Stability is not open or generic in symplectic four-manifolds

Abstract

Given an embedded stable hypersurface in a four-dimensional symplectic manifold, we prove that it is stable isotopic to a $C^0$-close stable hypersurface with the following property: $C^\infty$-nearby hypersurfaces are generically unstable. This shows that the stability property is neither open nor generic, independently of the isotopy class of hypersurfaces and ambient symplectic manifold. The proof combines tools from stable Hamiltonian topology with techniques in three-dimensional dynamics such as partial sections, integrability and KAM theory. On our way, we establish non-density properties of Reeb-like flows and a generic non-integrability theorem for cohomologous Hamiltonian structures and volume-preserving fields in dimension three.