Symplectic embeddings of 4-dimensional ellipsoids into polydiscs

Abstract

McDuff and Schlenk have recently determined exactly when a four-dimensional symplectic ellipsoid symplectically embeds into a symplectic ball. Similarly, Frenkel and M\"uller have recently determined exactly when a symplectic ellipsoid symplectically embeds into a symplectic cube. Symplectic embeddings of more complicated structures, however, remain mostly unexplored. We study when a symplectic ellipsoid $E(a,b)$ symplectically embeds into a polydisc $P(c,d)$. We prove that there exists a constant $C$ depending only on $d/c$ (here, $d$ is assumed greater than $c$) such that if $b/a$ is greater than $C$, then the only obstruction to symplectically embedding $E(a,b)$ into $P(c,d)$ is the volume obstruction. We also conjecture exactly when an ellipsoid embeds into a scaling of $P(1,b)$ for $b$ greater than or equal to $6$, and conjecture about the set of $(a,b)$ such that the only obstruction to embedding $E(1,a)$ into a scaling of $P(1,b)$ is the classical volume. Finally, we verify our conjecture for $b = \frac{13}{2}$.