Hyperbolic contact symplectic lifts

Given a complex manifold $M$ endowed with a holomorphic contact structure $V$, one can define a sub-Finsler pseudometric through holomorphic discs tangent to $V$. If the integrated pseudodistance is a distance, then $M$ is $V$-hyperbolic, a generalisation of Kobayashi hyperbolicity. In this paper, we focus on Reeb manifolds $M$, which are contact manifolds with a free holomorphic $\mathbb{C}$-action generated by a Reeb vector field. We show that every proper Reeb manifold is the total space of a {\sl contact symplectic lift}, that is, it admits a $\mathbb C$-principal bundle structure onto a complex manifold $S$ endowed with a $C^\infty$-exact holomorphic symplectic form $ω$ so that the pull back of $ω$ is related to the contact structure $V$ of $M$. Conversely, we prove that any $C^\infty$-exact holomorphic symplectic manifold is given as the base of a contact symplectic lift. We also prove that $M$ is (complete) $V$-hyperbolic if and only if $S$ is (complete) Kobayashi hyperbolic. This yields many new examples of $V$-hyperbolic manifolds. Finally, we study the automorphism group ${\sf Aut}_V M$ of those automorphisms of $M$ preserving $V$. In case $M$ is $V$-hyperbolic, this is a finite-dimensional Lie group, and we provide a classification in dimension $3$, where $2 \leq \dim_{\mathbb{R}} {\sf Aut}_V M \leq 7$, with the extremal upper case realised uniquely (up to natural equivalences) by the contact symplectic lift of the unit ball $\mathbb{B}^2$ endowed with the symplectic form $\frac{2}{(1-z)^3} dz \wedge dw$.