Classification of Weil-Petersson isometries (Q4454890)

The authors obtain a classification of the elements of the mapping class group acting as isometries of the Teichmüller space of a surface, with this space being equipped with the Weil-Petersson metric. The classification is in terms the minimal displacement of an isometry and it parallels Bers's classification of mapping classes in the case of the Teichmüller metric, which is contained in the paper [\textit{L. Bers}, Acta Math. 141, 73--98 (1978; Zbl 0389.30018)], and which of course is based on Thurston's work. The arguments in the paper under review are based on the existence of invariant geodesic axes for the action of pseudo-Anosov classes and on the fact that if \(\gamma\) and \(\gamma'\) are axes of independent pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, then they diverge in the sense that the map \((t,s)\mapsto d(\gamma(t),\gamma'(t))\) is proper. As a consequence, the authors prove that subgroups of the mapping class group which contain independent pseudo-Anosov mapping classes act in a reductive manner with respect to the Weil-Petersson geometry. This implies an existence theorem for equivariant harmonic maps to the metric completion.