Teichm Ller Theory In Riemannian Geometry

These lecture notes are based on the joint work of the author and Arthur Fischer on Teichmiiller theory undertaken in the years 1980-1986. Since then many of our colleagues have encouraged us to publish our approach to the subject in a concise format, easily accessible to a broad mathematical audience. However, it was the invitation by the faculty of the ETH Ziirich to deliver the ETH N achdiplom-Vorlesungen on this material which provided the opportunity for the author to develop our research papers into a format suitable for mathematicians with a modest background in differential geometry. We also hoped it would provide the basis for a graduate course stressing the application of fundamental ideas in geometry. For this opportunity the author wishes to thank Eduard Zehnder and Jiirgen Moser, acting director and director of the Forschungsinstitut fiir Mathematik at the ETH, Gisbert Wiistholz, responsible for the Nachdiplom Vorlesungen and the entire ETH faculty for their support and warm hospitality. This new approach to Teichmiiller theory presented here was undertaken for two reasons. First, it was clear that the classical approach, using the theory of extremal quasi-conformal mappings (in this approach we completely avoid the use of quasi-conformal maps) was not easily applicable to the theory of minimal surfaces, a field of interest of the author over many years. Second, many other active mathematicians, who at various times needed some Teichmiiller theory, have found the classical approach inaccessible to them.

This multi-volume set deals with Teichmuller theory in the broadest sense, namely, as the study of moduli space of geometric structures on surfaces, with methods inspired or adapted from those of classical Teichmuller theory. The aim is to give a complete panorama of this generalized Teichmuller theory and of its applications in various fields of mathematics. The volumes consist of chapters, each of which is dedicated to a specific topic. The volume has 19 chapters and is divided into four parts: The metric and the analytic theory (uniformization, Weil-Petersson geometry, holomorphic families of Riemann surfaces, infinite-dimensional Teichmuller spaces, cohomology of moduli space, and the intersection theory of moduli space). The group theory (quasi-homomorphisms of mapping class groups, measurable rigidity of mapping class groups, applications to Lefschetz fibrations, affine groups of flat surfaces, braid groups, and Artin groups). Representation spaces and geometric structures (trace coordinates, invariant theory, complex projective structures, circle packings, and moduli spaces of Lorentz manifolds homeomorphic to the product of a surface with the real line). The Grothendieck-Teichmuller theory (dessins d'enfants, Grothendieck's reconstruction principle, and the Teichmuller theory of the solenoid). This handbook is an essential reference for graduate students and researchers interested in Teichmuller theory and its ramifications, in particular for mathematicians working in topology, geometry, algebraic geometry, dynamical systems and complex analysis. The authors are leading experts in the field.

In the Teichmüller theory of Riemann surfaces, besides the classical theory of quasi-conformal mappings, vari- ous approaches from differential geometry and algebraic geometry have merged in recent years. Thus the central subject of "Complex Structure" was a timely choice for the joint meetings in Katata and Kyoto in 1989. The invited participants exchanged ideas on different approaches to related topics in complex geometry and mapped out the prospects for the next few years of research.

In the Teichmüller theory of Riemann surfaces, besides the classical theory of quasi-conformal mappings, vari- ous approaches from differential geometry and algebraic geometry have merged in recent years. Thus the central subject of "Complex Structure" was a timely choice for the joint meetings in Katata and Kyoto in 1989. The invited participants exchanged ideas on different approaches to related topics in complex geometry and mapped out the prospects for the next few years of research.

For several decades, Teichmuller theory has been one of the most active research areas in mathematics, with a very wide range of points of view, including Riemann surface theory, hyperbolic geometry, low-dimensional topology, several complex variables, algebraic geometry, arithmetic, partial differential equations, dynamical systems, representation theory, symplectic geometry, geometric group theory, and mathematical physics. This book is the fourth volume in a Handbook of Teichmuller Theory project that started as an attempt to present, in a most comprehensive and systematic way, the various aspects of this theory with its relations to all the fields mentioned. The handbook is addressed to researchers as well as graduate students. This volume is divided into five parts: Part A: The metric and the analytic theory Part B: Representation theory and generalized structures Part C: Dynamics Part D: The quantum theory Part E: Sources Parts A, B, and D are sequels to parts on the same theme in previous volumes. Part E contains the translation together with a commentary of an important paper by Teichmuller that is almost unknown, even to specialists. Making the original ideas of and motivations for a theory clear is crucial for many reasons, and making this translation, together with the commentary that follows, available will give readers a broader perspective on Teichmuller theory. The various volumes in this collection are written by experts who have a broad view on the subject. In general, the chapters are expository, while some of them contain new and important results.

The Teichmuller space $T(X)$ is the space of marked conformal structures on a given quasi conformal surface $X$. This volume uses quasi conformal mapping to give a unified and up-to-date treatment of $T(X)$. Emphasis is placed on parts of the theory applicable to non compact surfaces and to surfaces possibly of infinite analytic type. The book provides a treatment of deformations of complex structures on infinite Riemann surfaces and gives background for further research in many areas. These include applications to fractal geometry, to three-dimensional manifolds through its relationship to Kleinian groups, and to one-dimensional dynamics through its relationship to quasi symmetric mappings. Many research problems in the application of function theory to geometry and dynamics are suggested.

There is an essentially ``tinker-toy'' model of a trivial bundle over the classical Teichmuller space of a punctured surface, called the decorated Teichmuller space, where the fiber over a point is the space of all tuples of horocycles, one about each puncture. This model leads to an extension of the classical mapping class groups called the Ptolemy groupoids and to certain matrix models solving related enumerative problems, each of which has proved useful both in mathematics and in theoretical physics. These spaces enjoy several related parametrizations leading to a rich and intricate algebro-geometric structure tied to the already elaborate combinatorial structure of the tinker-toy model. Indeed, the natural coordinates give the prototypical examples not only of cluster algebras but also of tropicalization. This interplay of combinatorics and coordinates admits further manifestations, for example, in a Lie theory for homeomorphisms of the circle, in the geometry underlying the Gauss product, in profinite and pronilpotent geometry, in the combinatorics underlying conformal and topological quantum field theories, and in the geometry and combinatorics of macromolecules. This volume gives the story a wider context of these decorated Teichmuller spaces as developed by the author over the last two decades in a series of papers, some of them in collaboration. Sometimes correcting errors or typos, sometimes simplifying proofs, and sometimes articulating more general formulations than the original research papers, this volume is self contained and requires little formal background. Based on a master's course at Aarhus University, it gives the first treatment of these works in monographic form.

This book contains a clear exposition of two contemporary topics in modern differential geometry: distance geometric analysis on manifolds, in particular, comparison theory for distance functions in spaces which have well defined bounds on their curvature the application of the Lichnerowicz formula for Dirac operators to the study of Gromov's invariants to measure the K-theoretic size of a Riemannian manifold. It is intended for both graduate students and researchers.