On the relation between action and linking

Abstract

We introduce numerical invariants of contact forms in dimension three and use asymptotic cycles to estimate them. As a consequence, we prove a version for Anosov Reeb flows of results due to Hutchings and Weiler on mean actions of periodic points. The main tool is the Action-Linking Lemma, expressing the contact area of a surface bounded by periodic orbits as the Liouville average of the asymptotic intersection number of most trajectories with the surface.