Floer homology, group orderability, and taut foliations of hyperbolic 3–manifolds

Abstract

This paper explores the conjecture that the following are equivalent for rational homology 3-spheres: having left-orderable fundamental group, having non-minimal Heegaard Floer homology, and admitting a co-orientable taut foliation. In particular, it adds further evidence in favor of this conjecture by studying these three properties for more than 300,000 hyperbolic rational homology 3-spheres. New or much improved methods for studying each of these properties form the bulk of the paper, including a new combinatorial criterion, called a foliar orientation, for showing that a 3-manifold has a taut foliation.