Infinite-type loxodromic isometries of the relative arc graph (Q6996499)

This article is concerned with some key questions about mapping class groups of infinite-type surfaces. While there are two neat and related classifications for mapping classes of finite-type surfaces -- the Nielsen-Thurston classification and the classification via the action of the mapping class group on the curve-graph -- these classifications break down in the infinite-type case. Most notably, the curve graph of an infinite-type surface is bounded, creating the need for an alternative. This paper takes steps towards an analogue of the Nielsen-Thurston classification of mapping classes for infinite-type surfaces. The authors do so by studying the action of the mapping class group on the relative arc graph.\N\NConsider an infinite-type surface \(\Sigma\) with at least one isolated puncture \(p\). The relative arc graph \(\mathcal{A}(\Sigma,p)\) of the pair \((\Sigma, p)\) is defined as follows: The vertices are isotopy classes of simple arcs that start and end at \(p\). Two vertices are connected by an edge if they have representatives that do not intersect. We can consider the group \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p)\) consisting of all mapping classes on \(\Sigma\) that fix the puncture \(p\). This group acts on \(\mathcal{A}(\Sigma, p)\) by isometries. As was shown in a sequence of works by \textit{D. Calegari} [``Big mapping class groups and dynamics'', blog post (2009) available at \url{https://lamington.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/big-mapping-class-groups-and-dynamics}], \textit{J. Bavard} [Geom. Topol. 20, No. 1, 491--535 (2016; Zbl 1362.37086)] and \textit{J. Aramayona} et al. [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 145, No. 11, 4995--5006 (2017; Zbl 1377.57006)], the relative arc graph has infinite diameter and is hyperbolic whenever \(\Sigma\) has at least one isolated puncture. This makes it a promising candidate to take the role of the curve graph for infinite-type surfaces.\N\NThe main results of the paper are about the construction and properties of loxodromic elements of the action \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p) \curvearrowright \mathcal{A}(\Sigma,p)\). These results apply to all infinite-type surfaces with an isolated puncture, except for two sporadic classes: flute surfaces with finite genus and a fluted Loch Ness monster. The surfaces to which the results apply are called \textit{admissible surfaces} and they form an uncountable class. The authors then show the following:\N\begin{itemize}\N\item For any admissible surface \(\Sigma\), there exists an infinite family of intrinsically infinite-type homeomorphisms \(\{ g_n \}_{n\in \mathbb{N}}\) in \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p)\) such that every \(g_n\) is loxodromic with respect to the action \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p) \curvearrowright \mathcal{A}(\Sigma,p)\).\N\end{itemize}\N\NThe elements \(g_n\) are constructed from so-called \textit{shift maps}, which -- heuristically -- are maps that take a \(\mathbb{Z}\)-indexed family of handles in the surface and send the \(i\)-th handle to the \(i+1\)-st, without doing anything else. As the authors show, admissible surfaces are exactly those that admit shift-maps (Lemma 2.7). The authors then show a dynamical property of the sequence \((g_n)_{n \in \mathbb{N}}\):\N\begin{itemize}\N\item If \(\Sigma\) is an admissible surface equipped with its conformal hyperbolic metric that is equal to its convex core, then there exists a simple closed curve \(c_0\) on \(\Sigma\) such that the sequence \((g^{i}_n(c_0))_{i \in \mathbb{N}}\) converges to a geodesic lamination on \(\Sigma\).\N\end{itemize}\N\NFinally, the authors also study the space of quasimorphisms on \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p)\):\N\begin{itemize}\N\item Let \(\Sigma\) be an admissible surface. The space of non-trivial quasimorphisms on \(\mathrm{Map}(\Sigma,p)\) is infinite-dimensional.\N\end{itemize}\N\NThe basic strategy of the proofs is as follows: Admissible surfaces are, roughly speaking, infinite-type surfaces with an isolated puncture \(p\) that admit a proper embedding of the bi-infinite flute surface containing the puncture \(p\) such that the embedding is compatible with certain shift maps on the bi-infinite flute surface. This allows the authors to prove their results on the bi-infinite flute surface and use this embedding to generalise to admissible surfaces. To prove their results for the bi-infinite flute surface, the authors develop an intricate description of arcs on the bi-infinite flute surface and for the behaviour of these arcs under the homeomorphisms \(g_n\). The technical work achieved for the bi-infinite flute surface in this article is likely useful for future investigations of admissible surfaces.