S : Xxx2
Pi : z\z2 Q\ : Dyi Rx : x\B S\ : x2x3

• : R2 • xiyi :

: : : 5;_i : xxA
Pn : znC Qm : Dym Rm : X i y m _ i Si : x\A,
where we express the relation between an rectangle and labels as

[ rectangle : labels of stable boundaries on disk ].

If one sets (l,m,n) = ( 2 , 2 , 2 ) then we have K = ( 6 , 6 , 6 ) , and its core

and foliation cone are already calculated in Example 2.2 This foliation
cone corresponds to the one with the segment [ei, —62] as base. For t h e
rectangles X, Y and Z, let X —> Y, Z denote the relation h{X) D Y ^ <f>
and h(X) n Z ^ . For this Markov partition, t h e relations between t h e
rectangle and t h e other rectangle as follows:
P^Px Q^P,R R^S,Qm S^Sx
Px^P2 Qx^P,Rx Rx^S 5j->52

: : R2 —> S, Qi :

: : : Si-2 —> 5;_i

-P71-I —> Pn Qm-l —> P,Rm-l Rm-1 ~^ S,Qm-2 Si_x —> S ; , Q
Pn > Q, R Qm * P< Rm Rm * &•> Qm-l &l * '-'j Q-
Since the size of the m a t r i x A corresponding t o the symbolic dynamics
(Y,A,(JA) is big, we express t h e diagram of relations as in Figure 13.
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS

Figure 12. Core K

Then this symbolic dynamics defines the minimal loops

r ( ... P p 1 p 2 ...p„_ 1 p„Q...) = (n + 2 ) ( - a 2 )

r(...pp1...p„HQm...) = a i + (n + 2 ) ( - a 2 )
r(...Qfiss1...s,_1...) = (' + ! ) a i + (-"2)
r(...ss 1 ...s,...) = G + l ) a i .
Then the cone to which [F] belongs is defined by the inequalities

{a2<0},{ai>0},
400 YASUHARU N A K A E

Figure 13. The diagram of relation of the symbolic dynamics in the Case 1-a

and the bases of the cone in H2(M, dM) corresponding to it is the segment
[ei,-e2].
It is not necessary to calculate cones for the other decompositions be-
cause there are orientation preserving homeomorphism of M3 giving ar-
bitrary permutations of the components of K and these same homeomor-
phisms give arbitrary permutations of basis ei, e 2 and eo, hence calculations
for another decompositions is essentially the same by symmetry.
The proofs in the two special cases, Case 2 and Case 3 are minor mod-
ifications of the proof in Case 1. The details are left to the reader. •

References

1. S.A. Bleiler and A.J. Casson, Automorphisms of surfaces after Nielsen

and Thurston, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1988.
2. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Foliation Cones,
in Proceedings of the Kirbyfest, 35-86, Geometry and Topology Mono-
graphs, 1999.
3. J. Cantwell and L. Conlon, Isotopies of depth one foliations, in Geo-
 FOLIATION CONES CORRESPONDING TO SOME PRETZEL LINKS 401

metric Study of Foliations, World Sci. Publ., Singapore 1994, 153-173.

4. S. Fenley, Endperiodic surface homeomorphisms and 3-manifolds,
Math. Z., 224 (1997), 1-24.
5. D. Gabai, Genera of the Alternating Links, Duke Math J., 53 (1986),
no. 3, 677-681.
6. D. Gabai, Foliations and the topology of 3-manifolds, J. Diff. Geom.,
18 (1983), 445-503.
7. D. Gabai, Foliations and genera of links, Topology, 23 (1984), 381-394.
8. D. Gabai, Detecting fibred links in S3, Comment. Math. Helv., 61
(1986), 519-555.
9. K. Murasugi, On the Genus of the Alternating Knot I, II, Math. Soc.
of Japan, 10 (1958), 94-105, 235-248.
10. W. Thurston, A norm for the homology of three manifolds, Mem.
Amer. Math. Soc, 59 (1986), 56-88.

Received October 27, 2000, revised March 15, 2001.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 403-419

R E G U L A R PROJECTIVELY A N O S O V FLOWS W I T H O U T
COMPACT LEAVES

TAKEO NODA
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Tokyo,
Komaba Meguro, Tokyo 153, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

TAKASHI TSUBOI
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Tokyo,
Komaba Meguro, Tokyo 153, Japan,
e-mail [email protected]

This paper concerns projectively Anosov flows ipt with smooth stable and unstable
foliations Ts and Tu on a 3 dimensional manifold M. We assume that the manifold
M is either a torus bundle over the circle or the unit tangent bundle over the closed
surface of genus greater than 1. These manifolds are known to be the only manifolds
(up to finite cover) which admits an Anosov flow with smooth stable and unstable
foliations. We show that if the foliations T3 and Tu do not have compact leaves,
then the flow is isotopic to an Anosov flow. For projectively Anosov flows with
smooth stable and unstable foliations on the torus bundles over the circle, since
the case where the Ts or ^Fu has a compact leaf is already settled by the first
author, we obtain the complete classification of them.

1 Introduction and the statement of the result

A non singular flow <pt on a closed 3-dimensional manifold M is a projec-

tively Anosov flow if there exist a continuous Riemannian metric on M, a
continuous splitting Eu ® Es of TM/Tip invariant under the action of ip,
and a positive real number C such that the following inequality holds for
t > 0, vu e Eu and vs e Es:
\\Tyt{vu)\\ ect\vn
\\T<Pt(V)\\ - \\v>W
This definition was given in [2], where Eliashberg and Thurston called it
403
404 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

a conformally Anosov flow. The same flow was investigated by Mitsumatsu

[13] (see also [14]) and was called a projectively Anosov flow, and we adopt
the latter terminology because the action of the flow on the projectivized
normal bundle of the flow looks essential.
The invariant line bundles Eu and E3 give rise to the invariant plane
fields Eu and Es over M. As is remarked in [2], Eu and Es are continuous
and integrable, but frequently they are not uniquely integrable. It is, how-
ever, interesting to investigate the case where Eu and E" are smooth, and
then Eu and Es determine codimension 1 smooth foliations Tu and Ts of
M. In this case, we call the projectively Anosov flow regular.
The Anosov flows with smooth (at least C 3 ) stable and unstable folia-
tions are classified by Ghys ([6], [7]). There are only the suspension flow
of Anosov diffeomorphisms of the torus and quasi-Fuchsian flows on the
Seifert fibred space over hyperbolic orbifolds. They are the most important
examples of regular projectively Anosov flows.
For a regular projectively Anosov flow, the smooth foliations Tu and
s
T may have compact leaves which are tori. In [14], the first author in-
vestigated the regular projectively Anosov flows with compact leaves, and
he also gave the classification of those flows with compact leaves on torus
bundles over the circle.
The torus bundles over the circle with hyperbolic monodromy and the
Seifert fibred space over hyperbolic orbifolds are the 3-dimensional man-
ifolds where the smooth foliations without compact leaves are classified
up to smooth isotopy. By the results of Ghys-Sergiescu [8] and Ghys [7],
the possible foliations without compact leaves of these manifolds are the
unstable foliations or stable foliations of the Anosov flows.
In this paper, we look at regular projectively Anosov flows without
compact leaves on these manifolds and show that they are in fact the Anosov
flows. More precisely, we show the following theorems.
Theorem 1.1 Let A be an element of SL(2; Z) such that \TrA\ > 2. Let
M be the torus bundle over the circle with the monodromy matrix A. On
M, there is the natural Anosov flow which is the suspension of the toral
automorphism induced by A. Let ipt be a regular projectively Anosov flow
on M such that the unstable foliation Tu or the stable foliation Ts does not
have compact leaves. Then after changing the parameter of the flow (re-
versing the parameter if necessary) ipt is isotopic to the suspension Anosov
flow.
Theorem 1.2 Let tpt be a regular projectively Anosov flow on the unit tan-
gent bundle M of a closed surface £ of genus greater than 1. Assume that
the unstable foliation Tu and the stable foliation T3 do not have compact
 REGULAR PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 405

leaves. Then after changing the parameter of the flow (reversing the pa-
rameter if necessary) ipt is isotopic to a quasi-Fuchsian flow.
Together with the result in [14], Theorem 1.1 completes the classification
for t h e regular projectively Anosov flows on torus bundles over the circle.
On the other hand, we know no examples of regular projectively Anosov
flows with compact leaves on the unit tangent bundle M of a closed surface
£ of genus greater t h a n 1.
As we mentioned, the foliations Tu and fs are known to be those of
the Anosov flow, hence our problem is whether the fact t h a t t h e flow is
regular projectively Anosov implies t h a t t h e intersection of Tu and Ts is
the same as the intersection of the Anosov flows. (In the recent paper [12],
t h e uniqueness of the transverse intersection of Tu and Ts for t h e torus
bundles over t h e circle is shown. Hence our Theorem 1.1 follows from our
L e m m a 3.3 a n d t h e uniqueness of t h e intersection. T h e proof is not so
simple and it would be worth giving our proof valid only for our situation.
In fact in [12], it is also shown t h a t the transverse intersection of Tu and Ts
for the unit tangent bundle of the hyperbolic surface is not unique. Hence
the assumption t h a t the flow is regular projectively Anosov is necessary.)
To_show our results, we look at the leaf spaces of t h e lifted foliations Tu
and J P ^ a n d t h e orbit space of t h e lifted flow <pt on the universal covering
space M with the action of wi(M). T h e key observation (which was difficult
to find b u t is easy to prove) is t h a t , in our case, the orbit foliation !p of M
is Hausdorff. We give the discussion on this in Section 2.
T h e n we look at the action on the orbit space M/<p. This enable us to
follow the argument of Ghys [6] to conclude t h a t our flow is isotopic the
Anosov flow after changing the parameter. In this way, we show Theorems
1.1 and 1.2 in Sections 3 and 4, respectively.
In Section 5, we give an alternative proof of Theorem 1.1, which gives t h e
section of t h e flow by using the result of Schwartzman [16] in a way similar
to t h a t in a paper by Plante [15] and it may give a better understanding of
t h e situation.
We t h a n k Shigenori M a t s u m o t o for pointing out the similarity of our
original proof of Theorem 1.1 to the paper [15] by Plante also the members
of T I T Saturday Seminar for valuable comments. T h e authors t h a n k Remi
Langevin and Yakov Eliashberg for their hospitality during their stays.

2 I n d u c e d flow a n d f o l i a t i o n s in t h e u n i v e r s a l c o v e r i n g

Let (fit be a regular projectively Anosov flow on a 3-manifold M. Let Tu

and F" be t h e the unstable foliation and the stable foliation for ipt. Let
406 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

(ft, -^"_a n d Fs be the induced flow and foliations on the universal covering
space M of M.
Using the result of Tamura-Sato [17], we see that the foliations Tu and
T do not have Reeb components and this implies that all leaves of Tu and
s

Ts are diffeomorphic to planes (see [14]).

We look at the leaf spaces Qu = M/Tu and Qs = M/Ts ([3], [1]). The
leaf spaces Qu and Qs may have non Hausdorff points. One can easily con-
struct a regular projectively Anosov flow on T 3 such that Qu is Hausdorff
and Qs is not.
For the purpose of this pape£, we restrict our attention to the case where
Q and Qs are Hausdorff, i.e., Tu and Ts are diffeomorphic to the product
u

foliation of R 3 with leaves R 2 x {*}. Then Qu and Qs are diffeomorphic

to the real line R. The projections pu : M —> Qu and ps : M —> Qs are
both 7Ti(M) equivariant and determine the foliations Tu and Ts.
We consider the juxtaposition map of projections;
p=(pu,ps):M —>QuxQs.

The map p to the plane is a TT\ (M) equivariant submersion and it determines
the structure of the orbit foliation <p of the flow <pt.
^ Now the problem is whether the orbit foliation ip of the lifted flow on
M is Hausdorff. We have the following proposition.
P r o p o s i t i o n 2.1 Let <pt be a regular projectively Anosov flow on a 3-
manifold M. Assume that the lifted stable foliation Ts of the universal
covering space M is diffeomorphic to the product foliation of R 3 . Then
the lifted orbit foliation ip restricted to each leaf Lu of the lifted unstable
foliation Tu is Hausdorff.
Proof. Suppose that there a£e 2 orbits £ and £' of ip on Lu such that a
sequence {£{) of orbits of ip on Lu converges to them simultaneously. Let
LI denote the unstable leaf passing ^ . Then by the assumption that J-s is
the product foliation, The leaf L\ converges to a leaf Ls. Thus £ and £' are
components of the intersection of Lu and Ls.
Now we take points x and x' on £ and £', respectively. Then we take
a foliated rectangles T and T" at x and x' transverse to ipt, respectively.
There are curves 7" and 7 s on Lu and Ls joining x and x'. Then we obtain
holonomies /i"„ and hs s for the foliations Tu and Ts, respectively. Since
Lu and Ls are contractible, the holonomies do not depend on the paths on
the leaves.
Now take a Riemannian metric on M adapted for the projectively
Anosov flow ip. We lift it to the universal covering space M. We look at
 REGULAR PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 407

the intersections Xi, x\ of £± and T, T'. We may assume that (pti(xi) — x\

for positive £$. Then we see that U —> co as i —> oo. This implies that
i^J^I > eCtiPl for u u € TFt/TS and ws e TTS iTIp at x<. Thus
this ratio tends to the infinity as i —> oo.
This ratio can also be calculated as the ratio of the derivatives of the
holonomies /i"„ and h*a at that points, and hence the ratio is bounded.
This is the contradiction.
In our case, both the lifted unstable foliation Tu and the lifted stable fo-
liation Ts are diffeomorphic to the product foliation of R 3 , and Proposition
2.1 clearly implies the following lemma.
L e m m a 2.2 If both the lifted unstable foliation J-u and the lifted stable
foliation Ts arejiiffeomorphic to the product foliation o / R 3 , then the orbit
foliation (p of M is Hausdorff and p : M —> Qu x Qs is a fibration to the
image with fibre being the orbit offit•
Remark. We can use Lemma 2.2 to simplify the proof of several results
in [14].
The first one is that T 3 does not admit regular projectively Anosov
flow without compact leaves ([14], Proposition 5.6). For, if Fu and Ts are
without compact leaves, they are foliations without holonomy and satisfy
the assumption of Lemma 2.2. It is easy to see that p : T 3 —> Qu x Qs is
surjective and the action of 7Ti(T3) is topologically by translations. Hence
there are elements cti € 7ri(T3) such that ai(x,y) —> {x,y) € Qu x Qs. On
T 3 , this corresponds to the Poincare maps of transverse rectangle to the
flow. The condition that the flow is projectively Anosov implies that the
rectangle is distorted after some time. Since this Poincare maps are defined
on a fixed rectangle, this gives rise to nontrivial holonomy of Tu or Ts.
The second one is the following. Let <pt be a regular projectively Anosov
flow on T 2 x [0,1] such that T2 x {i} (i = 0, 1) are the only compact leaves of
Tu. Then we show that Ts is not the product foliation TS\T2 x {0} x [0,1]
([14], Proposition 5.14). If TS\T2 x {0} has a Reeb component r, we look
at the holonomy along dr x {0,1} as in [14], and the dynamics is not
projectively Anosov. Otherwise, we can apply Lemma 2.2 to the foliations
restricted to the interior of T 2 x [0,1]. Then p : T2 x (0,1) —> Qu x Qs is
surjective, and this gives rise to a fibration T2 x (0, l)/7ri(T 2 ) —> (Qu x
QS)/TTI(T2) with fibre being the real line. Then this admits a section. If
the flow restricted to the interior has a section, the alpha limit set and the
omega limit set of the flow are contained in T2 x {i} (i = 0, 1). At the
alpha limit set this contradicts the fact that the boundaries are leaves of
408 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

unstable foliation Tu.

