On the support genus of a contact structure

Abstract

The algorithm given by Akbulut-Ozbagci constructs an explicit open book decomposition on a contact three-manifold described by a contact surgery on a link in the three-sphere. In this article, we will improve this algorithm by using Giroux's contact cell decomposition process. Our algorithm is more economical on choosing the supporting genus of the open book; in particular it gives a good upper bound for the recently defined ``minimal supporting genus invariant'' of contact structures.