On a problem of A. Weil (Q1992187)

Let \(\theta=p_1+\frac{1}{p_2+\frac{1}{p_3+\ldots}}\) be the continued fraction expansion of an irrational number. For every \(k\) we can consider the matrix \(\begin{pmatrix} 1&p_1\\ 0&1\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix} 0&1\\ 1&p_2\end{pmatrix}\dots\begin{pmatrix} 1&p_{2k-1}\\ 0&1\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix} 0&1\\ 1&p_{2k}\end{pmatrix}\) in \(\mathrm{SL}(2,{\mathbb Z})\) and its axis \(g_k\) on the modular curve \(\mathrm{SL}(2,{\mathbb Z})\backslash {\mathbb H}^2\), or likewise on any of its congruence covers \(S=\Gamma_0(N)\backslash {\mathbb H}^2\). The author considers the lamination \(\lambda\) of \(S\), which is the limit of the sequence \(\gamma_k\) for a given irrational number \(\theta\). Assuming that this limit is a maximal lamination, its complement will be a union of ideal polygons and one has an equality \(\sum_i \frac{r_i-2}{2}=| \chi(S)|\) for \(r_i\) the numbers of vertices of the polygons. The main result of the paper is that two laminations obtained by such a construction are topologically equivalent if and only if the continued fractions agree up to finitely many terms and the numbers \(r_i\) are the same. The proof of the forward direction is given, while the proof of the backward direction is left to the reader. The title of the paper refers to work of A. Weil from the 1930s, where he generalized Poincaré's notion of rotation number to laminations of the torus and asked for a generalization to higher genus surfaces.