  In this note we consider the following conjecture: given any closed
symplectic manifold $M$, there is a sufficiently small real positive number
$\rho$ such that the open ball of radius $\rho$ in the Hofer metric centered at
the identity on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of $M$ is
contractible, where the retraction takes place in that ball -- this is the
strong version of the conjecture -- or inside the ambient group of Hamiltonian
diffeomorphisms of $M$ -- this is the weak version of the conjecture. We prove
several results that support that weak form of the conjecture.
