Free energy as a geometric invariant (Q814910)

Let \(V\) be a compact negatively curved surface. The authors consider the sequence of pairs \((| \gamma| ,\ell(\gamma))\), where \(\gamma\) is a closed geodesics, \(\ell(\gamma)\) is its length, and \(| \gamma| \) is the word length of the free homotopy class of \(\gamma\) in the fundamental group \(\pi_1(V)\), with respect to a given set of generators \(\Gamma\). This leads to a ``word length marked spectrum,'' \(M_{\Gamma,V}\), intermediate between the marked and unmarked length spectra. The authors define a ``free energy'' \(F(t)\) and a Poincaré series \(\rho(a,b)\), such that the boundary of the domain of convergence of \(\rho(a,b)\) is given by \(b=F(a)\). Non-isometric manifolds with the same \(F\) or the same \(M_{\Gamma,V}\) are studied. A result relating geodesic length and word length is also given.