Limits of sequences of pseudo-Anosov maps and of hyperbolic 3-manifolds (Q1983544)

Given a pseudo-Anosov mapping class on a surface it is possible to associate to it two different objects: \begin{itemize} \item A pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism which is unique up to topological conjugacy. \item A three manifold endowed with a complete hyperbolic metric of finite volume which is unique up to isometry. \end{itemize} In this paper, the authors present a family of pseudo-Anosov braids \(\{\beta_q\mid q\in\mathbb{Q}\cap(0,\frac{1}{3}]\}\) with \(\beta_{m/n}\) a braid in \(n+2\) strings such that: \begin{itemize} \item The homeomorphisms \(\varphi_{\beta_q}:S^2\longrightarrow S^2\) induced by the braids \(\beta_q\) (which are pseudo-Anosov relative to the marked points) can be normalized in such a way that \(\varphi_{\beta_q}\) converges to a fixed homeomorphism \(\varphi_0:S^2\longrightarrow S^2\), known as the \textit{tight horseshoe map} (described in Section~3). \item There are inifinitely many distinct finite-volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds that are the geometric limit of some subsequence of the manifolds \(M_{\beta_q}=S^3\setminus(\widehat{\beta}_q\cup A)\) as \(q\to 0\). Here \(\widehat{\beta}_q\) denotes the closure of \(\beta_q\) and \(A\) denotes its axis. \end{itemize} As the authors point out, the convergence of the homemomorphisms \(\varphi_{\beta_q}:S^2\longrightarrow S^2\) to the tight horseshoe map is a direct consequence of some results by \textit{P. Boyland} et al. [Geom. Topol. 25, 111--228 (2021; Zbl 1468.37043)]. The main results of the present paper are concerned with the analysis of the manifolds \(M_{\beta_q}\) and their possible geometric limits. These results are presented in Sections~5 and 6.