Papers
Topics
Authors
Recent
Search
2000 character limit reached

Symplectic One-Point Blow-Up

Updated 24 November 2025
  • Symplectic one-point blow-up is a geometric surgery on a symplectic manifold that replaces a point with an exceptional divisor, modifying its symplectic form and cohomology.
  • The procedure introduces a new degree-two cohomology class dictated by the exceptional divisor, enabling explicit computation of invariants like Gromov–Witten numbers.
  • This construction facilitates analysis of symplectomorphism groups, Lagrangian Floer homology, and the interplay between symplectic and Kähler structures.

A symplectic one-point blow-up is a surgery on a symplectic manifold (M,ω)(M, \omega) at a point pMp \in M, producing a new symplectic manifold (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega}) that contains an exceptional divisor ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1} (for $2n$-dimensional MM), with the cohomology class of the symplectic form given by [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E], where π:M~M\pi: \widetilde{M} \to M is the blow-down map and ε\varepsilon parametrizes the size of the blow-up. This operation plays a fundamental role in constructing new symplectic and Kähler manifolds, analyzing symplectic invariants, and understanding symplectomorphism groups and quantum/floer-theoretic structures.

1. Geometric Construction and Symplectic Form

The symplectic one-point blow-up relies on local and global geometric data. Around pp, Darboux's theorem provides coordinates with standard symplectic form pMp \in M0. The operation proceeds by removing an embedded symplectic ball pMp \in M1 and gluing in the projectivized tautological line bundle pMp \in M2 over pMp \in M3 as follows:

  • The smooth manifold pMp \in M4, where pMp \in M5 is the preimage of pMp \in M6 in the blow-up model.
  • The exceptional divisor pMp \in M7 is embedded as the zero-section.
  • The symplectic form pMp \in M8 is constructed to coincide with pMp \in M9 outside the surgery region, and, in the local model, as (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})0 near (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})1, with (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})2 the Fubini-Study form.

This form satisfies (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})3 for all (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})4. The symplectic area of a line in (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})5 is then (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})6 (Pedroza, 2019, Pedroza, 2015). For four-manifolds, this specializes to blowing up a point with replacement by (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})7 of area (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})8 (Chakravarthy et al., 1 Oct 2025, Karshon et al., 2014).

2. Cohomological and Topological Features

The blow-up introduces a new degree-two cohomology class, (M~,ω~)(\widetilde{M}, \widetilde{\omega})9. The ring structure is as follows:

  • ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}0.
  • ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}1.
  • ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}2 for all ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}3 (Pedroza, 2019).

On homology, ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}4, where ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}5 is the line class in ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}6 and ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}7 (Pedroza, 2015).

If ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}8 is monotone with ECPn1E \cong \mathbb{CP}^{n-1}9, monotonicity is retained for $2n$0 if and only if $2n$1 (Pedroza, 2019).

3. Classification, Parameters, and Constraints

For the one-point blow-up of $2n$2:

  • The cohomology class of the symplectic form on the blow-up is $2n$3, where $2n$4 is the line class and $2n$5 is the exceptional divisor.
  • Existence: $2n$6.
  • Uniqueness: Two blow-ups are symplectomorphic if and only if their $2n$7 parameters coincide.
  • The moment polytope is modified by cutting off a corner of size $2n$8 from the Delzant simplex (Karshon et al., 2014, Chakravarthy et al., 1 Oct 2025).

For ruled surfaces or more general settings, the cohomological class is parameterized in analogous fashion: $2n$9, with geometric constraints on MM0 depending on the structure of the base and fiber (Buse et al., 2020).

4. Symplectic Cones and Kähler Structures

The relation between the symplectic cone and the Kähler cone can be subtle. In the context of the one-point blow-up of an Enriques surface, non-Kähler symplectic forms exist on the blow-up, in contrast to the abundance of elliptic fibrations and associated invariants that distinguish the Kähler and symplectic cones. Quantitative comparison of these invariants reveals that the symplectic cone can be strictly larger than the Kähler cone, admitting symplectic forms not compatible with any integrable complex structure (Ning, 2024).

5. Lagrangian and Floer-Theoretic Properties

Under the blow-up, Lagrangian submanifolds disjoint from the surgery ball lift to proper transforms MM1, yielding Lagrangians in MM2. The Maslov index transformation is given by: MM3 where MM4 is the intersection number with the exceptional divisor. Monotonicity of MM5 is preserved for appropriate MM6; thus, the proper transform construction provides a means of generating monotone Lagrangians in the blow-up (Pedroza, 2019).

Lagrangian Floer homology of proper transforms can be computed in terms of Floer data of the original Lagrangian in MM7. This principle also underlies the structure of the Fukaya category of blow-ups, where, for small blow-up parameters, the preimages of generators of MM8 along with Lagrangian tori near the exceptional locus split-generate MM9, categorifying known decompositions in quantum cohomology (Venugopalan et al., 2020).

6. Symplectomorphism Groups and Mapping Class Phenomena

The topological structure of the symplectomorphism group, including the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms, is affected significantly by the blow-up. For the symplectic one-point blow-up:

  • Hamiltonian loops on [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]0 lift to loops on [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]1, with the lift gaining infinite order in [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]2 in many cases, as demonstrated using Weinstein's action homomorphism. The action is computable via explicit formulas involving the blow-up parameter [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]3 (Pedroza, 2015).
  • On irrational ruled surfaces after a one-point blow-up, the connected components and isotopy classes of the symplectomorphism group are partially governed by “fibered Dehn twists,” which do not correspond to classical Lagrangian Dehn twists (Buse et al., 2020).

For almost toric and log symplectic settings, standard symplectic and almost-toric blow-ups are symplectomorphic, with the symplectomorphism constructed via Moser's method and preserving log-Calabi–Yau boundaries in divisor-compatible cases (Chakravarthy et al., 1 Oct 2025).

7. Gromov–Witten Invariants and Quantum Effects

In higher dimensions, closed formulae relate Gromov–Witten invariants of the blow-up to those of the original manifold using degeneration and absolute/relative correspondence. For a six-dimensional symplectic manifold:

  • The cohomology class jumps as [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]4.
  • The Gromov–Witten invariants with point insertions can be expressed as sums involving relative invariants of the blow-up and universal coefficients determined by the geometry of [ω~]=π[ω]εPD[E][\widetilde{\omega}] = \pi^*[\omega] - \varepsilon\, \mathrm{PD}[E]5 (He et al., 2014).
  • The blow-up formula induces corresponding relations among generalized BPS numbers.

A plausible implication is that symplectic one-point blow-up provides a controlled means for investigating quantum invariants and categorical structures—such as semi-orthogonal decompositions in Fukaya categories—that reflect the topological and symplectic modifications introduced by the surgery (Venugopalan et al., 2020), and the delicate interplay between symplectic and complex geometric invariants (Ning, 2024).

Topic to Video (Beta)

No one has generated a video about this topic yet.

Whiteboard

No one has generated a whiteboard explanation for this topic yet.

Follow Topic

Get notified by email when new papers are published related to Symplectic One-Point Blow-Up.