Random walks on the mapping class group (Q630633): Difference between revisions

The mapping class group of an orientable surface of finite type (a surface of genus \(g\) with \(p\) marked points called punctures) consists of orientation-preserving mappings that preserve the punctures modulo those mappings isotopic to the identity. Thurston's work shows that all elements of the mapping class group are periodic, reducible or pseudo-Anosov. The author of this paper proves that a random walk on the mapping class group reaches a pseudo-Anosov element with asymptotic probability one. In fact, the author proves something broader. His main theorem is as follows: On the mapping class group \(G\) of an orientable non-sporadic surface of finite type, consider a random walk determined by a probability distribution \(\mu\) whose support generates a nonelementary subgroup. If \(R\) is a subset of \(G\) with the property that every element of \(R\) is conjugate to an element of relative length at most \(B\) for some constant \(B\), then the probability that a random walk of length \(n\) lies in \(R\) tends to zero as \(n\to\infty\).