Singularities for analytic continuations of holonomy germs of Riccati foliations (Q332179)

A conjecture on the problem of analytic extension of holonomy germs of singular holomorphic foliations was stated by \textit{F. Loray} [Contemp. Math. 389, Amer. Math. Soc., 165--190 (2005; Zbl 1148.34300)]: a holonomy map \(h :(T_0, p_0) \longrightarrow (T_1, p_1)\) between two algebraic transversals of an algebraic foliation of \(\mathbb{CP}^2\) can be analytically continued along every path which avoids a countable number of points of \(T_0\). The conjecture was disproved by \textit{G. Calsamiglia} et al. [J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 15, No. 3, 1067--1099 (2013; Zbl 1267.32029)]. A very interesting work where, between other results, it was stated that a Riccati foliation has holonomy germs between lines with a natural boundary, and secondly, a generic singular holomorphic foliation of \(\mathbb{CP}^2\) possesses a holonomy germ from a line to an algebraic curve whose singular set contains a Cantor set. In the present work the authors search for measure theoretical properties of the extendability properties of the holonomy germs. They exploit the very rich geometrical structure of Riccati foliations and the ergodic study of their foliated geodesic flows. Let \(\Sigma\) be a hyperbolic surface of finite type, that is, coming from \(\Sigma_g \setminus \{p_1, \ldots, p_k \} \), where \(\Sigma_g\) is a compact Riemann surface of genus \(g\) and \(\{ p_i \}\) is a finite set of punctures. Assume that the universal cover of \(\Sigma\) is the half plane \(\mathbb{H}\), endowed with the Poincaré metric. A {branched projective structure} on \(\Sigma\) is a pair \((D, \rho)\), where \(D:\mathbb{H} \longrightarrow \mathbb{CP}^1\) is a holomorphic development map and \(\rho: \pi_1 (\Sigma) \longrightarrow {\mathrm{PSL}}_2 (\mathbb{C})\) is a group representation, satisfying the equivariance relation \( D \circ \gamma = \rho (\gamma) \circ D \), for every \(\gamma \in \pi_1(\Sigma)\). A branched projective structure is parabolic when the development map looks like \(z \longmapsto log \;z/(2\pi i)\) around every puncture. The fundamental group \(\pi_1(\Sigma)\) acts on \(\mathbb{H} \times \mathbb{CP}^1 \): on the first factor by deck transformations, and on the second one by \(\rho\). The quotient \(M\) is a two-dimensional holomorphic manifold, provided with a fiber bundle projection \(\Pi:M \longrightarrow \Sigma\), whose fibers are \(F_p \cong \mathbb{CP}^1\). There exists a holomorphic suspended foliation \(\mathcal{F}\) on \(M\), which is transverse to the fibers of \(\Pi\), whose leaves cover \(\Sigma\). More important, \(\mathcal{F}\) has holonomy representation \(\rho\). According to modern terminology, \((\Pi,M,\Sigma , \mathbb{CP}^1, \mathcal{F})\) is a {Riccati foliation}. There is a holomorphic diagonal section \(\sigma^0 : \Sigma \longrightarrow M\) of the bundle, which is transverse to \(\mathcal{F}\) except at a finite number of points, that is induced by equivariance using \(({\mathrm{Id}}, D ):\mathbb{H} \longrightarrow \mathbb{H} \times \mathbb{CP}^1\). The foliated geodesic flow of \(\mathcal{F}\) (on the unit tangent bundle of the foliation) and its ergodic properties are meaningful, see [\textit{Ch. Bonatti} et al., Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 30, No. 1, 67--96 (2010; Zbl 1209.37055)]. A developed geodesic ray is the image of a geodesic ray in \(\mathbb{H}\) by the developing map. A branched projective structure is elementary if there exists a probability measure on \(\mathbb{CP}^1\) invariant by the holonomy group \(\rho(\pi_1(\Sigma ))\). For a non-elementary branched projective structure, the action of the holonomy group on the sphere has a unique minimal limit set \(\Lambda_{\rho}\). Roughly speaking, the authors prove the following: let \(\Sigma \) be a hyperbolic surface of finite type, equipped with a branched projective structure determined by a development-holonomy pair \((D, \rho)\), which is parabolic and non-elementary. Consider the associated Riccati foliation \((\Pi, M, \Sigma, \mathbb{CP}^1, \mathcal{F})\), its holomorphic diagonal section \(\sigma^0\) and \(S = \sigma^0(\Sigma)\). Let \(p \in \Sigma\) and \(x \in F_p\), then every holonomy germ \(h\) at \(x\) between \(F_p\) and \(S\) is led to a singularity along a typical developed geodesic ray starting at \(x\). Moreover, this set of singularities determines an uncountable dense subset of the limit set \(\Lambda_{\rho}\), and it is distributed according to a suitable harmonic measure \(m_p\). Two additional ideas are developed by the authors. A study of the Lyapunov exponents and the distribution of the singularities for the analytic continuation of holonomy germs using Brownian motion.