$S^1$-equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology

Abstract

We define the $S^1$-equivariant Rabinowitz-Floer homology of a bounding contact hypersurface $\Sigma$ in an exact symplectic manifold, and show by a geometric argument that it vanishes if $\Sigma$ is displaceable. In the appendix we describe an approach to transversality for Floer homologies for which the moduli space $\widehat M_J$ of all gradient flow lines is compact for some almost complex structure $J$. This approach uses a large set of perturbations, namely vector fields on the loop space, and selects from the possibly non-compact perturbed moduli spaces a part near $\widehat M_J$ that turns out to be compact for small enough perturbations.