We mention here that, if the projectively Anosov flow <p admits a strong
Anosov splitting [14], that is, TM has an invariant splitting Euu®Ess®Tip
invariant under the flow, then the orbit foliation (p of the lifted flow on M
is Hausdorff. This is true even if Qu or Qs are not Hausdorff. ([3]).

3 Proof of Theorem 1.1

In [14], the first author proved the following theorem.

Theorem 3.1 ([14]) Let (pt be a regular projectively Anosov flow on a
torus bundle over the circle. If the unstable foliation J-u has a compact leaf,
then the stable foliation Ts also has a compact leaf. In fact the topological
type of such flows are classified.
Thus hereafter we assume that both Tu and Ts do not have compact
leaves. In this situation, we use the following result by Ghys and Sergi-
escu [8].
Theorem 3.2 (Ghys-Sergiescu [8]) Let A be an element of SL{2; Z)
such that \TrA\ > 2. Let M be the torus bundle over the circle with the
monodromy matrix A. Let <fit denote the natural Anosov flow which is the
suspension of the toral automorphism induced by A. Let T be a smooth
codimension 1 foliation without compact leaves of M. Then T is isotopic
to the Anosov unstable foliation Fu or the Anosov stable foliation Fs of M.
For the Anosov foliations Fu and Fs of M, the pullback foliations Fu
and Fs are diffeomorphic to the product foliation of R 3 with leaves R 2 x
{*}, M/Fu and M/Fs are the affine lines, and TTI(M) acts on them as
afEne transformations determining the transversely affine structures of Fu
and Fs.
Thus by Theorem 3.2, the pullback foliations Tu and T8 are also dif-
feomorphic to the product foliation of R 3 . By Lemma 2.2, we have the
map p = (pu,ps) : M —> Qu x Qs, which is a fibration to the image with
fibre being the orbit of <pt. The map p to the plane is a TTI(M) equivari-
ant submersion and it determines the structure of the orbit foliation of the
flow ipt.
The first step of the proof of our theorem is the following, lemma.
Lemma 3.3 The foliations Tu and Ts are not isotopic to Fs simultane-
ously.
Proof. We look at the equivariant map p : M —> Qu x Qs. Suppose
that Tu and Ts are both isotopic to Fs. We consider the family of linear
foliations Qg of the affine space Qu x Qs = R x R with leaves parallel to a
 R E G U L A R PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 409

vector (cos 6, sin 9). Since TTI(M) acts on Qu x Qs as on M/Fs x M/Fa,

it acts as similarity transformations. Hence it leaves the linear foliation Q$
invariant. Since p is a submersion, T$ = p*Qe is a foliation of M and it is
invariant under the action of TT\(M). Thus we obtain a family of foliations
Tg of M. Since any orbit of <p is contained in a leaf of Te, TFg/Ttp is
invariant under the action of y>t- This contradicts the definition of the
projectively Anosov flow for which there are only 2 invariant line bundles
Eu and Es in TM/T<p.
Remark. The flow with transverse similarity structure is studied by
Ghys [5]. By his result, the flow with transverse similarity structure on the
torus bundle over the circle is a Riemannian flow, and from which we can
also deduce above lemma.
Proof of Theorem 1.1. Now we know that the foliations Tu and Ts
are isotopic to Fu and Fs, respectively. Hence •K\{M) acts on Qu x Qs
in the same way as on M/Fu x M/Fs. The image p(M) of the map
p = (pu,ps) : M —> Qu x Qs is a simply connected non empty open subset
of Qu x Qs. Any open subset of M/Fu x M/Fs contains a fixed point of
the action of a non trivial element a of ni(M). Since p(M) is invariant
under the action of 7Ti(M), p{M) contains the stable line and the unstable
line of the action of a. Note that p(M) is also invariant under the action
of the fundamental jyoup of^the fibre torus jwhich is the translation by_a
lattice subgroup of M/Fu x M/Fs. Since p(M) is simply connected, p(M)
coincides with Qu x Qs. Thus the map p = (pu,ps) • M —* Qu x Qs is
surjective and it is a fibration with the fibre being the orbit of ipt.
Now we can follow the argument by Ghys [6]. Since both the Anosov
flow fa and the projectively Anosov flow <pt on M give rise to the TVI(M)
equivariant fibrations M —> Qu x Qs and we know that the actions on Qu x
Qs coincide. This implies the holonomy groupoids for the orbit foliations
<j> and <p of the flows <f>t and <pt are equivalent. _^
For a closed orbit c of ip or <j>, we look at the lift in M and its image in
Qu x Qs. The curve c represents an element a € TTI(M) and the image in
Qu x Qs is the fixed point by the action of a e -K\{M). Hence the holonomy
covering of c is contractible.
Thus both (M, </>) and (M, <p) are the classifying space for the groupoid
([9]) and we have a smooth map M —> M which sends an orbit of <j>t
to an orbit of tpt which is transversely a diffeomorphism conjugating the
transverse structures of <j> and of <p. This smooth map lifts to a map M —>
M which covers the identity of Qu x Qs. As in [4], one can deform this
smooth map to a diffeomorphism which sends an orbit of <j>t to an orbit of
410 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

ft • Since the resulted diffeomorphism sends the fibre of the torus bundle
to an isotopic torus, it is isotopic to the identity.

4 Proof of Theorem 1.2

Let Tu and Ts denote the unstable foliation and the stable foliation of a
regular projectively Anosov flow without compact leaves on the unit tangent
bundle M of a closed surface E of genus greater than 1.
To prove Theorem 1.2, we use the following strong theorem by Ghys [7].
Theorem 4.1 (Ghys [7]) Let T be a foliation of class C3 of the unit
tangent bundle M of a closed surface E of genus greater than 1. Suppose
that T has no compact leaves, then there is a hyperbolic metric g on E
such that T is isotopic to the stable foliation Fg for the geodesic flow for
the metric g.
Note that the stable foliation Fg and the unstable foliation Fg for the
geodesic flow for the same metric g are isotopic.
As Anosov flows with smooth stable and unstable foliations, Ghys de-
fined the quasi-Fuchsian flow (j)gi i92 in [6] and proved the following theorem.
Theorem 4.2 (Ghys [6, 7]) Let<pt be an Anosov flow on the unit tangent
bundle M of a closed surface E of genus greater than 1. Suppose that the
stable foliation Ts and the unstable foliation Tu are of class C3, then there
are two hyperbolic metrics g\ and g% on E such that ft is isotopic to the
quasi-Fuchsian flow <j>gi S2 whose stable and unstable foliations are isotopic
to Fgx and Fg2, respectively.
For the quasi-Fuchsian flow <j>gi i92 , the map p : M —> Qu x Qs is not a
surjective map.
Now in our situation, by Theorem 4.1, Ts and Tu are isotopic to F^ and
F " for some hyperbolic metrics gi and g^ on E. The question is whether
the intersection of Ts and Tu is isotopic to <j>gi,g2-
We know that Tu and Ts are the product foliations of R 3 . (This follows
from the earlier work by Thurston [18] (see also Levitt [10]) which says that
foliations without compact leaves are isotopic to the foliations transverse
to the fibres.) Hence by Lemma 2.2, the map p : M —• Qu x Qs is a
fibration to its image. The intersection of the image p{M) and a horizontal
line Qu x {*} or a vertical line {*} x Qs is diffeomorphic to a real line.
Theorem 4.1 also gives the information of the action of ni(M) on Qu
and Qs. The generator of the centre of 7Ti (M) represented by the fibre of
the circle bundle acts as translation by 1. Hence any element a of TTI(M)
acts Z periodically on Qu and Qs. If a has a fixed point on Qu, its fixed
 REGULAR PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 411

point set is the union of the attracting fixed points {xs + m}, (m € Z)
and the repelling fixed points {xu + n } , ( n e Z ) . Moreover, a also has the
fixed point set which is the union of the attracting fixed points {ys + m},
(m £ Z) and the repelling fixed points {yu + n}, ( n £ Z).
It is also important to note the following facts. The action of IT\{M) on
Qu or Qs is minimal, i.e., every 7Ti(M) orbit is dense. The union of fixed
point sets of the action of elements of lri(M) is dense in Qu or Qs. On Qu
and Qs the notion of the length of the interval being an integer has meaning
which is invariant under the action. Hence the notion of the length of the
interval being greater than 1 also has meaning.
L e m m a 4.3 The length of the intersection of the image p{M) and a hori-
zontal line Qu x {*} or a vertical line {*} x Qs is at most 1.
Proof. Assume that the length of intersection of p{M) and Qu x {y}
is greater than 1. Since the image p(M) is an open set and the union
of fixed point sets is dense in Qs, by replacing y by a nearby point, we
may assume that y € Qs is a fixed point under the action of an element
a € 7ri(M). We may assume that this is an attracting fixed point ys, for
otherwise we take a - 1 . Let yu denote the repelling fixed point for a such
that ys - 1 < yu < ys. ___
Since the length of intersection of p(M) and Qu x {ys} is greater than
1, there are at least 2 fixed points, one attracting and one repelling, on
the intersection. Assume that the fixed points (xu,ys), (xs,ys), (xu <
s u
x < x + 1) are on the intersection. (The argument is similar for the case
Xs < xu < xs + 1).
We first show that the image p{M) contains neither [z",a;s] x {ys} U
{x } x [ys,yu + l] nor [xu,xs] x {ys}U{xs}
s
x \yu,ys\.

(xs,yu + l) (xs,yu + l)

(xu,ys) \(xs,y°) K.j/8) ixS,y

.{x\Vu) {xs, yu)

Figure 1. [x",xs] x {ys}u{xs} x [ys,yu + l] and [xu,xs] x {y°}u{xs} x [yu,ys

in Qu x Qs.
412 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

Assume that p(M) contains [xu,xs] x {ys} U {xs} x [ys,yu + 1]. (The
other case is similar.) Let Ls be the leaf of Ta which has a lift (p")~1{ys) in
M. On L3, we have two closed orbits corresponding to (xu,ys) and (xs, ys)
and these two closed orbits bound an annulus with the flow which is the
suspension of the action of a on the interval [x",:r s ] x {ys}.
In the same way, Let Lu be the leaf of Tu which has a lift (pu)~1(xs)
in M. On Lu, we have two closed orbits corresponding to (xs,ys) and
{xs,yu + 1) and these two closed orbits bound an annulus with the flow
which is the suspension of the action of a on the interval {xs} x [ys,yu + 1].
Note that since there are annuli in Ls and in Lu bounded by the closed
orbits, the directions of the flow on these three closed orbits are paral-
lel. In other words, the action of a on p~1(xu,ys), on p~1{xs,ys) and on
1 s s
p~ (x , y + 1) is either simultaneously in the same direction as the flow or
simultaneously in the opposite direction to the flow. (Compare the situa-
tion with that of usual geodesic flows.) Then either the action of the flow on
the normal bundle TM/Tip along the closed orbit corresponding to (xu, ys)
or that along the closed orbit corresponding to (xs, yu + 1) contradicts that
the flow is projectively Anosov.
Now we show that the image p(M) contains either [a:",! 5 ] x {y3} U
{x }x [ys,yu + l}oT J I " , I S ] x{y3}U{xs}x
3
[yu,ys].
Since the image p(M) is invariant under the action of a and the an open
interval containing [x u ,x s ] x {y8} is in the image, the image p(M) contains
(xs — l,xu + 1) x {ys}. By the same reason, since the image contains a
neighbourhood of (xs,ys), the image p(M) contains its attracting basin
(xu,xu + 1) x (yu,yu + 1). The image also contains a neighbourhood of
{xu}x(yu,yu + l).
Then by the invariance under the action of the centre of 7i"i(M), the
imagep{M) contains (xs-2, xu) x {ys-1} as well as (xu-1, xu) x (yu-l,yu)
and a neighbourhood of {xu — 1} x (yu — 1,2/").
Since the intersection of the image p{M) and a vertical line {x} x Qs is
diffeomorphic to the real line, the image p{M) contains (xs — l,xu) x [ys —
1,2/*]. _
Thus we see that only the intersection of the image p(M) and Qu x
{yu + n) might be of length not greater than 1. However, since the action
of the 7Ti(M) on Qs is minimal, there is an element /? € ni(M) which sends
yu out of {yu + n} and this means that the length of the intersection of
p(M) and Qu x {yu} is greater than 1.
Since the intersection oip(M) and Qu x {yu} contains (x3 — 1, xu) x {yu},
it contains either (xs - 1,2/") or (xs,yu).
 REGULAR PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 413

,(xs,yu + l)

xu + l,ys

Figure 2. The imagep(M) contains (x3-l,xu + l) x{ys}L)(xu,xu + l) x(yu, yu + l)

and a neighbourhood of {x } x (y ,y + 1), and then it contains (xs — 2,xu) x
u u u

{ys - 1}U (xu - 1, xu) x (yu - 1, yu) and a neighbourhood of {xu - 1} x (yu - 1, yu)
as well.

