Thick surfaces in hyperbolic 3-manifolds (Q2498424)

A (closed, orientable) surface group contained in the fundamental group of a hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold can be of two types: geometrically infinite, corresponding to immersed surfaces which are virtual fibres, and geometrically finite. The latter subgroups are quasi-Fuchsian, i.e. their limit set is a Jordan curve in the boundary of hyperbolic \(3\)-space. The author considers hyperbolic \(3\)-manifolds which are virtual surface bundles. Note that their fundamental groups contain in particular a geometrically infinite surface subgroup. His aim is to study the complexity of geometrically finite surface subgroups in their fundamental groups. Remark that their existence was proved by \textit{D. Cooper, D. D. Long} and \textit{A. W. Reid} in [Invent. Math. 118, 255--283 (1994; Zbl 0858.57015)]. The complexity considered in the paper is the \textsl{thickness} of the core of the quasi-Fuchsian group, i.e. the hyperbolic distance of the two components of the boundary of the core. Recall that the core of a quasi-Fuchsian group is the quotient by the group itself of the convex hull of its limit set. The author shows that each discrete group \(\Gamma\), such that \({\mathbb H}^3/\Gamma\) is a closed hyperbolic manifold which virtually fibres over the circle, contains a sequence of quasi-Fuchsian subgroups whose complexity tends to infinity. An explicit construction, based on the ``cut and cross-join'' method of Cooper, Long and Reid, of a sequence of immersed surfaces is given. It is subsequently proved that the sequence of corresponding quasi-Fuchsian subgroups satisfies the conclusion of the theorem.