Lorentzian distance functions in contact geometry

Abstract

An important tool to analyse the causal structure of a Lorentzian manifold is given by the Lorentzian distance function. We define a class of Lorentzian distance functions on the group of contactomorphisms of a closed contact manifold depending on the choice of a contact form. These distance functions are continuous with respect to the Hofer norm for contactomorphisms defined by Shelukhin [The Hofer norm of a contactomorphism, J. Symplectic Geom. 15 (2017) 1173–1208] and finite if and only if the group of contactomorphisms is orderable. To prove this, we show that intervals defined by the positivity relation are open with respect to the topology induced by the Hofer norm. For orderable Legendrian isotopy classes we show that the Chekanov-type metric defined in [D. Rosen and J. Zhang, Chekanov’s dichotomy in contact topology, Math. Res. Lett. 27 (2020) 1165–1194] is nondegenerate. In this case, similar results hold for a Lorentzian distance functions on Legendrian isotopy classes. This leads to a natural class of metrics associated to a globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifold such that its Cauchy hypersurface has a unit co-tangent bundle with orderable isotopy class of the fibres.