Openness conjecture for nontrivial basic de Rham classes of contact forms

Let XX be a closed, possibly compact, connected oriented smooth manifold, and let vβv_\beta denote the Reeb vector field of a contact form β\beta on XX. The class [dβ][d\beta] belongs to the basic de Rham cohomology group HbasicdR2(X,vβ)H^2_{\mathsf{basic}\,d\mathcal{R}}(X,v_\beta).

Openness conjecture. The set of contact forms β\beta on XX for which

[dβ]0inHbasicdR2(X,vβ)[d\beta] \neq 0 \quad\text{in}\quad H^2_{\mathsf{basic}\,d\mathcal{R}}(X,v_\beta)

is open in the space of all contact forms.

The conjecture is motivated by examples on closed oriented 33-manifolds and by the relation between nontriviality of this basic class and the linking property of the Reeb flow. Its resolution is not supplied here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Gabriel Katz, “Contact de Rham cohomology and Hodge structures transversal to the Reeb foliations”, arXiv:2502.09773 (2026).

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