Surfaces in 3-manifolds up to positive Hopf plumbing
Let $Y$ be a closed 3-manifold. Let $S_Y$ be the set of compact, oriented, connected surfaces with boundary in $Y$. Let $\sim$ denote the equivalence relation generated by isotopy and positive Hopf plumbing, and consider the set $$\Sigma_Y= S_Y/\sim$$ of equivalence classes under this relation. Problem: is there a natural geometric description of the set $\Sigma_Y$? Let $S_Y^f\subset S_Y$ be the subset whose elements are fiber surfaces for fibered links in $Y$, and let $\Sigma_Y^f$ be the corresponding set of equivalence classes. Then the elements of $\Sigma_Y^f$ are in bijection with isotopy classes of contact structures on $Y$. The problem is asking about the geometric content of equivalence classes of non-fiber surfaces. Problem: define a Floer-theoretic invariant of elements in $\Sigma_Y$. The Ozsvath-Szabo contact invariant assigns to each $\xi \in \Sigma_Y^f$ (aka each isotopy class of contact structures on $Y$) an element $$c(\xi)\in \widehat{\mathit{HF}}(-Y).$$ Perh...