If the image p(M) contains (xs — l,yu), then it contains (xs,yu + 1),
hence it contains [ x u , x s ] x {ys} U {xs} x [ys,yu + 1]. If t h e image p(M)
contains (xs,yu), then it contains [a; u ,a; s ] x {ys} U {x3} x [yu,ys]-
Thus, by t h e contradiction, we have shown the lemma.
Let M denote the covering corresponding to the fundamental group
of the fibre. M fibres over the Poincare disk D. Since the foliations Ts
and Tu are isotopic t o the foliations transverse to the fibres, Tu and Ts
arejiiffeomorphic to t h e product foliation of D x jS 1 . ^We obtain t h e m a p
p : M —> Qu x Qs, where Qu = MjTu and Qs = M/?s. By Theorem 4.1,
t h e circles Qu and Qs are with projective structures and 7 r i ( M ) / Z = 7ri(i7)
acts on t h e m as projective transformations.
In the case of t h e quasi-Fuchsian flow on M, as is explained in detail
in [6], p is a fibration onto S1 x S1 — {(x,h(x));x G S1}, where h is a
homeomorphism of the circle.
In our case, we do not assume the existence of the invariant splitting of
TM and we do not know t h e existence of the affine structure on of t h e orbit
space of t h e (p restricted to a leaf of Tu oi Ts. However, t h e transverse
414 T. NODA AND T. TSUBOI

projective structures of Tu and Ts forces that the situation is similar.

Since the orbit foliation (p restricted to a leaf of Tu or Ts is diffeomor-
phic to the product foliation of R 2 , by the above lemma, p restricted to a
leaf of Tu or Ts is a fibration to its image. This implies that p is a fibration
to its image. The reason is that we can lift a curve m the image of p hy
using its approximation which is a union of curves in Qu x {*} or {*} x Qs.
The image is an open subset of Qu x Qs such that the intersection of the
image and the circles Qu x {*} or {*} x Qs is a non empty open interval.
The map p : M —> Qu x Qs is -n\ (M) equivariant and the action passes
through TT\(E). Any element a in ni(£) acts on Qu and Qs as projective
transformations /i^ and hsa with respect to the projective structures on
them. The orbit of any point of Qu or Qs under the action of K\{E) is
dense. Moreover for any two closed intervals / and J, there is an element
a <E iri(IJ) such that h£(I) C intJ.
We can now show the following lemma.
L e m m a 4.4 C = Qu x Qs — p(M) is a graph of an orientation preserving
homeomorphism Ti : Qu —> Qs.
Proof. First we show that the intersection of C with the circles Qu x {*}
or {*} x Qs consists of a point.
Since the intersection of the image of p and the circles Qu x {*} is an
open interval, the complement is a closed interval. Assume that there is a
segment J x {5 s } = [gYi^] x {5 s } in C. We take a point (§0)9*) m * n e
image of p.
Take the interval i" = [q^, q%} C Qu which contains J = [5Y, g^]- Take
an element a of ni(E) such that h^(I) C int J. Then we have an attractive
fixed point q^ of /i£ in int J and a repulsive fixed point q% of /i£ in Qu - I.
Since {q^, g8) is in the image, 5 s is not a fixed point of hsa. Let ql and q\
denote the attractive and the repulsive fixed points of hsa, respectively.
We look at the limit of (hl)k(J) x {(^) f c (? s )} as k -> - c o . Then this
accumulates to Qu x {§^}. Since C is a closed set, C contains Qu x {5^}-
This contradicts that the intersection of the image of p and Qu x {*} is not
empty.
Thus the intersection of C with the circles Qu x {*} or {*} x Qs consists
of a point.
Since C is closed, the above implies that C is a graph of homeomor-
phism Ti : Qu —> Qs. This homeomorphism is orientation preserving. For
otherwise, the image of the fibre intersects C.
Now we understand that the actions of ^ ( i ? ) on Qu and Qs are conju-
gate by Ti, that is, W(AJt(W_1(5*))) = KiQ3) f o r a e M^)-
 REGULAR PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 415

Proof of Theorem 1.2. We may assume that Qu and Qs are identi-

fied with the standard projective line R P 1 and the actions are both in
P S L ( 2 ; R ) . They determine two hyperbolic structures on S. As in [6],
there exists a homeomorphism H : R P 1 —> R P 1 such that

H(hua(H-l(q°))) = h°a(qs) forae^.

We compare this homeomorphism H with our H given by Lemma 4.4.

Since H~1'H commute with h\ for any a € TTI(E), 7i coincides with H.
Let 4>t be the quasi-Fuchsian flow on M and Fu and Fs be the unstable
foliation and stable foliation of <j>t. Then Fu and Fs determine the map
Po : M —> R P 1 x R P 1 which is a fibration to the image with fibre being
the orbit of 4>t- The image of po is the complement of the graph of H ([6]).
Now we can follow the argument by Ghys [6]. We compare the map po
with p defined by Tu and Ts • As we discussed, the images of pb and p
coincide. The actions of ni(M) on the images also coincide. They define
the transverse structure of the orbit foliations <p and (j>.
For a closed orbit c of <p or </>, we look at the lift in M and its image
in R P 1 x R P 1 . The curve c projected to E represents a € Tri(-S') and the
image in R P 1 x R P 1 is a fixed point by {h^hl). Hence the holonomy
covering of c is contractible.
Now as in the proof of Theorem 1.1, the situation fits to the argument by
Ghys [6]. Both (M, <j>) and (M, <p) are the classifying space for the groupoid
and we see that <pt is isotopic to <pt after changing the parametrization.

5 Asymptotic cycles

In this section we give an alternative proof for Theorem 1.1.

By Lemma 3.3, we already know that J-u is isotopic to Fu and !FS is
isotopic to Fs. We show that Tu and Ts are simultaneously isotopic to Fu
and Fs.
To show this, we use the fact that the multiplier of the affine actions
of 7Ti(M) on the affine line Qu and Qs factors through 7Ti(51). We can
formulate this in a different way.
Let M be the cyclic covering space of M which corresponds to the fun-
damental group of the torus fibre. Then we have a projection p : M —> R.
We fix a smooth Riemannian metric on M. Then since (pt is a projectively
Anosov flow, considering the metric induced on TM/Tip, there are positive
real numbers C and K such that the following inequality holds for t > 0,
416 T . NODA AND T . TSUBOI

vu € Eu and v3 e Es:
\\Tft{vu)\\ KrctP
u
W
\\T<Pt{v»)\\ ~ \\v'W
We take the pullback^metric on M and the lifted flow (pt, then for the
induced splitting of TM/Tip, we have the same in equality as above.
Now we take account of the foliations Tu and Ts.
For a curve 7 on a leaf of Tu, we look at the linear holonomy /i" of the
foliation Tu along 7. Since Tu is isotopic to Fu, for the induced metric
on TM/TTU, it is contracting. It is easier to describe this fact for the
curve 7_on a leaf of the pullback foliation Tu = p*Tu of the cyclic covering
space M.
Lemma 5.1 Let e ± A (\ > 0) denote the absolute value of the eigenvalues
of the monodromy matrix A. Let p : M —> M be the cyclic covering. We
consider a Riemannian metric on M, and on M the pullback Riemannian
metric. LetT° = p*Ta (a = s,u) denote the pullback foliation. For a curve
7 : [0,1] —> JP7 on a leaf of T", let hZ, denote the holonomy along 7 from
the germ of transverse arc at 7(0) to the germ of transverse arc at 7(1).
Then there is a positive real number K such that the following inequalities
hold:
K -l e -A{g(7(D)-?(7(0))}|| t; a|| < llft^^H < Ke -Mp(7(D)-p(7(0))}|| vS || ;

for vs e TM/TTU, and

K -i e Mp(7(U)-P(7(0))}|| w s|| < \\h'^vu\\ < Ke^tP^CDJ-P^W))!!^!!

for vu £ TMjTTs. Here we are considering the induced metric on

TM/TT".
Proof. For the Anosov foliations Fu and Fs, if we take an appropriate
metric with respect to them, we have the following equalities:

HttJ.ul = e - A ^ w l » - « ' 1 , ( 0 ) ) > | | u ' | |

for vs e TM/TF1, and
\\hs^vu\\ = e A Q J ( 7 ( 1 ) ) - p W 0 ) ) ) | | u u | |

for vu € TM jTTs. When we change the foliations by isotopies and change

the Riemannian metric, we still have the desired inequality.
We are going to show that our projectively Anosov flow tpt has a section.
To show this the following theorem of Schwartzman plays an essential role.
 R E G U L A R PROJECTIVELY ANOSOV FLOWS WITHOUT COMPACT LEAVES 417

Let £ be the vector field associated with tpt- For a signed measure on
M invariant under ipt, put Alfi(fi)(uj) = / (£,w)d/u for any closed form
JM
bj. The asymptotic cycle is the image in Hi(M\H) of Av of the invariant
probability measures.
1 fT
A quasi-regular point x is a point such that the limit lim — / f(<pt(x))dt
T Jo
exists for any continuous function / . For a quasi-regular point x, Ax =
~Q~
lim — exists, where Ct is the homology class of the orbit from x to <ft(x)
joined with a bounded path from <ft(x) to x. Note that, for a quasi-regular
point x, Ax is in the image of A^.
T h e o r e m 5.2 (Schwartzman [16]) 1. For any invariant probability mea-
sure fi, the set of quasi-regular points is measure 1, andAv(fj,)= Axdfi(x).
JM
2. If there exists C € H1 (M; R) such that (A^fj,), C) > 0 for any invariant
probability measure, then ipt has a section.
Hence, for C e i J 1 ( M ; R ) , if we show that there exist a positive real
number e such that (AX,C) > e for any quasi-regular point x, then ipt has
a section.
Now we prove our main theorem.
Proof of Theorem 1.1. For an orbit of (pt on M, by Lemma 5.1,
vU vU
r-2c2Mp(9t(x))-p(x)}\\ W < 11^(^)11 < r2c2\m$t(x))-p(x))W W

\\v'\\ ~ \\T(pt{V)\\ ~ |M|

for vu G Eu and vs G Es. Since ipt is projectively Anosov, we have

\\Tyt(vu)\\ Kpct\vn
\\T$t{v°)\\ - \\V\\
for t > 0, vu € Eu and vs G Es. Hence we have
Ktf't < K 2 e 2A{p((? t (2))-p(x)}

for t > 0. Hence if i is sufficiently large (t > T0 = (2A + 21og«-log K)/C),

then p((pt{x)) — p{x) > 1.
Let C be the cohomology class of the bundle projection. Then for any
x G M, we have (CT/T, C) > 1/TQ. Hence for any quasi-regular point x we
have (Ax, C) > 1/TQ. Thus ft has a section by Theorem 5.2
The only possible section in our case is that isotopic to the fibre. Once
we have a fibre transverse to <pt, the theorem follows without difficulty.
418 T . N0DA AND T . TSUBOI

Acknowledgments

The first author is supported in part by Research Fellowship of the Japan

Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists and by Grant-in-
Aid for Scientific research 11-9548, Japan Society for Promotion of Science,
Japan.
The second author is supported by Monbusho Zaigai Kenkyuin 1999,
Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan and Grant-
in-Aid for Scientific research 12304003, Japan Society for Promotion of
Science, Japan.

References

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hausen, Ann. Inst. Fourier, 46 (1996), 1451-1517.
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Series 13, Amer. Math. Soc, 1998.
3. S. Fenley, Anosov flows in 3-manifolds, Ann. of Math., (2) 139 (1994),
79-115.
4. E. Ghys, Flots d'Anosov sur les 3-varietes fibrees en cercles, Erg. Th.
& Dynam. Sys., 4 (1984), no. 1, 67-80.
5. E. Ghys, Flots transversalement affines et tissus feuilletes, Analyse
globale et physique mathematique (Lyon, 1989). Mem. Soc. Math.
France (N.S.), 46 (1991), 123-150.
6. E. Ghys, Deformations de flots d'Anosov et de groupes fuchsiens, Ann.
Inst. Fourier, 42 (1992), 209-247 .
7. E. Ghys, Rigidite differentiable des groupes fuchsiens, Inst. Hautes
Etudes Sci. Publ. Math., 78 (1993), 163-185.
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certains feuilletages, Topology, 19 (1980), no. 2, 179-197.
9. A. Haefhger, Groupoide d'holonomie et classifiants, in Structure Trans-
verse de Feuilletages, Asterisque, 116 (1984), 70-97.
10. G. Levitt, Feuilletages des varietes de dimension 3 qui sont des fibres
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three-manifolds, preprint.
13. Y. Mitsumatsu, Anosov flows and non-Stein symplectic manifolds,
Ann. Inst. Fourier, 45 (1995), 1407-1421.
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ations, to appear in Ann. Inst. Fourier.

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versity of California at Berkeley, Thesis, 1972.

Received August 8, 2000.

