On the Gromov width of polygon spaces

Abstract

For generic $r=(r_1,\ldots,r_n) \in \mathbb{R}^n_+$ the space $\mathcal{M}(r)$ of $n$--gons in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with edges of lengths $r$ is a smooth, symplectic manifold. We investigate its Gromov width and prove that the expression $$2\pi \min \{2 r_j, (\sum_{i \neq j} r_i) - r_j\,\,|\, j=1,\ldots,n\}$$ is the Gromov width of all (smooth) $5$--gon spaces and of $6$--gon spaces, under some condition on $r \in \mathbb{R}^6_+$. The same formula constitutes a lower bound for all (smooth) spaces of $6$--gons. Moreover, we prove that the Gromov width of $\mathcal{M}(r)$ is given by the above expression when $\mathcal{M}(r)$ is symplectomorphic to $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^{n-3}$, for any $n \geq 4$.