The extended Teichmüller space (Q1113336)

A partial compactification \(\bar T_ g\) of the Teichmüller space \(T_ g\) of Riemann surfaces of genus g is constructed and given a structure as complexed ringed space such that the Teichmüller modular group \(G_ g\) acts discontinuously on \(\bar T_ g\), and the orbit space \(\bar T_ g/G_ g\) is as a complex space isomorphic to the moduli \(\bar M_ g\) of stable Riemann surfaces of genus g. The standard family of Riemann surfaces over \(T_ g\) is extended to a family of stable Riemann surfaces over \(\bar T_ g\), and its universal property is stated. The points in \(\bar T_ g\) are stable Riemann surfaces together with a ``standard'' set of generators, for the fundamental group. The topology on \(\bar T_ g\) is inherited from the closely related augmented Teichmüller space of Bers and \textit{W. Abikoff} [Ann. Math., II. Ser. 105, 29-44 (1977; Zbl 0347.32010)]. The structure of complex ringed space is derived as follows: for any x there exist neighbourhoods U of x invariant under the stabilizer \(G_ x\) of x in \(G_ g\), and \(U/G_ x\) is an unramified covering of an open domain in the extended Schottky space, a complex manifold introduced in a joint paper of \textit{L. Gerritzen} and the author [J. Reine Angew. Math. 389, 190-208 (1988; Zbl 0639.30040)]. Then locally around x, \(\bar T_ g\) is given the complex structure of \(U/G_ x.\) In the final section of the paper an algebraic property of the Teichmüller modular group is conjectured and its consequences for the topological structure of \(\bar T_ g\) are discussed.