This page is intentionally left blank
Proceedings of
FOLIATIONS: GEOMETRY AND DYNAMICS
held in Warsaw, May 29-June 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel WALCZAK et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 421-440

O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS

OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL
TANGENT TO THE IDENTITY AT THE ENDPOINTS

TAKASHI TSUBOI
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Tokyo,
Komaba Meguro, Tokyo 153, Japan,
e-mail: [email protected]

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Kikuko Arai Hudson.

This paper shows that several groups of orientation preserving homeomorphisms

of the closed interval are perfect, that is, every element of the group is written as a
product of commutators. Results might not be new, however the method of proof
would be of interest. The method is to write an element as a product of elements
which are the identity on subintervals accumulating to the end points. Then there
are many cases where the latters are products of commutators. In this way, we
show the perfectness of the group of homeomorphisms, of the group of Lipschitz
homeomorphisms, of the group of the C 1 diffeomorphisms which are tangent to
the identity at the endpoints, and of the group of the C°° diffeomorphisms which
are infinitely tangent to the identity at the endpoints.

1 Introduction

The homology of groups of homeomorphisms has been studied in relation

with the study of the topology of the classifying spaces of foliations. Even
for the first homology group of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of
the interval [0,1], there are several important results. The first homology
group of a group is the quotient group of the group by its commutator
subgroup. The group is said to be perfect if it coincides with its commutator
subgroup or equivalently the first homology is zero.
First the group Homeo([0,1]) of orientation preserving homeomorphisms
of the closed interval [0,1] is perfect. This has been shown by using the fact
421
422 TAKASHI TSUBOI

t h a t Homeo([0,1]) is isomorphic to the group Homeo((0, l ) ) of orientation

preserving homeomorphisms of the open interval (0,1). Then the latter is
easily shown to be perfect by using the fact t h a t all positive topological
translation of (0,1) are conjugate.
Secondly, t h e first homology of the group Diff°°([0,1]) of orientation
preserving diffeomorphisms of the interval [0,1] is isomorphic to R x R
(Fukui [9]). T h e abelianization homomorphism is given by t h e evaluation of
the logarithms of t h e slopes at t h e endpoints. On t h e other hand, the group
Diff~([0,1]) of t h e diffeomorphisms of the interval [0,1] which are infinitely
tangent to t h e identity at the endpoints is perfect (Sergeraert [24]).
For groups of homeomorphisms with compact support of the open inter-
val (0,1), most groups are known to be perfect. For example the following
groups are perfect; the group Homeo c ((0,1)) of homeomorphisms with com-
pact support (Anderson [3]), the group Homeof'((0,1)) of Lipschitz home-
omorphisms with compact support (Anderson [3]), t h e group DifF£((0,1))
of Cr diffeomorphisms (1 < r < oo, r ^ 2) with compact support (Mather
[16], [17]).
In this paper, we are interested in the perfectness of several groups of
homeomorphisms of the closed interval and of several groups of diffeomor-
phisms of the closed interval which are (infinitely) tangent to the identity
the endpoints { 0 , 1 } . We would like t o show the perfectness of t h e m under
a rather simple idea.
This idea to show the perfectness is as follows. A diffeomorphism of a
closed interval (infinitely) tangent to the identity at the end points would
be decomposed into a product of diffeomorphisms which are the identity
on subintervals accumulating to t h e end points. If a diffeomorphism of
the open interval (0,1) with compact support is written as a product of
c o m m u t a t o r s in a controlled way, then the resulted diffeomorphisms are
written as products of commutators (infinitely) tangent to the identity at
the end points.
We carry out this program to show the perfectness of the group of
homeomorphisms, of the group of Lipschitz homeomorphisms, of the group
of C1 diffeomorphisms which are tangent to the identity at the endpoints,
and of the group of C°° diffeomorphisms which are infinitely tangent to t h e
identity at the endpoints. We actually show t h a t these groups are uniformly
perfect, t h a t is, any element is written as a product of a bounded number
of commutators.
In fact, we give the proof of the perfectness of the group Homeo([0,1]) of
orientation preserving homeomorphisms of the closed interval in Section 2.
This does not need any estimate and gives a good understanding for our
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 423

method. Then we see in Section 3 that, by using a little careful construction

with estimates on the Lipschitz constants of homeomorphisms, the proof of
Section 2 also works for the group Homeo L ([0,1]) of orientation preserving
Lipschitz homeomorphisms of the closed interval.
To treat diffeomorphisms we need estimates on the norms. In Section 4,
we show that the group Diff^fO, 1]) of the C 1 diffeomorphisms of the closed
interval which are tangent to the identity at the endpoints is perfect. For
an element of Diff1([0,1]) which is the identity near the endpoint 1, we use
a fragmentation with respect to a partition of unity of (0,1] by 2 functions
which oscillate between 0 and 1. We also use a result on small commutators
of Diff* ((0,1)), which we prove in Section 6. There we see that we have a
good control on the C 1 norm.
In Section 5, we see that the same fragmentation as in Section 4 works
for the C°° diffeomorphisms of a closed interval infinitely tangent to the
identity at endpoints. Then we use a result in ([26]) on small commutators
of Diff£°((0,1)) to show the group Diff^([0,1]) of orientation preserving
C°° diffeomorphisms of the interval infinitely tangent to the identity at the
endpoints is perfect. This was first proved by Sergeraert [24], and reproved
by Natsume-Kawabe [21]. The present proof was suggested by Francis
Sergeraert in a discussion we had in 80's.
The present proof would be generalized to the cases of the groups of
diffeomorphisms of a compact manifold (infinitely) tangent to the identity
along the boundary isotopic to the identity. That is, the results on the small
commutators would be true and we would be able to use a similar partition
of unity to decompose a diffeomorphisms into a product of diffeomorphisms
whose support is contained in the closure of a union of disks accumulating
to the boundary. For the C°° case, this would give an alternative proof of
the result of Masson [14].
In Section 6, as an appendix to Section 4, we prove a result on small
commutators of Diffj((0,1)). We use Mather's trick ([17]) and the Denjoy-
Pixton action ([22], [28]) of Z 2 to write a C1-diffeomorphism with compact
support as a product of commutators with controlled C 1 norm.

2 Perfectness of t h e group of homeomorphisms of the closed

interval

We review the proof of perfectness of the group of homeomorphisms of the

real line with compact support (Mather [15]).
Proposition 2.1 ([15]) The group of homeomorphisms of the real line
with compact support is perfect.
424 TAKASHI TSUBOI

Proof. Let g be a homeomorphism of the real line with support in an

interval U. Then we can find a homeomorphism h with compact support
such that g(U) D U = 0. We form the infinite product G = r j ^ o ^gh'1 of
the homeomorphisms hlgh~l which have support in disjoint intervals hl{U).
It is easy to see that G = ghGh~l and g is written as one commutator;
g = GhG~lh-1 = [G,h]. D
We prove the perfectness of the group of homeomorphisms of the closed
interval by decomposing a homeomorphism into a composition of homeo-
morphisms which are the identity on subintervals accumulating to the end
points.
Theorem 2.2 ([23], [11]) The group Homeo([— 1,1]) of homeomorphisms
of the closed interval [—1,1] is perfect.
Proof. For a homeomorphism / of the interval [—1,1], we choose a
sequence {aj}'jL-00 of points in (—1,1) such that
m a x { a , - , / ( a , ) , / _ 1 ( a , ) } < a,-+i and lim a, = ± 1 .
j-»±oo
Then {0,^-2,0^-1] (k € Z) and {f {a^k), f {o-ik+i)] (k 6 Z) are disjoint and
let fi be a homeomorphism of [—1,1] such that
/2|[a4fc-2,G4fc-l] = i d[a 4fc _2,a 4 fc_i] a n d
/2I [o4fc, 04fc+l] = f\ [o-Ak, O-Ak+l}-
The support of / 2 is contained in the union of disjoint intervals ^4fc-i,04^+2].
Put fx = / / 2 " 1 . Then
/i|[a4fc-2)04fc-i] = /|[a4fc-2,04fe-i] and
/ l | [ / ( 0 4 f c ) , / ( a 4 f e + l ) ] = i d[/(a 4 fc),/(o4*, + i)]-
The support of /1 is contained in the union of disjoint intervals
[/(a4fc-3),/(a4fc)]-
We apply the construction of the proof of Proposition 2.1 to each piece
h\[f{o-ik-3),f{aik)\ of /1 or /21Kfc-1,04/0+2] of / 2 . Then the piece
fi\[f(o,4k-3),f(o-4k)] is written as one commutator
[Gi,k,hitk] = Gi.fc/ii.fcGi^- h\tk~
with support in
[(/(04fc-2) + /(a 4 f c - 3 ))/2, (/(04/fc) + /(a 4 f c + i))/2]
and the piece /2|[a4fc-i,a4fc+2] is written as one commutator
[(*2,k, h-2,k] = G 2 ,fc/l2,fcG2,fc" /l2,fc _
with support in
[{o-ik-2 + « 4 f c - l ) / 2 , (fl4fc+2 + 04fc+3)/2]-
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 425

Put
Gi = Y[Ghk, h1 = l[hltk, G2 = l[G2,k, h2 = l[h2tk.
fc fC f£ fc

Then these are well defined homeomorphisms of the interval [—1,1], and we
have h = [Gi,/ii] = G i / n G i " 1 / ! ! - 1 and f2 = [G2,h2\ = G2h2G2~lh2-1
Thus / = / i / 2 is a product of two commutators.
This shows that Homeo([-l, 1]) is uniformly perfect. •

3 Perfectness of the group of Lipschitz homeomorphisms of

the closed interval

A Lipschitz homeomorphism is a homeomorphism / such that / and / " ^ are

Lipschitz maps. The logarithm of the maximum of the Lipschitz constants
for / and f~l measures the distance between / and the identity. This gives
rise to a left invariant metric on the group Homeo ([0,1]) of orientation
preserving Lipschitz homeomorphisms of the closed interval [0,1]
First we note that the proof of Proposition 2.1 also gives the perfectness
of the group of Lipschitz homeomorphisms of the real line with compact
support.
In the proof of Proposition 2.1, for a Lipschitz homeomorphism g sup-
ported on an interval U\ = [a\, 61], we can use the piecewise linear homeo-
morphism h with support in UQ — [ao, 60] (ao < a\ <b\ < bo) which is affine
on [ao, 61] and on [bi, bo] and h(b\) = a\. Then the resulted homeomorphism
G = VuLotigh'i as well as G" 1 = UZo^'1^ is
Lipschitz with the
1
same Lipschitz constant as that of g or g" . The Lipschitz constants of h
and h~l are of course (60 — ai)/(^o — b\) and (61 — oo)/(ai — ao), respec-
tively. So we have the following lemma.
Lemma 3.1 For intervals UQ = [ao,&o] and U\ = [ai,6i], (ao < a\ <
61 < 60), put D = max.{(bo-ai)/(bo-bi),(bi-a0)/{ai-a0)}. Let g
be a Lipschitz homeomorphism g with support in U\ such that the Lipschitz
constants of g and g~l are bounded by L. Then g is written as a commutator
of Lipschitz homeomorphisms with support in UQ = [ao,bo\; g = [G,h] =
GhG~lh~x such that the Lipschitz constants ofG, G _ 1 , h, h^1 are bounded
by max{L, D}.
Now we follow the proof of Theorem 2.2 taking care of the lengths of
intervals and we show that perfectness of the group of Lipschitz homeomor-
phisms of the closed interval.
Theorem 3.2 The group HomeoL([u, 1]) of orientation preserving Lipschitz
homeomorphisms of the closed interval [0,1] is perfect.
426 TAKASHI TSUBOI

Proof. Any Lipschitz homeomorphism of the interval [0,1] is written as

a product of two Lipschitz homeomorphisms which are either the identity
near 0 or near 1. It is enough to show that a Lipschitz homeomorphism of
the interval [0,1] which is the identity near 1 is a product of commutators.
Let / be a Lipschitz homeomorphism of the interval [0,1] with support
in [0,ao] (ao < !)• Since / and / _ 1 are Lipschitz, for the maximum L of
Lipschitz constants for / and / _ 1 , we have x/L < f(x) < Lx. For negative
integers i, put al = a§L2%.
Then [04/0-2,04/0-1] {k £ Z, k < 0) and [f{aik), /(a 4 f c + i)] (k € Z, k < 0)
are disjoint and let f2 be the homeomorphism of [0,1] such that
/2|[a4/c-2,a4fc-i] = id[a4k_2,a,u_i]! h\[a4fc,o4fe+i] = /I[a4fc,a4fc+i],
and /2|[a4fc-i,fl4fc] and /2|[«4fe+i,04/0+2] are affine. The support of f2 is
contained in the union of disjoint intervals [<i4k-i, 04^+2] as before. Since
aik/L < f(a4k) < La4k,
the slope of /2|[a4fc-i,a4fc] and its inverse are not greater than
a 0 L 8 f c + 1 - a0L8k~2 L3 - 1 L2 + L + 1
< L+l or
a0L8k - a0L8k~2 L2 - 1 L +l
a0Lsk - a0L8k'2 L2 - 1
8fc 2 L + l.
ao L8fc-i - a 0 L - L- 1
In the same way, since
a-ik+i/L < f(aik+i) < Ld4k+i,
the slope of /2|[«4fc+i, 04/0+2] and its inverse are not greater than
a0L8k+4 - a0Lsk+1 L3 - 1 L2 + L + 1
< 2 or
a0L8k+4 - a0Lsk+2 L3 - L L2 + L
a0L8k+4 - a0L8k+2 L2 - 1 L +l
a0L8k+4 - a0L8k+3 L2 - L L ~2'
Thus the Lipschitz constants of f2 and f2~l are estimated by L + 1.
Put A = / / a " 1 . Then
/lI[a4/c-2,a4fc-i] = /|[fl4fc-2, 04/0-1] and
id
/l|[/(o 4 /o),/(o4fc+l)] = [/(a4t),/(a4fc + i ) ] -

