The heights theorem for infinite Riemann surfaces (Q2133857)

An integrable holomorphic quadratic differential on an arbitrary hyperbolic Riemann surface \(X\) defines a measured foliation by horizontal trajectories (that are geodesics for the corresponding flat metric on \(X\)). Lifting the leaves of this foliation to the universal cover of \(X\) and replacing them by geodesics with the same end points defines an associate measured lamination (geodesic for the hyperbolic metric) on \(X\). This construction gives a \textit{horizontal} map from the space of integrable quadratic differentials on \(X\) to the space of measured laminations on \(X\). By a celebrated result of \textit{J. Hubbard} and \textit{H. Masur} [Acta Math. 142, 221--274 (1979; Zbl 0415.30038)], this map is an homeomorphism in the case of closed hyperbolic surfaces. The first result of this paper is that this map is injective for arbitrary hyperbolic Riemann surfaces, extending a result of Strebel for the disk. Using the horizontal measured foliation, one can define the \textit{height} of a homotopy class of a simple closed curve by measuring the minimal vertical variation along curves in the class, or equivalently, by intersecting the geodecic representative with the measured lamination associated to the horizontal foliation. A theorem of \textit{A. Marden} and \textit{K. Strebel} [Acta Math. 153, 153--211 (1984; Zbl 0577.30038)] states that the heigths determine entirely the quadratic differential, for parabolic Riemann surfaces (an arbitrary open Riemann surface is parabolic is there is no Green's function). The author proves that this result holds for Riemann surfaces with fundamental group of the first type (i.e., with limit set equal to the whole circle \(\partial\mathbb H\)), which excludes surfaces containing funnels or upper half-planes. In such surfaces a measured lamination is determined by its intersection with all simple closed geodesics. Several other results are deduced for Riemann surfaces having a bounded pants decomposition or Riemann surfaces having a sequence of simple closed geodesics of length going to 0.