Coding of closed geodesics after Gauss and Morse (Q1815257)

The codes of closed geodesics associated to conjugacy classes of hyperbolic matrices in \(\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\) are studied. Such geodesics can be coded in two different ways, the geometry code, with respect to a given fundamental region is obtained by a construction universal for all Fuchsian groups, and the arithmetic code, given by `\(-\)'continued fractions, comes from the Gauss reduction theory and is specific for \(\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\). The author establishes that if \(A\in \text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\) is a hyperbolic matrix and \(F\) is a standard fundamental region, the following statements are equivalent: (1) \(A\) is totally \(F\)-reduced. (2) The arithmetic and geometric codes of \(A\) coincide. (3) All segments comprising the closed geodesic in \(F\) corresponding to the conjugacy class of \(A\) are clockwise oriented. Finally, he establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for a matrix \(A\) to be totally \(F\)-reduced in terms of its arithmetic code.