Relative shapes of thick subsets of moduli space
Let \({\mathbf X}_g\) denote the subspace of the moduli space \({\mathcal M}_g\) of a closed, orientable surface of genus \(g \geq 2\) consisting of those hyperbolic surfaces whose systoles fill the surface (i.e., each component of the complement of the union of all systoles, or shortest non-trivial curves, is simply connected). In a preprint, Thurston proposed \({\mathbf X}_g\) as a candidate of a spine of moduli space \({\mathcal M}_g\) (a deformation retract of minimal dimension), but not much seems to be known on the geometry and topology of \({\mathbf X}_g\) (e.g., connectivity, contractibility, dimension). ``In this paper, in a first attempt to understand the ``shape of the set \({\mathbf X}_g\), we compare it metrically (asymptotically in \(g\)) with the set \({\mathbf Y}_g\) of trivalent surfaces, i.e., surfaces with a pants decomposition (determined by a trivalent graph) with all curves of lengths bounded above and below by positive constants independent of \(g\). As our main result, we find that the set \({\mathbf X}_g \cap {\mathbf Y}_g\) is metrically ``sparse in \({\mathbf X}_g\) (where we equip \({\mathcal M}_g\) with either the Thurston or the Teichmüller metric).NEWLINENEWLINEConcerning the ``shape of \({\mathcal M}_g\), \textit{K. Rafi} and \textit{J. Tao} [Duke Math. J. 162, No. 10, 1833--1876 (2013; Zbl 1277.32013)] proved that the diameter of the \(\epsilon\)-thick part \({\mathcal M}^\epsilon_g\) of \({\mathcal M}_g\), i.e., of surfaces with injectivity radius bounded from below by some \(\epsilon\), equals log(\(g\)) up to multiplicative constants not depending on \(g\), by metrically approximating \({\mathcal M}_g\) by the subset \({\mathbf Y}_g\) of trivalent surfaces. ``We first note that Rafi and Tao's result gives an obvious upper bound on the diameter of \({\mathbf X}_g\) since it is a compact subset of \({\mathcal M}^\epsilon_g\) for sufficiently small \(\epsilon\). A lower bound, matching asymptotically this upper bound, is implicit in examples that arise naturally from our results here.
- The diameter of the thick part of moduli space and simultaneous Whitehead moves
- Hyperbolic surfaces with sublinearly many systoles that fill
- On the number and location of short geodesics in moduli space
- The Weil-Petersson geometry on the thick part of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces
- The moduli space of Riemann surfaces of large genus
- Local maxima of the systole function
- Hyperbolic surfaces with sublinearly many systoles that fill
- Thin compactifications and relative fundamental classes
- The diameter of the thick part of moduli space and simultaneous Whitehead moves
- SYSTOLIC FILLINGS OF SURFACES
- Filling of closed surfaces
- Graphs of systoles on hyperbolic surfaces
- Embedding of metric graphs on hyperbolic surfaces
- The shape of the filling-systole subspace in surface moduli space and critical points of the systole function
- Bolza-like surfaces in the Thurston set
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