Finite foliations and similarity interval exchange maps (Q1925116)

This paper continues the authors' study [Invent. Math. 118, 255-283 (1994; Zbl 0858.57015)] of understanding surfaces immersed transverse to the suspension flow in a hyperbolic surface bundle over the circle. The first part is devoted to the construction of an algorithm to decide if a surface immersed transverse to a suspension flow is geometrically finite or not. This has two parts: firstly an algorithm to decide if an affine lamination has a closed leaf and secondly an algorithm to decide if there is a certain self-similarity of the dynamical system defined by the similarity interval exchange. Both of these parts use the fact that the similarity interval exchange is geometric. It is not known how to decide if the general similarity interval exchange contains no periodic point. In the second part of the paper, an example of a surface obtained by a single cut and cross join inside a hyperbolic bundle which is geometrically infinite is also presented. Finally, two conjectures are proposed and discussed.