Equivariant Seiberg-Witten Floer homology

Abstract

In this paper we construct, for all compact oriented three- manifolds, a U(1)-equivariant version of Seiberg-Witten Floer homology, which is invariant under the choice of metric and perturbation. We give a detailed analysis of the boundary structure of the monopole moduli spaces, compactified to smooth manifolds with corners. The proof of the independence of metric and perturbation is then obtained via an analysis of all the relevant obstruction bundles and sections, and the corresponding gluing theorems. The paper also contains a discussion of the chamber structure for the Seiberg-Witten invariant for rational homology 3-spheres, and proofs of the wall crossing formula, obtained by studying the exact sequences relating the equivariant and the non-equivariant Floer homologies and by a local model at the reducible monopole.