Legendrian Gronwall conjecture

Abstract

The Gronwall conjecture states that a planar 3-web of foliations which admits more than one distinct linearizations is locally equivalent to an algebraic web. We propose an analogue of the Gronwall conjecture for the 3-web of foliations by Legendrian curves in a contact three manifold. The Legendrian Gronwall conjecture states that a Legendrian 3-web admits at most one distinct local linearization, with the only exception when it is locally equivalent to the dual linear Legendrian 3-web of the Legendrian twisted cubic in $\,\PP^3$. We give a partial answer to the conjecture in the affirmative for the class of Legendrian 3-webs of maximum rank. We also show that a linear Legendrian 3-web which is sufficiently flat at a reference point is rigid under local linear Legendrian deformation.