The support of / 1 is contained in the union of disjoint intervals

[/(o4fc-3),/(a4fe)]. The Lipschitz constants of /1 and / i _ 1 are estimated
by L2 + L.
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 427

Now we use Lemma 3.1 and write the piece /i|[/(«4fc-3),/(a4fc)] of

/ i as a commutator [Gxtk,h-itk] = G\<khihGi:k~1hiik~1 with support in
[aoL8k~7,aoL8lc+1}. Then the Lipschitz constants of the elements in the
commutator are bounded by max{L 2 + L, D} = D, where
/ g p L 8 ^ 1 - g 0 L 8fc - 6 g0L8fc - g 0 L 8fc - 7 \ L7 - I
maX
~ \ g 0 L 8fc+1 - g0L8fc ' g 0 L 8fc - 6 - a 0 L 8 f c - 7 J L ~ 1'
The piece /2|[a4A;-i,a4fe+2] of f2 is also written as one commutator
[G2,k, ^2,fc] = G2,fc/i2,fcG2,fc-1/i2,fe"1 with support in [a0L8k~3, a0L8k+5} and
the Lipschitz constants of the elements in the commutator are bounded by
m a x { L + l , £ > } = D.
Put

Gi = JlGi, fc , /ii = JI/ii,fc, G2 = Y[G2,k, h2 = Y[h2,k

K rC rC t£

as before and these are Lipschitz homeomorphisms of the interval [0,1] with
Lipschitz constants bounded by D. Thus
f = fif2 = [Gi,hi][G2,h2],
and we proved that HomeoL([0,1]) is uniformly perfect. •

4 Perfectness of the group of the C 1 diffeomorphisms of the

closed interval which are tangent to the identity at the
endpoints

Let Diff ([0,1]) denote the group of C 1 diffeomorphisms of the interval. For
an element / of Diff ([0,1]), sup | l o g / ' | measures the distance between /
and the identity. This is equivalent to max{sup | ( / —id)'|, sup | ( / - 1 — id)'|}.
These would be referred to as C 1 norm of / . These give rise to a left
invariant metric on Diff ([0,1]).
There is a natural homomorphism t o R x R which is the evaluation of
the logarithms of the slopes at the endpoints. That is, the homomorphism
maps / e Diff^fO, 1]) to (log/'(0),log/'(l)) 6 R x R. Let Diff{([0,1])
denote the kernel of this homomorphism.
In this section, we show that Diff {([0,1]) is a perfect group.
T h e o r e m 4.1 Let Diff1([0,1]) denote the group of the C1 diffeomorphisms
of the interval which are tangent to the identity at the end points. The group
Diff^jO, 1]) is a perfect group.
We will use a version of fragmentation lemma ([5], [18], [27], [7]).
Let rj be a smooth monotone increasing function on [0,1] such that
428 TAKASHI TSUBOI

r)(x) = 0 f o r x G [0,1/2],
r)(x) = 1 for x G [3/4,1] and
r)'(x) < 8 for x£ [0,1].
Let v denote the smooth function on the half open interval (0,1] such that
v(x) = r)(22kx) for x G [2- 2 f e -\2- 2 f c ] (k > 0, k G Z) and
I/(I) = 1 - 77(22fc+1:r) for x € [2- 2 f c - 2 , 2" 2/c - 1 ] (fc > 0, k E Z).
The support of i/ is contained in \JkLo[2~2k~1> 2 _2fc_1 3] and that of 1 - v
is contained in \J^L0[2~2k~2,2~2k~23]. Since the absolute value of dvjdx
on [2~k~1, 2~k] is estimated by 2k+3, we have the estimate \dv/dx\ < 2s/x.
In a similar way, since the absolute value of dlvjdxl (t — 1,2,...) on
[2~k~1,2~k] is estimated by C(2U for some constant Q, we have the estimate
\d?v/dxt\ <ce/xe (£ = 1,2,...).
Let H : [0, 2] x (0,1] —> [0,1] x (0,1] be a continuous map defined by
H(t, x) = O ( x ) , x) for t € [0,1] and H(t, x) = {{t - 1)(1 - ^(x)) + j/(z), i )
for t G [1,2]. This is written as H(t,x) = ((t - [t])ut_[t](x) + [t]vi(x),x) for
t G [1,2), where i>i = v and v^ = 1 — v.
For an element / G Diff}([0,1]), consider a foliation F of [0,1] x (0,1]
whose leaves are line segments {(t, f(x) + t(x — f(x))) ; ( € [0,1]} joining
(0,/(a:)) and (l,x). This is the isotopy ft(x) = f(x) +t(x — f(x)) between
/ and the identity. The slope of the leaves are estimated by \f(x) — x\. Let
Z(t, x) be the slope of the leaf of F at (t, x). Then

Z(t,x) = ~Ut-\x)) = ft~l(x) - f{ft-\x)) and

d<1
dZ h(f-1( „dft-\ ,
^ X )
= dWx-{ft {X))
^X~{X)

=(i
- £ ) ( / r l ( a ; ) ) / { i + ( i - t]tc{!t~1{x)))-
Z(t,x) is C°° with respect to t and C 1 with respect to x and Z(t,0) = 0.
Since / is tangent to the identity at 0, (dZ/dx)(t,0) = 0.
Since Z(t,x) is C 1 with respect to x, we fix the modulus of continuity
e(5) for (dZ/dx)(t,x) which satisfies 6(61+62) < e(6\)+e(62) and e(6) —> 0
as 6 —» 0. In particular, \(8Z/dx)(t,x)\ < s(x).
We look at the pull back H*F of F by H.
L e m m a 4.2 If Z is small and flat along x = 0, then the pull back foliation
H*F is a C1 foliation on [i - 1, i] x [0,1] (i = 1,2).
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 429

Proof. Put H(t,x) = (u,x). Then the Jacobian matrix is

at ax i v 0 1
Let X(t,x) denote the slope of H*F. Then

dt dx / V / \
Hence

Note that ^ = - ^ = | K . if Z& is small, X is given by

Zu
{t\+\
X =
i-z((t-{t}f-^ + [t}^y
Thus if Z is small, X is C 1 out of a neighborhood of a; = 0. We are interested
in the behavior of X along x = 0. Since / is tangent to the identity at 0,
Z near x = 0 is estimated by e(x)x and dv/dx is estimated by 2 3 jx. Thus
Z{dv/dx) tends to 0 as i tends to 0. Moreover since Z{dvjdx) is estimated
by e(x) and dkZ/dtk is estimated by e(x)x, X is C°° with respect to t. The
derivative with respect to x is estimated as follows.

dX_ f f ^ +Z*^
a* i-z((t-[t])*3£fci + [t]*£)

-Zv[t]
- f Q - [*])%* + M%) -*((*- M ) ^ + Mfe)
( i _ z ( ( t - [ t ] ) ^ + [t]^))a
If x is small, then the denominators are near to 1. The numerator of the
first term is estimated by s(x) + e(x)x(23/x) and that of the second term
is estimated by s(x)x(s(x)(23/x) 4- e{x)x(c2/x2)). Hence X is C 1 with
respect to x. •
Proof of Theorem 4.1. By Lemma 4.2 H*Fis a C 1 foliation of p - 1, i] x
[0,1] (i = 1, 2). Let /i (i = 1, 2) denote the holonomy of H*F from
{i} x [0,1] to {i - 1} x [0,1]. Then we see that / = /1/2, and f\ and fi are
C 1 diffeomorphisms with support contained in the closures of the unions
of disjoint intervals U£l 0 [ 2 ~ 2 , c ~ 1 ' 2 ~ 2 f c ~ l 3 ] a n d U l 0 [ 2 ~ 2 f c - 2 > 2~2k~23], re-
spectively.
430 TAKASHI TSUBOI

Since f\ is C 1 and of course tangent to the identity at the end point 0,

the C 1 norm of the piece f[\[2~2k~1, 2 _2fc_1 3] tends to zero as k tends to
the infinity.
In Section 6, we show that each piece /i|[2~ 2 f e _ 1 ,2~ 2 f e _ 1 3] of f\ is writ-
ten as a product [0i,i,fc,52,i,k][fl,31i,fc,54,i,k][55,i,k>fl,6,i,k] of 3 commutators
with support in [2- 2fc - 4 7,2" 2fc - 2 7] and the C 1 norms of the elements in the
commutators are estimated by (suplog/{|[2~ 2/c_1 , 2~ 2A: ~ 1 3]) 1 / 5 . In fact, by
taking the affine map Ak which sends [2" 2 f e - 1 , 2- 2fc_1 3] to [2~2, 2 _ 2 3], The-
orem 6.1 is applied to A f e (/ 1 |[2- 2 ' £ - 1 ,2- 2 ' £ - 1 3])A f c - 1 . The C 1 norm of it is
the same as that of /i|[2 _ 2 f c _ 1 ,2~ 2 f c ~ 1 3] and it is written as a product of
3 commutators with support in [2~57, 2 _3 7] and the C 1 norms of the ele-
ments in the commutators are estimated by (sup log/{|p- 2 f c - 1 ,2- 2 f c - 1 3]) 1 / 5 .
Then the elements conjugated by Ak~l has support in [2~2k~47,2~2k~27]
and their C 1 norms are estimated by (suplog/{|[2" 2 f e _ 1 , 2~2k~13])1/5.
Since the C 1 norm of the piece /{|[2~2fe~~1,2~2fe_13] tends to zero as k
tends to the infinity, the composition Giti = f] fc gi,itk (i = 1,.. •, 6) is a C 1
diffeomorphism of the interval and
/ l = [Gfili,G2,l][G3)i,G4,i][G!5)i,G6Il].
In the same way, f2 is written as [Gi j2 , G2l2][G3i2, G4i2][G5i2, G 6)2 ]. This
completes the proof of Theorem 4.1
Note that an element of Diff}([0,1]) is written as a composition of a
diffeomorphism with support in (0,1) and 2 diffeomorphisms with small C1
norms which are identity on neighborhoods of 0 or 1. Since Diff J((0,1)) is
uniformly perfect ([17], [28]), we showed Diff1([0,1]) is uniformly perfect.
•
5 Perfectness of the group of the G°° diffeomorphisms of the
closed interval which are infinitely tangent to the identity
at the endpoints

Let Diff°°([0,1]) denote the group of C°° diffeomorphisms of the interval.

In the group Diff°°([0,1]), neighborhoods of the identity are described by
the semi norms sup | ( / — id)( n )| (n = 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . ) .
There is a natural homomorphism to J°° x J°°, where J°° is the group
of infinite jets at the endpoint 0 or 1 of the diffeomorphisms fixing 0 or 1.
Let Diff^([0,1]) denote the kernel of this homomorphism.
In this section, we show that Diff^([0,1]) is a perfect group. This was
first shown by Sergeraert [24] and reproved by Natsume-Kawabe [21]. The
present proof in the same strategy as in the previous sections was suggested
by Francis Sergeraert in a discussion we had in 80's.
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 431

T h e o r e m 5.1 Let Diff~([0,l]) denote the group of the C°° diffeomor-

phisms of the interval which are infinitely tangent to the identity at the
end points. The group Diff^([0,1]) is a perfect group.
We assume that / € Diff^([0,1]) is the identity near the end point 1
and we look at the same foliation on F of [0,1] x [0,1] as in Section 4 whose
leaves are line segments

{(t,f{x)+t(x-f(x))); te[0,l}}

joining (0,/(x)) and (l,x). Then Z(t,x) is C°° in t and x, and Z(t,x) is
infinitely flat at x = 0.
We use the same partition of unity v\ = u, vi = 1 — v on (0,1] as in
Section 4, and define the map H : [0, 2] x (0,1] —> [0,1] x (0,1].
We look at the pull back H*F of F by H. We show that this is a C°°
foliation on each [i — 1, i] x [0,1].
L e m m a 5.2 If Z is small and infinitely flat along x = 0, then the pull back
foliation H*F is a C°° foliation on [i — 1, i] x [0,1] (i = 1, 2).
Then we apply the following theorem on the small commutators for
Difff((0,l)).
Theorem 5.3 ([26], Theorem(8.1)) Let f be a C°° diffeomorphism of
[0,1] with support in (1/8,7/8). For any positive integer m, there exist
a positive integer n and a positive real number c such that if sup | (/ —
id)(")| < c then f is written as a composition of 4 commutators of elements
of Diff£°((0,1)); / = [hi,h2}[h3,hi][h5,he][h7,hs], where for a constant
depending only on m and n,

l/(m+2)
8UP|(/li-id)^|<^m.n(sup|(/-id)W|)

Proof of Lemma 5.2. We use the same notation as in the proof of

Lemma 4.2. Put

Y0 = Zvlt]+1 and Y1 = Z((t - [t])^1 + [t]^)-

Then we have

y 0 + YiX = X.

