Meromorphic quadratic differentials and measured foliations on a Riemann surface (Q1741814)

This huge work generalizes previous papers by \textit{J. Hubbard} and \textit{H. Masur} [Acta Math. 142, 221--274 (1979; Zbl 0415.30038)] and two papers by the authors [Comment. Math. Helv. 91, No. 2, 317--356 (2016; Zbl 1350.30066); Contemp. Math. 696, 153--181 (2017; Zbl 1393.30032)]. In the present paper, meromorphic quadratic differentials with a finite number of poles of arbitrary order on hyperbolic compact Riemann surfaces are considered. The main result describes a bijective link between these differentials and the purely topological concept of certain \textit{measured foliations} on these marked Riemann surfaces. Further topics treat the dependence of these foliations on the principal parts of the differentials, the topological shape of the foliations, the link to harmonic maps of the Riemann surfaces on \(\mathbb{R}\)-trees, a description of the moduli space of all such foliations via the parameters describing the principle parts of the differentials in their pole singularities, and the relation to singular-flat geometry. The ideas behind are well explained. The paper is however difficult to read because in many places the authors refer in a sketchy way to ideas in previous papers -- not only from those quoted above. One has to admit that a more detailed exposition would probably lead to kind of lecture notes, perhaps of triple length of the present article.