Cataclysms for Anosov representations (Q2168041)

Let \(S\) be a closed connected oriented surface of genus at least 2. The associated Teichmüller space, denoted by \(\mathcal T (S)\), is the space of hyperbolic metrics on \(S\) up to a specific equivalence relation (more precisely, \(\mathcal T (S)\) is the set of equivalence classes of pairs \((M, f)\) where \(M\) is a hyperbolic surface and \(f : S \to M\) is a quasi-conformal homeomorphism). There are several ways to parametrize Teichmüller space by means of sets of coordinated, the most known being the Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates, which are defined by choosing a pants decomposition of the surface \(S\). The paper under review investigates other possible coordinates, known as \textit{shearing coordinates}. These coordinates are associated to ideal triangulations (or, in general, to a maximal geodesic lamination), and are closely related to deformations of hyperbolic structures on \(S\). Examples of such deformations are the so-called \textit{earthquakes} (which are associated to twists along a simple closed geodesic or along a geodesic lamination). If one considers twists in both possible directions, the resulting deformation is called a \textit{cataclysm}. For a prescribed cataclysm, the amount of its twisting can be determined by a transverse cycle. It turns out that, given a (maximal) lamination on \(S\), one can construct a function (which actually is a homeomorphism) from \(\mathcal T (S)\) to an open convex cone of the vector space of transverse cycles for the lamination. This function simply sends a hyperbolic metric on \(S\) to its associated transverse cycle. Thanks to this construction one obtains a new set of coordinates for \(\mathcal T (S)\), which are called \textit{shearing coordinates}. On the other hand, since to any hyperbolic structure on the surface \(S\) one can associate a representation of its fundamental group into \(\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb R)\), it is possible to generalize the study of \(\mathcal T (S)\) by replacing \(\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb R)\) by a general semi-simple Lie group of higher rank \(G\) and by considering representations of \(\pi_1(S)\) into \(G\). This is the viewpoint of the so-called \textit{higher Teichmuller spaces}. In this paper, the author manages to define and study in details cataclysm deformations for particular Anosov representations. More precisely for those representations (called \(\theta\)-Anosov) into a semi-simple connected non-compact real Lie group, which are Anosov with respect to a specific parabolic subgroup.