Ricci Curvature, Reeb Flows and Contact 3-Manifolds

Abstract

Given a contact 3-manifold we consider the problem of when a given function can be realized as the Ricci curvature of a Reeb vector field for the contact structure. We will use topological tools to show that every admissible function can be realized as such Ricci curvature for a singular metric which is an honest compatible metric away from a measure zero set. However, we will see that resolving such singularities depends on contact topological data and is yet to be fully understood.