A geometric criterion for the nonuniform hyperbolicity of the Kontsevich-Zorich cocycle (Q639884)

In a previous paper [``Deviation of ergodic averages for area-preserving flows on surfaces of higher genus'', Ann. Math. (2) 155, No. 1, 1--103 (2002; Zbl 1034.37003)], the author of the paper under review proved a conjecture by Kontsevich and Zorich stating the nonuniform hyperbolicity of the Kontsevich-Zorich cocycle with respect to the canonical absolutely continuous \(\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\)-invariant probability measures on the connected components of the moduli space of holomorphic abelian differentials on a Riemann surface. The nonuniform hyperbolicity of the Kontsevich-Zorich cocycle was used by Bufetov, Forni, Kontsevich, Zorich and others in the study of the dynamics of translation flows and interval exchange transformations, such as the fine behavior of ergodic averages and their deviations. In the paper under review, the author, developing ideas that appeared in the above paper, proves a geometric criterion for the uniform hyperbolicity of the Kontsevich-Zorich cocycle with respect to a general \(\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\)-invariant probability ergodic measure. He obtains several applications, including measures supported on the \(\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\)-orbits of all algebraically primitive Veech surfaces and all Prym eigenforms discovered by McMullen, as well as canonical absolutely continuous measures on connected components of strata of the moduli space of abelian differentials. In an appendix to the paper, Carlos Matheus presents examples of \(\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})\)-orbits generated by square-tiled surfaces which further illustrate the power and limitations of the geometric criterion obtained in the paper.