A survey of scattering theory on Riemann surfaces with applications in global analysis and geometry (Q6185759)

The paper under review is a survey of a long article by the authors, [``A scattering theory of harmonic one-forms on Riemann surfaces'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2112.00835}]. This work is devoted to developing a theory of scattering of \(L^2\) harmonic one-forms on Riemann surfaces. This scattering holds in a complex \(\Gamma\) of simple closed curves which separate the Riemann surface \(\mathcal{R}\) in components, say \(\Sigma_1\) and \(\Sigma_2\), one of which can in turn be disconnected. Given a harmonic function \(h_1\) on \(\Sigma_1\), it has boundary values on \(\Gamma\), which determine a unique harmonic function \(h_2\) on \(\Sigma_2\) with the same boundary values. The authors call \(h_2\) the overfare of \(h_1\), a concept which plays a central rôle in the paper. They also follow a similar procedure for harmonic one-forms. Then, the paper studies aspects of this scattering theory, and applies it to obtain new results in the geometry of Riemann surfaces. In this setting, the main results are either of analytic or of geometric nature. Thus, the authors explain how they approach conformally invariant Sobolev spaces on Riemann surfaces of harmonic functions and forms. Then, they study the overfare operators, and describe the scattering process and the scattering matrix, which is expressed in terms of the Schiffer operators, and shown to be unitary. Finally some applications are discussed, concerning approximation theory, global analysis and complex geometry, such as index theorems and formulas for the Köhler potential of the Weil-Petersson metric on universal Teichmüller space.