Since Z is flat along x = 0, by using \dmZ/dxm\ < Km (m > 2), we have

the estimate \dkZ/dxk\ < (Km/(m - k)\)xm-k. By using \dkv[t]+l/dxk\ <
432 TAKASHI TSUBOI

Ck/xk, for 0 < £ < m, YQ and Yi, we have the following estimates.

deYn d^kZ dku[t]+x

<
dxe fc=0
dx^~k dxk
e
A K„ -kCk
< E
fc=0
k) (m — k)\"
-i < 2tclKmxm,

d Yxe e de'kZ dk
dxe
<
E
k=0
dx ~ dxk
e k (t
'^T^w
K„ „m-kr)ck+l „m—l
2 ^ < 2'+ict+1Kmx
k=0 kj (m — k)\
In particular, since Y0 + YXX = X and |Yi| < 2c1Kmxm-1 < 2 " 1 for
5 m 1 m m
2 Kmx - < 1, we have \X\ < 2Kmx < ClKmx , where a = 2 3 . This
5 m 1
shows that if 2 Kmx - < 1, X is C*°° on [i -l,i]x (0,1] (z = 1, 2).
We look at the behavior of X along x = 0. We show that

'fc+i
a fc x <2k [Yicj] K x"
9a; fc m
.3=1

for 25.Km:Em * < 1 by an induction of fc. Note that by Leibniz' formula,

we have

deY0 j ~ , / A &~kYx dfcX o^X _ dOiT

<9o^ • ^ \fc/ dxi~k dxk dxe dxe '
fc=o v '
If the inequality is true for k < I, then

deX deY0 e-i Ql-kYl QkX

<2
dxe dxe +E dx ~ dxk
i k
fc=0
'k+l
e+1 m '-k+l„m-l
<2 Kmcex + 2j2(i)2 xm~lK mce-k+12'
i
-A.mX
k=o w
'k+l
<2^Kmcexm + Y^Q2 k^+i-k-3 Q-fc+1 \ ±[cj ] Kir
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 433

<2e+i Kmcex™ + £ Q

< 2 ^ 2 ^ 1 ) 2 - 2 I flcj j Kmxm < 2*2 I JJc,- ] Kmx»

This shows the inequality.

d'x
By this inequality, for any £, -g-j- tends to 0 as x tends to 0. Hence X
is C°° along x = 0. •
Now we use Theorem 5.3 to prove Theorem 5.1.
Proof of Theorem 5.1. The proof goes as in that of Theorem 4.1. By
Lemma 5.2, H*F is a C°° foliation of [i - l,i] x [0,1] (i = 1, 2). Let
/» (i = 1, 2) denote the holonomy of H*F from {i} x [0,1] to {i - 1} x
[0,1]. Then we see that / — /1/2, and /1 and f2 are C°° diffeomorphisms
with support contained in the closures of the unions of disjoint intervals
Ur=o[ 2 " 2 / c ~ 1 ' 2 " 2 f c _ l 3 ] a n d Ur=o[ 2 " 2fc ~ 2 > 2 ~ 2/c-23 l> respectively.
Since f\ is of course infinitely tangent to the identity at the endpoint 0,
for n < p we have

sup|(/i-id)<n>|< K
" ~~
fa - n)\

To apply Theorem 5.3 to each piece /i|[2 2fc x , 2 2fc 1

3], we conjugate it
by the affine map Ak which sends [2~2h-1,2-2k~13} to [2- 2 ,2" 2 3]. Then

sup \(Ak(f1\[2-2k-1,2-2k-13])Ak-1-id)^\
< (22fe-1)1-"sup|(/1-id)^|
K'
~ (2 ]
fa^)!( }
K'
fa - n)\

If k is big, then we use Theorem 5.3 to obtain diffeomorphisms ftj,i,fc (j =

1 , . . . , 8) with support in [2" 5 7, 2 _3 7] such that

A f e (/i|[2- 2 f e - 1 ,2- 2 f c - 1 3])A f e - 1 = l[[h2j^,h2j}

3=1
434 TAKASHI TSUBOI

and

supK^.Lfc - i d ) ( m ) | < KmA- ^2(2fc-i)(i-ri+2n-2P3P-„ )

\{p-n)\ J
< Ki 2 (2fe-l)(l-p)/(m+2)

where K'mnp is a constant depending on m, n and p. Then the conju-

gated piece Ak~lhjtitkAk has support in [2~ 2fc_4 7,2~ 2fe_2 7] and satisfies
the following estimate.

sup|(4r1/iJu,*4fe-id)(m)l < (22k-1)m-1Kmtn^2k-1^1^^m+2^

< K n{2k-\)((m-l)-(p-\)/(m+2))

Hence if p — 1 > (m — l)(m + 2), then this tends to 0 as A; tends to oo. Put
G
i,i =Y[Ak-1hhltkAk (j = l,...,8).
k

Then this is a C°° diffeomorphism infinitely tangent to the identity at the

endpoint 0 and
4

/ l = ]J_[G r 2j-l,l,G2j,l]-

In the same way, ji is written as \\j=\\G2i-\,i,G2j,2\- Thus / = /1/2 is

written as a product of 8 commutators in Diff^([0,1]). •
Remark.Note that an element of Diff^([0,1]) is written as a composition
of a diffeomorphism with support in (0,1) and 2 diffeomorphisms with
small semi norms which are identity on neighborhoods of 0 or 1. The
fact that Diff^°((0,1)) is uniformly perfect is shown by using the theorem
of Herman [13] on the uniform perfectness of Diff°°(51) and the proof
of Hi (Diff f ((0,1)) = ifi(Diff°°(5 1 )) (see for example [5], [7]). Thus we
showed Diff}([0,1]) is uniformly perfect.

6 Appendix. Small commutators of C 1 diffeomorphisms

In this section, as an appendix to Section 4, we show the following theorem

which is used in Section 4 to show the perfectness of Diff 1 ([0,1]).
Theorem 6.1 Let f be a Cl diffeomorphism o/[0,1] with support in [a,b],
where 0 < a < b < 1. f is written as product of 2 commutators f =
[91 )<?2][93,94)[<?5,56] of C1 diffeomorphisms with support in [0,1] such that
sup I logg[\ is estimated by (sup | log f ' \ ) 1 ^ -
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF T H E INTERVAL 435

We use Mather's trick [17] to obtain a diffeomorphism with small sup-

port in the same first homology class. Then this diffeomorphism with small
support can be written as a product of 2 commutators by a result of [28].
For the group DiffJ(R) of C 1 diffeomorphisms of the real line with
compact support, we know that it is perfect [17] and is in fact acyclic
[28]. We need the construction in [28] of the diffeomorphisms to write an
element of Diff c (R) to be a product of commutators. This construction
uses an action of Z 2 given by Pixton [22].
Proposition 6.2 {[28], P r o p o s i t i o n ( l . l ) for n = 1, N = 2) There are
a homomorphism $2 : Z 2 —> DiffJ(R) and open intervals U\, U2 in R
with the following properties.

(i) l / i ^ j .
(ii) $2(A)(£/fc) for A G Zk x {0} 2 ~ fc are disjoint (k = 1, 2).
(iii) For A G {0} x Z2~k, the support o/$2(A) is contained in the closure
o/U$2(A')(C/fc), where the union is taken over A' G Zfc x {0} 2 _ f c .
(iv) For A G Z 2 , the restriction $2(\)\U2 : U2 —> <&2W{U2) is of class
C°°.

(v) There exists a positive real number C2 such that, for any A G Z 2 and
any vector field £ of class C1 with support in U2, we have |<i>2(A)*£|i <
C21 CI 17 where | |i denotes the Cl-norm.

If the support of / is contained in U2, then by a result of [28], / is

written as a product of 2 commutators. At the end of Section 3 of [28], for
the isotopy Q from / to the identity, we constructed isotopies I(A, {1})Q,
S 0 I(A,{1})Q, s { 1 } I(A,{l})Q, I'(A,{1})Q, S ' 0 I'(A,{1})Q, S ' {1} I'(A, {1})Q.
If they are the isotopies from F, FQ, -^{I}, F', Fg, F',^ to the identity,
respectively, we showed that
F = F0F{1}, F' = F;F'{1}, F = fF',
-1 1 _1
50-F050 =-f {'i}» and g{i}F { 1 } 3 { i } = Fg,

where #0 = $2(70) = $2(1,0) and g{1} = $2(7(1}) = ^2(1,1)- Then we

have
/ = FF'-1 = FuF^F'^F^1 = F^yyg^F^g^g^F^g^y-1
= [F<i,F{i}to][F{i},9{i}]-
1
The C norms of F , F 0 , F^y, F ' , Fg, FL, are estimated by that of / .
1
The C norms of g^ and g^y are estimated by the C 1 norm of $1 and
436 TAKASHI TSUBOI

the constants a\ (A = (11,12) £ Z 2 ) in the construction of $2- For a big

real number M if we assume C 1 norm of $1 is estimated by M _ 1 and
put the constant a\ = (\ii\ + |i 2 | 4- M ) " 1 , then the C 1 norms of 50 and
#{1} are estimated by M~l. Then the length of the interval U2 is as big
as M~2. Thus if / is a C 1 diffeomorphism with support in U2 such that
sup I l o g / ' | < M"1, f is written as a product of 2 commutators of C 1
diffeomorphisms with norms less than M _ 1 .
Thus we showed the following lemma.
Lemma 6.3 For a large positive real number M, a C 1 diffeomorphism f of
[0,1] with support in an interval of length M~2 near the point l/2is written
as a product of 2 commutators in Diff c ((0,1)); / = [g\,52][53,9i], where
the Cl norms of gj (j = 1, 2, 3, 4) are estimated by the C1 norm of f and
M-1.
We use Mather's trick [17] to obtain a diffeomorphism with small sup-
port in the same first homology class. We follow Section 8 of ([26]), where
we proved a theorem on the small commutators for Diffc((0,1)) which is
used in Section 5.
Lemma 6.4 Let f be a C1 diffeomorphism with support in [1/8, 7/8] near
to the identity. For a small real number /3 which is sufficiently large with
respect to a = sup | l o g / ' | , there exist C1 diffeomorphisms g, gs, ge of [0,1]
such that f — g[gs, g^], the support of g is contained in an interval of length
3/3 near the point 1/2, and the C1 norms of g, g$, ge are estimated by a/02.
Proof. We assume a = sup | log f'\ is small and we have sup|/(x) —
a;I < a.
Let /J, be a vector field on [0,1], such that the support of/x is contained in
(0,1) and fi(x) = -^ for x e [1/16,15/16]. Let A be the time 1 map of (3/J,. If
(3 is small, but sufficiently large with respect to a, Af is a small perturbation
of A which coincides with the translation Tp by (3 on [1/16,7/8]. Put
a = (7/8)+ 2/3. If a is small, Af has no fixed points in [1/8, 7/8]. Therefore,
for any point x e [1/16, (1/16) + /?), there exist a unique integer N and a
point ye [a,a + /3) such that y = (Af)N(x). Let aa(f) denote this map;
V = <7a (/)(£)•
Since for x e [1/16, (1/16) + /3),

*«(/)(*) " *a(id)(x) = (Tf)N(x) - TN(x),

sup{\aa(f)(x) - aa(id){x)\,x e [1/16, (1/16) + 0)} < N sup |/(x) - x\

<Na< (7/8)(a//3).
 O N THE PERFECTNESS OF GROUPS OF DIFFEOMORPHISMS OF THE INTERVAL 437

Since
N-l
log(a a (/))'(x) = \og((Tf)N)'(x) = £ log f'«Tmx)),
i=0

sup{| log(<r a (/))'(x)|, x e [1/16, (1/16) + /?)} < Na < (7/8)(a//3).

By using B : [1/16,(1/16) + 0) —> S 1 = R / Z defined by B{x) =
( x - ( l / 1 6 ) ) / / 3 a n d B a :[a,a + /3) —> S 1 defined by B a (x) = ( x - a ) / / 3 , we
put r a ( / ) = Baaa(f)B~1. Then T a ( / ) is a well defined C 1 diffeomorphism
of S with norm estimated by a/02.
1

Let I?i, J72 be a partition of unity on 5 1 such that V\(x) = 0 for x e

[-1/8,1/8] and Fi(x) = 1 for x e [3/8,5/8]. We consider the fragmentation
of T a ( / ) with respect to V\ and F 2 . That is, as in Section 4, we consider
the foliation F of [0,1] x S 1 whose leaves are line segments
{(t,ra(/)(x) + t(x - r a (/)(x))) ; t e [o, i]}
joining (0,T a (/)(x)) and (l,x). We define the map H : [0,2] x S1 —>
[0,1] x S 1 as in Section 4 using Fi and F 2 , and the holonomy of the pull
back foliation H*F gives the decomposition T a ( / ) = k\k2 such that k\ is
the identity on [—1/8,1/8] and fc2 is the identity on [3/8, 5/8]. The norms
of fci and fc2 are estimated by a//32.
Let k\ and A;2 be the diffeomorphisms of [0,1] defined by
r , v _ /^-1-[JV/2lBafciB0-M1+!N/2!(x)forxe [a-/?,a)
l W
~ \ x forxe [0,l]-[a-/3,a),

/c2(x) = { for x e [a - (5/2)/3, a - (3/2)/?)

[ x for x € [0,1] - [a - (5/2)/?, a - (3/2)/3),
where [AT/2] is the largest integer not greater than N/2 and R\/2 is * n e half
rotation of 5 1 . Then C 1 norms of fci and fc2 are estimated by a//? 2 . Put
5 = A;ifc2-
Since Ta(f) — Ta(g), according to Mather [17], Ag and Af are con-
jugate by a diffeomorphism H defined by H{x) = (Ag)N(Af)~N(x) for
x e [1/16,15/16] ; HAf = AgH. For the estimate of the C 1 norm of H,
we have the following.
sup \(Ag)N(Af)-N{x) -x\<Nsup |/(x) - x\ + 3sup \g{x) - x|
< iVa + 3(a//? 2 )
<(7/8)(a//?) + 3 ( a / / ? 2 ) < 4 a / / ? 2 .
438 TAKASHI TSUBOI

Since
N-l
log((Ag)N(Af)-Ny(x) = ^log/'((T/)-l(x))
i=0

+ J2logg'((AgY(A)^^((Af)-N(x)),
i=0

sup I log((Ag)N(Af)-NY(x)\ <Na + 3(a//3 2 )

<(7/8)(a//3) + 3 ( a / / 3 2 ) < 4 a / / ? 2 .
Thus
/ = A^H^AgH = g[(Ag)-\ tf"1],
and the C 1 norms of 5, ( A ? ) - 1 and H~l are estimated by a//? 2 and the
support of g is contained in a interval of length 3/? near the point 1/2. •
Proo/ of Theorem 6.1. Put a = log|/'(x)|. Put f3 = a 2 / 5 . Then by
Lemma 6.4 we can write / = g[gs, go\, where C 1 norms of g, gs and ge are
estimated by a/(32 = a 1 / 5 and the support of g is contained in an interval
of length 3/3 = 3a 2 / 5 .
We can choose the number M in Lemma 6.3 as large as a - 1 ' 5 and we
can define $2 such that the C 1 norms of generators are estimated by a1'5
and U2 contains the support of g. Then g = [gi, g2] [53,54], where C 1 norms
°f 5ii 52, 33 and gi are estimated by M _ 1 = a 1 / 5 . •

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Kojun Abe and Kazuhiko Fukui for their
interest taken for this work. He also thanks Yakov Eliashberg for his warm
hospitality during his stay at Stanford University in 1999.

