Hyperbolic cone-manifolds with large cone-angles (Q1426843)

A distance on a \(3\)-manifold determines a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure with singular locus a link \(L\subset M\) and cone-angle \(\alpha\in (0,2\pi)\), if every point \(x\in M\) has a neighborhood which can be isometrically embedded either in the upper half-space model \(\mathbb{H}^3\cong \mathbb{C}\times\mathbb{R}_+\) or in \(\mathbb{H}^3(\alpha)\) (=the space obtained from \(\{(e^{r+i\theta},t)| \theta\in[0,\alpha],r\in\mathbb{R}_+\}\) by identifying both half-planes of its boundary by a rotation around the vertical line \(\{0\}\times\mathbb {R}_+\)) depending on \(x\in M\setminus L\) or \(x\in L\). \textit{J.-P.~Otal} showed that the connected sum of \(k\) copies of \(S^2\times S^1\) admits a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure with cone-angle \(2\pi-\varepsilon\) for all \(\varepsilon>0\). \textit{M.~Boileau} asked whether every \(3\)-manifold has this property. The author gives a positive answer to this question. He proves that if \(M\) is a closed and orientable \(3\)-manifold, then for every \(\varepsilon\) there is a distance \(d_{\varepsilon}\) which determines a hyperbolic cone-manifold structure on \(M\) with cone-angle \(2\pi-\varepsilon\). The proof is based on results of \textit{F.~Bonahon} and \textit{J.-P.~Otal} [Laminations mesurées de plissage des variétés hyperboliques de dimension \(3\), preprint (2001)], \textit{C.~Hodgson} and \textit{S.~Kerckhoff} [J. Differ. Geom. 48, 1-59 (1998; Zbl 0919.57009)], \textit{S.~Kerckhoff} [Topology 29, 27-40 (1990; Zbl 0713.57016 )] and \textit{W.~P.~Thurston} [The Geometry and Topology of Three-Manifolds, preprint (Princeton University)(1978)].