Mapping class group dynamics on \(\operatorname{Aff}(\mathbb{C})\)-characters (Q332199)

Let \(\Gamma\) be the fundamental group of a compact orientable surface \(S\) of genus \(g>1\) and let \(G\) be a finite dimensional reductive Lie group. One can look at the character variety \(\chi(\Gamma,G)\) which is defined to be the quotient \(\mathrm{Hom}(\Gamma,G)//G.\) The mapping class group of \(S\) acts on \(\chi(\Gamma,G)\) by precomposition. In this paper the author studies the case \(G =\mathrm{Aff}(\mathbb C).\) Since \(\mathrm{Aff}(\mathbb C)\) is solvable, the tools from symplectic geometry developed in the reductive case do not apply in this setting. Main Theorem. The mapping class group action on \(\chi(\Gamma,\mathrm{Aff}(\mathbb C))\) is ergodic. The original motivation was to study the holonomy of branched affine structures on surfaces. This implies that almost every representation \(\pi_{1} S \rightarrow \mathrm{Aff}(\mathbb C)\) is the holonomy of a branched affine structure on the surface \(S.\)