Holomorphic contractibility of Teichmüller spaces (Q2007945)

A space \(X\) is said to be contractible to a point \(x_0\) if there exists a continuous map \(F: X\times [0, 1]\to X\) with \(F(x, 0) = x\) and \(F(x, 1) = x_0\) for all \(x\in X\). If, in addition, \(X\) is a complex Banach manifold and the map \(F\) can be chosen so that for every \(t\in [0, 1]\) the map \(F_t: x\mapsto F(x, t)\) of \(X\) to itself is holomorphic and \(F_t(x_0) = x_0\), then \(X\) is called holomorphically contractible to \(x_0\). It is well known that the Teichmüller space \(T(S)\) is contractible to its base point for any hyperbolic Riemann surface. In this paper, the author gives a proof of the holomorphic contractibility of the Teichmüller space \(T(0, n)\) for the Riemann sphere with \(n\) points removed, for \(n\geq4\).