In this note we consider the length minimizing properties of Hamiltonian paths generated by quasi-autonomous Hamiltonians on symplectically aspherical manifolds. Motivated by the work of Polterovich and Schwarz, we study the role, in the Floer complex of the generating Hamiltonian, of the global extrema which remain fixed as the time varies. Our main result determines a natural condition which implies that the corresponding path minimizes the positive Hofer length. We use this to prove that a quasi-autonomous Hamiltonian...

For a Morse function $f$ on a compact oriented manifold $M$, we show that $f$ has more critical points than the number required by the Morse inequalities if and only if there exists a certain class of link in $M$ whose components have nontrivial linking number, such that the minimal value of $f$ on one of the components is larger than its maximal value on the other. Indeed we characterize the precise number of critical points of $f$ in terms of the Betti numbers of $M$ and the behavior of $f$ with respect to links....