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Received June 7, 2000.

Proceedings of
F O L I A T I O N S : G E O M E T R Y AND D Y N A M I C S
held in Warsaw, May 2 9 - J u n e 9, 2000
ed. by Pawel W A L C Z A K et al.
World Scientific, Singapore, 2002
pp. 441-448

BASIC D I S T R I B U T I O N FOR SINGULAR R I E M A N N I A N

FOLIATIONS

ROBERT A. WOLAK
Instytut Matematyki, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski,
Wl. Reymonta 4, 30-059 Krakow, Poland,
e-mail: [email protected]

Pierre Molino introduced the notion of a basic foliation in his study of

transversely parallelisable (TP) foliations, cf. [3]. The key result he proved
is that the leaves of the basic foliation are the closures of leaves of the
initial foliation. In our paper we propose to study the basic foliation of
a Riemannian foliation, regular or singular. Our aim is to prove that for
these foliations the leaves of the basic foliation are the closures of leaves of
the initial one. The proof of this property would ensure that the conjecture
proposed by P. Molino in [5] is true. However, we cannot demonstrate
our theorem in all its generality. It is not surprising, as some years after
announcing the conjecture Pierre Molino himself began to doubt about its
truth and in his lecture at the Tokyo meeting, cf. [6], he introduced the
orbit-like foliation for which he claims that the closures of leaves form a
singular Riemannian foliation (SRF).
Our approach is based on Molino's proof of the fact that the closures of
leaves of a regular Riemannian foliation form a SRF. We refine the notion
of the commuting sheaf of a RF using global basic functions, and in some
cases we are able to show that the orbits of this sheaf are the closures of
leaves.
Let C£° (M, T) be the algebra of smooth global basic functions on (M, T).
The sheaf B(M,J-), called the basic sheaf, we define as follows:
B(M,T)(U) = {X e X(U):df(X) = 0 for any / 6 C6°°(M, J")}.
It is not difficult to check that B is a sheaf of Lie algebras. In fact, for
any vector fields X, Y of the sheaf B(M, T) and any global basic function /
0 = <Pf(X,Y) = l/2{Xdf(Y) - Ydf(X) - df([X,Y})} = -l/2df([X,Y])
441
442 R O B E R T A. W O L A K

thus indeed [X, Y] is a vector field of the basic sheaf.

Any sheaf S of germs of vector fields on M defines a distribution V$:
Vs{x) = {ve TXM: 3X e S: X(x) = v}.
The distribution "DB(M,F) w e ca H the basic distribution of the foliation
T. The basic distribution is involutive but a priori it is neither completely
integrable nor even differentiable, cf. [8].
We cannot consider just the following subbundle FQ of TM:
FBx = {ve TMx:df(v) = 0 for any / e C%°(M,F)}.
In the case of TP foliations the tangent bundle to the leaves of the basic
foliation is precisely the bundle FB- For RF-s these bundles are different
as the following example indicates.
Example Let A e SO (3) and
/I 0 0 \
A= 0 cos9 -sinO
\0 sinO cosO J
with 6/IT $ Q. The transformation A induces a diffeomorphism A of S2
with two fixed points. The closures of orbits are circles. Suspending this
diffeomorphism A we obtain a RF T of S1 x S2 with two compact leaves L\
and Z>2 corresponding to the fixed points of A. It is not difficult to verify
that at any point y of Li or Li VBi^M^{y) = TTy and FBV — T(S1 x S2)y.

1 The case of regular Riemannian foliations

Regular Riemannian foliations are relatively well understood. Using P.

Molino's results we are able to demonstrate that the basic distribution is
totally integrable and its leaves are the closures of leaves of our foliation.
First we need to recall some facts about regular Riemannian foliations.
The total space Ej,(M,T,gr) of the bundle of transverse orthonor-
mal frames , i.e. the bundle of orthonormal frames of the normal bundle
N(M, T) — TM/TT of the foliation T with the induced Riemannian met-
ric gr, admits a foliation T\ whose leaves are holonomy coverings of the
corresponding leaves olT and which is transversely parallelisable (TP). For
example, let the foliation T is given by a cocycle U = {Ui, fi,gij} modelled
on a manifold iVo, i.e.

i) {Ui} is an open covering of M,

ii) fi. Ui —> NQ are submersions with connected fibres defining T,
 BASIC DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGULAR RIEMANNIAN FOLIATIONS 443

iii) gij are local diffeomorphisms of iVo and g^ o fj — fi on UiHUj.

The image of the submersion / , is an open subset of the manifold A^o-The
disjoint union N = ]J fi(Ui) (also a q-manifold) we call the transverse man-
ifold of T associated to the cocycle U and the pseudogroup H generated
by g^ the holonomy pseudogroup (representative) on the transverse man-
ifold N. As our foliation is Riemannian the transverse manifold admits a
Riemannian metric g^ such that the submersions fi are Riemannian and
the holonomy pseudogroup is a pseudogroup of local isometries of the Rie-
mannian manifold (N,gN)- In fact we have some freedom of choice for
the Riemannian metric on M. Only the Riemannian metric gr induced
in the normal bundle N{M,F) of T is determined by the Riemannian
metric g^, and vice versa. Then the submersions fi define submersions
fi:E\{Ui,T,gT) —> Ej,(N,gN) and local isometries g^ induce local dif-
feomorphisms glj of Ej,{N) - the bundle of orthonormal frames of the the
Riemannian manifold (N,gw). If we denote E\.(Ui,T,gT) by Vi, the cocy-
cle V = {Vi, fi,glj} defines the foliation T\.
Let fix our attention on the T P foliation T\ of E\.(M,T). Any local
foliated vector field X which commutes with the transverse parallelism of
T\ (i.e. the bracket of X with any vector field of the parallelism is a vector
field tangent to the foliation Fi) is the lift of a local foliated vector field X
on (M, T) which additionally is a Killing vector field the Riemannian metric
gr in the normal bundle N(M, J7). These local foliated Killing vector fields
form a locally constant sheaf C(M,J-) of germs of vector fields called the
commuting sheaf of the Riemannian foliation T.
We begin with the comparison of the basic sheaf and the commuting
sheaf.
Lemma 1 Let C be the commuting sheaf of (M, J7). Then C C B(M, T^jXj:
where Xjr is the sheaf of germs of vector fields tangent to T.
Proof. We have to show that for a given open set U any foliated vector
field from the commuting sheaf can be represented by a vector field annihi-
lated by all global basic functions. Let X e C(U). The foliated vector field
X has a representative X which is orthogonal to J- at any point. The vector
field X is an infinitesimal automorphism of T. Let X be the lift of X to
the total space of the bundle of transverse orthonormal frames E^(M, T).
From the very definition [^,3^] € TT\ for any global infinitesimal auto-
morphism Y of J-\. Let / G C^c(M,Jr), then f\ = fir is a basic function
for T\ and
[X,hY] = X{h)Y + h[X,Y] e TTL
Thus X(fi) = 0 as there exist global infinitesimal automorphisms of T\
444 ROBERT A. W O L A K

which are nonvanishing sections of TJ-± . Therefore

0 = X{h) = X(fTT) = (d(f7T))(X) = df(X)
So the vector field X is an element of B(M, J7). •
The above lemma permits us to demonstrate the main result of this
section
Theorem 1 Let J- be a regular Riemannian foliation of a compact man-
ifold M. Then the basic distribution T>B(M,F) *S completely integrable and
its leaves are the closures of leaves of J-.
Proof of Theorem. First we will settle the relation between the basic
and commuting sheaves. We know that the foliated orbits of the commuting
sheaf are the closures of leaves, cf. [4, 5], so the orbits of B(M, J7) contain
these closures. On the other hand vector fields from B{M,F) must be
tangent to the closures of leaves, cf. [7], or Lemma 4 of this note for the
more general singular case. So the basic distribution is the distribution
tangent to the closures of leaves.
Lemma 1 assures that for any point we can find an open neighbourhood
on which the basic distribution is spanned by a finite number of vector fields
tangent to the foliation and a finite number of infinitesimal automorphisms
of the foliation which transversely define Killing vector fields of the com-
muting sheaf. So our distribution is smooth and integrable. As the flows of
all vector fields mentioned above are tangent to the closures of leaves our
distribution satisfies the assumption of a generalised Frobenius theorem,
cf. [8], so the distribution is completely integrable as well. •

2 Basic functions

Now we turn our attention to singular Riemannian foliations. At the be-

ginning of this section we will recall the natural stratification of M induced
by our singular foliation, cf. [5].
The manifold M is stratified by the dimension of leaves, i.e. let for any
x € M denote by Lx the leaf of T passing through x. Then for i = 0,...
n=dimM let Mr = {x £ M : dimLx — i}. Obviously there exist rmin and
fmax such that Mr = 0 for r < i m ; n or r > r m o x . r m j n is the smallest
dimension of leaves of the foliation T and rmax is the greatest dimension of
leaves of this foliation. The set M 0 = Mrmax is open and dense in M. The
set Eo = Mrmin is a closed submanifold of M called the minimal stratum of
(M, T). Moreover, for any r Mr C (J,< r ^r ^ n e a c ' 1 s t r a t u m t n e foliation
T induces a regular Riemannian foliation. By blowing up the minimal
stratum So we obtain a compact manifold M 1 foliated by a SRF without
 BASIC DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGULAR RIEMANNIAN FOLIATIONS 445

leaves of dimension rmin. After a finite number of such blow ups we obtain
a compact manifold foliated by a regular Riemannian foliation, cf. [5].
Let 5 be a compact submanifold of M foliated by T, S can be with
the nonempty boundary provided that the boundary is a foliated subman-
ifold as well. Let N(S) be the normal bundle of S in M. The expo-
nential mapping exps defined by the Riemannian metric defines a tubular
neighbourhood N$ of 5. The foliation T on Ns is invariant by homoth-
eties defined by orthogonal geodesies, cf. [2]. Let denote by Be(S) the
subbundle {v e N(S): \\v\\ < e} of N(S) and by Spe{S) the subbundle
{v e N(S): \\v\\ — e}. The exponential mapping defined by orthogonal
geodesies is a diffeomorphism onto the image when restricted to Be(S) for
some e > 0. Its image we denote B(S,e). The image of the corresponding
sphere bundle we denote by Sp(S, e). Leaves of T are contained in Sp(S, S)
(5 < e) and the natural projection B(S,e) —> S maps leaves of T onto
leaves of T and therefore the closures of leaves onto the closures . Using
the exponential mapping it is quite easy to prove a following lemma.
Lemma 2 For any 0 < <5i < J 2 < e there exists a basic smooth function

X(S1:S2):B(S,e)^ [0,1]
such that supp\(5\,52) C B(S, 62) and A(<5i, 52)\B(S, 6\) = 1.
Proposition 1 Let S be foliated compact submanifold of (M,!F). Any ba-
sic function on (S,J-) can be extended to a basic function on (M,J-).
Proof. The natural projection p: Ns —> S maps leaves of T into leaves
of T. Therefore for any basic function / on (5, T) fp is a basic function
for T on the saturated neighbourhood Ns of S. We have to extend the
function fp to the whole manifold M. Multiplying the function fp by a
suitable function from Lemma 2 we obtain a function we have been looking
for. •
Remark. Proposition 1 can be used to extend any basic function from
the minimal stratum to the whole manifold. Unfortunately other strata are
not compact submanifolds.
Our next task is to extend basic functions from other strata to the whole
manifold. The next lemma provide us with a sufficient tool.
Lemma 3 Let f be a basic function on an open foliated subset U of a stra-
tum S. Then for any point xofU there exist an open foliated neighbourhood
V C U and a global basic function f such that f\V = f\V.
Proof. Using a function from Lemma 2 we obtain a basic function / '
defined on the whole stratum and equal to / on a tubular neighbourhood of
the leaf L{x) passing through the point x. Its support is compact, contained
446 R O B E R T A. W O L A K

in B(L(x),e) for some e > 0. Let p: iV(E) —> E be a tubular neighbourhood

of the stratum E. Then f'p is a foliated function on iV(E). Multiplying
f'p by a suitable function from Lemma 2 we get a global basic function we
have been looking for. •
To complete our study of basic functions we prove a lemma which says
that there are sufficiently many of them.
Lemma 4 For any vector X e TXY, orthogonal to the closure S of a leaf L
in E, there exists a global basic function f such that df(X) ^ 0.
Proof. Lemma 2 permits us to reduce the problem to a local one. There
exists e > 0 such that the mapping exps- B€(S) —> M is an embedding.
The geodesic with the initial condition X is tangent to the stratum E, cf.
[5]. Then in the stratum E there is a leaf L', with the closure S", on the
geodesic with the initial condition X and at the distance less than e from
L such that the mapping exps1'. Be(S') —> M is an embedding. Then the
function fs'{y) = d(y, S')2 is a smooth basic function on exps>(Be(S')) for
which dfs'(X) ^ 0. fs> can be easily extended to a global basic function.
•
Corollary 1 For any singular Riemannian foliation the basic distribution
is tangent to the closures of leaves.

