Uniform bounds on harmonic Beltrami differentials and Weil-Petersson curvatures (Q827420)

Let \(\mathcal{M}_g^n\) be the moduli space of Riemann surfaces of genus \(g\) with \(n\) punctures such that \(3g+n\geq 5\). The moduli space \(\mathcal{M}_g^n\) is endowed with the Weil-Petersson metric. Let \(\varepsilon_2\) be the Margulis constant in dimension two. For a surface \(X \in \mathcal{M}_g^n\) with small systole (\(\leq 2\varepsilon_2\)), the authors show that for any harmonic Beltrami differential \(\mu\) on \(X\) and any \(z\in X\) with small injectivity radius (\(\leq \varepsilon_2)\), \(|\mu(z)|^2\) is bounded above by the value determined by the Weil-Petersson norm of \(\mu\) and the systole of \(X\). The authors establish more precise uniform bounds depending on whether \(z\) is in a collar about a closed geodesic or in a neighborhood about a cusp. As an application of this result, the authors give a lower bound of the Weil-Petersson Ricci curvature in terms of the systole and a lower bound of the Weil-Petersson scalar curvature in terms of the systole, \(g\), and \(n\). A lower bound of the Weil-Petersson sectional curvature is also obtained. Furthermore, the authors consider the asymptotic behavior of the total Weil-Petersson scalar curvature over \(\mathcal{M}_g\). By a thin-thick decomposition of \(\mathcal{M}_g\) it is shown that the average total Weil-Petersson scalar curvature over \(\mathcal{M}_g\) is comparable to \(-g\) as \(g\to \infty\), which also states that the total Weil-Petersson scalar curvature is finite.