3 The case of singular Riemannian foliations

At the very beginning let us recall the facts about the basic sheaf B(M, J7).
The basic sheaf is a sheaf of Lie algebras, the basic distribution is tan-
gent to the closures of leaves. For any regular Riemannian foliation the
basic distribution is completely integrable and its leaves are the closures of
leaves of the foliation T. In particular, for any stratum E the basic distri-
bution S(E, J7) of the foliated manifold (E, J7) is completely integrable and
its leaves are the closures of leaves of J7. We have to elucidate the relations
between the sheaves B(M,J7) and B^.J7).
The restriction of any vector field X of the sheaf B(M, F) to the stratum
E is a vector field of the basic sheaf <B(E, J7). It is a simple consequence of
Lemma 3. We would like to know whether this restriction is surjective.
Let S be the closure of a leaf L of the foliation T. S is foliated regularly
by J7, therefore, according to [2] the foliation has the same transverse model
along S. For any point a; of 5 there exist open neighbourhoods U and V
of x in M and in E, respectively, such that U is diffeomorphic to V x Rp
(p = codirriMS ) and the restriction of T is the product foliation of !F\V
and a singular foliation of RP with just one 0-dimensional leaf. If X is a
basic vector field on V then its trivial extension to U is a basic vector field
 BASIC DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGULAR RIEMANNIAN FOLIATIONS 447

on U. So indeed the restriction mapping is surjective. In this way we have

proved that the basic distribution is the distribution tangent to the closures
of leaves but we could not assure that it is differentiable and completely
integrable; that would ensure that the Molino conjecture is true.
Theorem 2 Let J7 be a SRF on a compact manifold M. Then its basic
distribution is the distribution tangent to the closures of leaves of T.
Now let us look at some examples and see whether in these cases the
basic distribution is completely integrable.
E x a m p l e 1 Let H be a Lie group of isometries of a Riemannian manifold
{M,g). Then the orbits of H define a SRF TH- If the group G = He C
Isom(M,g), (He the component of e in H) is compact, then the foliation
J-G, defined by the group G, is the basic foliation of the foliation TH- In
fact, the leaves of TH are the connected components of the orbits of H,
so the leaves are the orbits of He. Any basic function is an He-invariant
function, so it is also an i? e -invariant function, so the fundamental vector
fields of the G-action are basic and they span the distribution tangent to the
closures of leaves, so both distributions are equal and completely integrable.
Example 2 Let H be a finitely generated subgroup of Isom(M,g). Then
there exists a surface E and a locally trivial fibre bundle -B(E, M) of base E
and fibre M with a foliation T transverse to the fibres such that the trace
of any of its leaves on any fibre is diffeomorphic to the corresponding orbit
of the group H. Any fibre, diffeomorphic to M, is a complete transverse
submanifold, so any global basic function is determined by its restriction
to the fibre. Therefore global basic functions are in one-to-one correspon-
dence with iJ-invariant functions on the fibre M, or with H-invariant ones,
H C Isom(M,g). Therefore the closures of leaves are in one-to-one cor-
respondence with the orbits of H, and thus the distribution tangent to
the closures of leaves when restricted to the fibre is spanned by the fun-
damental vector fields of the H-action on M. So the basic distribution is,
indeed, completely integrable and its leaves are the closures of leaves of the
foliation TH-
Example 2 is particularly instructive. One can easily check that two
facts were essential to obtain the conclusion.

1. the existence of a complete section,

2. any local holonomy transformation starting and ending at points of
the section can be extended to a global isometry of the section.

Small saturated (foliated) tubular neighbourhoods of the closure of any

leaf of an OLF, cf. [6], and in particular of a transversely integrable SRF,
448 ROBERT A. WOLAK

cf. [1], have these two properties. Therefore we can formulate the following
theorem.
T h e o r e m 3 Let T be an OLF of a compact manifold M, then the basic
distribution of (M, J-) is completely integrable and its leaves are the closures
of leaves of the foliation T.

References

1. H. Boualem, Feuilletages riemanniens singuliers transversalement

integrables, Comp. Math., 9 5 (1995), 101-125.
2. H. Boualem and P. Molino, Modele locaux satures de feuilletages rie-
manniens singuliers, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, 3 1 6 (1993), 913-916.
3. P. Molino, Etude des feuilletages transversalement complets et appli-
cations Ann. Sci. Ecole Norm. Sup., 10 (1977), 289-307.
4. P. Molino, Geometric globale des feuilletages riemanniens, Proc. Kon.
Neder. Akad., 8 5 (1982), 45-76.
5. P. Molino, Riemannian Foliations, Progress in M a t h 73, Birkhauser,
Boston - Basel - Berlin 1988.
6. P. Molino, Orbit-like foliations, in Geometric Study of Foliations, T.
Mizutani et al. (eds.) Tokyo 1993, World Sci., Singapore 1994, 97-119.
7. M. Pierrot, Orbites des champs feuilletes pour un feuilletages rieman-
niens sur une variete compacte, C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris, 3 0 1 (1985),
443-445.
8. I. Vaisman, Lectures on the Geometry of Poisson Manifolds, Progress
in M a t h 118, Birkhauser, Boston-Basel-Berlin 1994.
9. R. Wolak, Pierrot theorem for singular Riemannian foliations, Publ.
M a t h . UAB, 3 8 (1994), 433-439.

Received October 31, 2000.

 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Alvarez Lopez, Jesus (U. de Santiago) Kodama, Hiroki (if. of Tokyo)

Asuke, Taro (Ecole Norm. Sup. Lyon) Kubarski, Jan (Politechnika Lodzka)
Baditoiu, Gabriel (Inst. Math. Rom. Acad.) Kussner, Thilo ( U. Tubingen)
Badura, Marek (U. Lodzki) Langevin, Remi (U. de Bourgogne, Dijon)
Bartoszek, Adam (U. Lodzki) Leichtman, Eric (Ecole Norm. Sup. Paris)
Bis, Andrzej (U. Lodzki) Matsumoto, Shigenori (Nihon U., Tokyo)
Blachowska, Dorota (U. Lodzki) Mikami, Kentaro (Akita U.)
Blachowski, Konrad (U. Lodzki) Mitsumatsu, Yoshihiko (Chuo U., Tokyo)
Borisenko, Alexander (Kharkov U.) Mizutani, Tadayoshi (Saitama U.)
Brito, Fabiano (U. de Sao Paulo) Moriyoshi, Hitoshi (Keio U., Jokohama)
Brittenham, Mark (U. of Nebrasca) Movasati, Hossein (IMPA)
Bufetov, Alexander (U. of Moscow) Nakae, Yasuharu (U. of Tokyo)
Calegari, Danny (U. of California) Nakayama, Hiromichi (Hiroshima U.)
Colman, Hellen (U. of Illinois at Chicago) Noda, Takeo (U. of Tokyo)
Conlon, Lawrence (Washington U.) Pierzchalski, Antoni ( U. Lodzki)
Czarnecki, Maciej (U. Lodzki) Plachta, Leonid (Lvov U.)
Dobrowolski, Tadeusz (Pittsburg State U.)
Przytycki, Feliks (Inst. Mat. Pol. Akad. Nauk)
Fenley, Sergio (Washington U.)
Rebelo, Julio (PUC, Rio de Janeiro)
Florek, Wojciech ( U. of Illinois at Chicago)
Roberts, Rachel (Washungton U.)
Francaviglia, Stefano (Sc. Norm. Sup. Pisa)
Rogowski, Jacek (Politechnika Lodzka)
Frydrych, Mariusz (U. Lodzki)
Rybicki, Tomasz (AGH, Krakow)
Ghiggini, Palolo (Scuola Norm. Sup. Pisa)
Salem, Eliane (U. Paris VI)
Glazunov, Nikolaj (Glushkov Inst. NAS, Kiev)
Scardua, Bruno (IMPA)
Goetz, Arek (San Francisco State U.)
Schweitzer, Paul (PUC, Rio de Janeiro)
Gora, Pawel (Concordia U., Montreal)
Shive, Joseph (U. of Illinois at Chicago)
Grines, Viacheslav (Nizhny Novgorod U.)
Tsuboi, Takashi ( U. of Tokyo)
Haefiiger, Andre (U. de Geneve)
Turakulov, Zafar (Tashkent Inst. Nucl. Phys.)
Heitsch, James (U. of Illinois at Chicago)
Vogt, Elmar (Freie U. Berlin)
Hilsum, Michel( U. Pierre Marie Curie, Paris)
Walczak, Pawel (U. Lodzki)
Hoffoss, Diane (Rice U.)
Walczak, Zofia (U. Lodzki)
Honda, Ko (U. of Georgia)
Wardetzky, Max (U. of Maryland)
Hurder, Steven (U. of Illinois at Chicago)
Wolak, Robert (U. Jagiellonski, Krakow)
Inaba, Takashi (Chiba U.)
Zeghib, Abdelghani (Ecole Norm. Sup. Lyon)
Kaimanovich, Vadim (U. Rennes 1)
Zhuzhoma, Evgeny (N. Novgorod Tech. U.)
Kalina, Jerzy (Politechnika Lodzka)
King, Simon (Inst. Rech. Math., Strassbourg)

449
This page is intentionally left blank
 PROGRAM
May 29 (Monday)
Opening meeting.
T. Tsuboi: Transverse intersection of foliations in 3-manifolds
S. Hurder: Dynamics of C1 -foliations
S. Fenley: Topology and geometry of foliations in 3-manifolds (Part 1)

May 30 (Tuesday)
L. Conlon: Foliation cones and the Thurston norm
T. Inaba and H. Nakayama: Invariant fibre measures of angular flows and the Ruelle
invariant
R. Roberts: Essential laminations in 3-manifolds (Part 1)
B. Scardua: Complex foliations having polynomial or non-exponential growth
M. Badura: Prescribing growth types
E. Zhuzhoma: On Anosov-Weil problem for surface foliations

May 31 (Wednesday)
A. Haefliger: Foliations and compactly generated pseudogroups
M. Brittenham: Sutured handlebodies and depth of knots
S. Fenley: Topology and geometry of foliations in 3-manifolds (Part 2)
M. Czarnecki: Hadamard foliations
N. Glazunov: Application of algebraic geometry and ergodic theory to dynamics of foli-
ations
F. Brito: Volume of vector fields and plane fields on unit spheres

June 1 (Thursday)
D. Calegari: Foliations, circles and hyperbolic geometry
P. Schweitzer: Codimension-one foliations, Reeb components and an extension of Novikov 's
Theorem
S. Fenley: Topology and geometry of foliations in 3-manifolds (Part 3)
V. Kaimanovich: Conformal measures on laminations associated with rational maps
J. Shive: Regularity of Hirsch foliations
T. Rybicki: The leaf preserving diffeomorphisms group as a Lie group
M. Hilsum: Riemannian foliations with positive longitudinal scalar curvature
A. Bufetov: Topological entropy for free semigroup and group actions

June 2 (Friday)
A. Zeghib: Global linearizations of group actions
E. Vogt: Tangential Lusternik-Scnirelmann category of foliations
R. Roberts: Essential laminations in 3-manifolds (Part 2)
H. Colman: LS-category of compact Hausdorff foliations
A. Aranson and E. Zhuzhoma: Geometry and topology of foliations and 2-webs on closed
surfaces
T. Dobrowolski: Failure of Sard's Theorem and existence of strange bump functions in
infinite dimensions

June 3 (Saturday)
E. Leichtnam: A local formula for the index of a contact transformation
R. Roberts: Essential laminations in 3-manifolds (Part 3)

451
452

June 5 (Monday)
J. Heitsch: Traces and invariants for non-compact manifolds
H. Moriyoshi: Operator algebras and the index theorem on foliated manifolds (Part 1)
Y. Mitsumatsu: Foliations and contact structures in dimension 3 (Part 1)
A. Goetz: New results in dynamics of piecewise isometries
A. Pierzchalski: U(n)-invariant differential operators
D. Bolotov and A. Borisenko: Submanifolds and foliations
R. Wolak: A few remarks on singular foliations
T. Noda: Regular projectively Anosov flows on 3-manifolds
Z. Turakulov: Simplest foliations of Minkowski space-time and their applications

June 6 (Tuesday)
P. Walczak: Prescribing mean curvature for foliations of codimension > 1
S. Matsumoto: Leafwise cohomology and rigidity of certain Lie group actions
H. Moriyoshi: Operator algebras and the index theorem on foliated manifolds (Part 2)
J. Alvarez Lopez: Distributional Betti numbers of Riemannian foliations
G. Baditoiu: Semi-Riemannian submersions from real and complex pseudo-hyperbolic
spaces
Problem session (organized by P. Schweitzer)

June 7 (Wednesday)
J. Rebelo: On global behaviour of polynomial ODE's
R. Langevin: Some integral geometric results on foliations
H. Moriyoshi: Operator algebras and the index theorem on foliated manifolds (Part 3)
K. Honda: Tight contact structures and taut foliations
H. Kodama: Holomorphic contact structures and Legendrian flows
A. Bartoszek: Conformal compactification and non-linear wave equations
V. Grines: Codimension-one laminations and classification of A-diffeomorphisms
A. Bis: Entropies of a semigroup of mappings

June 8 (Thursday)
T. Asuke: Secondary characteristic classes of transversely holomorphic foliations
T. Mizutani: Foliations associated with Nambu structures
Y. Mitsumatsu: Foliations and contact structures in dimension 3 (Part 2)
A. Borisenko: Foliations with extrinsic negative curvatures
M. Frydrych: Partially holomorphic foliations
Y. Nakae: Foliation cones associated to some pretzel links
H. Movasati: On the space of holomorphic foliations with a centre singularity
V. Medvedev, E. Zhuzhoma: On codimension-one Plykin's attractors on 3-manifolds

June 9 (Friday)
L. Plachta: The study of incompressible surfaces in link components via the natural
foliations on them
T. Kiissner: Efficient fundamental cycles and foliations of cusped hyperbolic manifoldss
Y. Mitsumatsu: Foliations and contact structures in dimension 3 (Part 3)
Closing meeting