Let $S$ be a compact orientable surface, and $\Mod(S)$ its mapping class group. Then there exists a constant $M(S)$, which depends on $S$, with the following property.
Suppose $a,b \in \Mod(S)$ are independent (i.e., $[a^n,b^m]\not=1$ for any $n,m \not=0$) pseudo-Anosov elements. Then for any $n,m \ge M$, the subgroup $<a^n,b^m>$ is free of rank two, and convex-cocompact in the sense of Farb-Mosher. In particular all non-trivial elements in $<a^n,b^m>$ are pseudo-Anosov.
We also show that there exists a constant $N$, which depends on $a,b$, such that $<a^n,b^m>$ is free of rank two and convex-cocompact if $|n|+|m| \ge N$ and $nm \not=0$.
We propose several common extensions of the classes of Anosov subgroups and geometrically finite Kleinian groups among discrete subgroups of semisimple Lie groups. We relativize various dynamical and coarse geometric characterizations of Anosov subgroups given in our earlier work, extending the class from intrinsically hyperbolic to relatively hyperbolic subgroups. We prove implications and equivalences between the various relativizations.
We study types of mapping classes which arise as a product of a given mapping class and powers of certain pure mapping classes. We derive an explicit constant depending only on a surface such that almost all above pure mapping classes give rise to pseudo-Anosov type whenever their powers are larger than the constant. Furthermore, the stable lengths of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes obtained by this method are directly captured from the construction.
In the Cayley graph of the mapping class group of a closed surface, with respect to any generating set, we look at a ball of large radius centered on the identity vertex, and at the proportion among the vertices in this ball representing pseudo-Anosov elements. A well-known conjecture states that this proportion should tend to one as the radius tends to infinity. We prove that it stays bounded away from zero. We also prove similar results for a large class of subgroups of the mapping class group.
We establish an extension of the Hopf-Tsuji-Sullivan dichotomy to any Zariski dense discrete subgroup of a semisimple real algebraic group $G$. We then apply this dichotomy to Anosov subgroups of $G$, which surprisingly presents a different phenomenon depending on the rank of the ambient group $G$.
We prove that a word hyperbolic group which admits a $P_{2q+1}$-Anosov representation into $\mathsf{PGL}(4q+2, \mathbb{R})$ contains a finite-index subgroup which is either free or a surface group. As a consequence, we give an affirmative answer to Sambarino's question for Borel Anosov representations into $\mathsf{SL}(4q+2,\mathbb{R})$.
An Agol cycle is a complete invariant of the conjugacy class of a pseudo-Anosov mapping class. We study necessary and sufficient conditions for equivalent Agol cycles of pseudo-Anosov 3-braids.
We prove that pseudo-Anosov mapping classes are generic with respect to certain notions of genericity reflecting that we are dealing with mapping classes.
In this paper we provide a negative answer to a question of Farb about the relation between the algebraic degree of the stretch factor of a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism and the genus of the surface on which it is defined.
We show that Galois conjugates of stretch factors of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes arising from Penner's construction lie off the unit circle. As a consequence, we show that for all but a few exceptional surfaces, there are examples of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes so that no power of them arises from Penner's construction. This resolves a conjecture of Penner.
Answering a question of Farb-Leininger-Margalit, we give explicit lower bounds for the dilatations of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes lying in the kth term of the Johnson filtration of the mapping class group.
In this paper, we study the Galois conjugates of stretch factors of pseudo-Anosov elements of the mapping class group of a surface. We show that - except in low-complexity cases - these conjugates are dense in the complex plane. For this, we use Penner's construction of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. As a consequence, we obtain that in a sense there is no restriction on the location of Galois conjugates of stretch factors arising from Penner's construction. This complements an earlier result of Shin and the author stating that Galois conjugates of stretch factors arising from Penner's construc…
In this note, we show that, if a pseudo-Anosov map $ϕ:S\to S$ admits a finite cover whose action on the first homology has spectral radius greater than $1$, then the monodromy of any fibered structure of any finite cover of the mapping torus $M_ϕ$ has the same property.
We introduce a new perspective on a procedure for generating pseudo-Anosov homemorphisms from postcritically finite interval maps. The central idea is the realization of a tree structure on one such family of pseudo-Anosovs: individual systems, represented by the rational number measuring their rotation at infinity, are the vertices of the tree, while the edges encode dynamical relations between them. We also deepen the dictionary between one-, two- and three-dimensional invariants associated with these systems.
Biringer, Johnson, and Minsky showed that a pseudo-Anosov map on a boundary component of an irreducible 3-manifold has a power that partially extends to the interior if and only if the (un)stable laminations of $f$ is an $\mathbb{R}$-projective limit of meridians. We prove that the power required for a pseudo-Anosov map to partially extend is not universally bounded. We construct a family of pseudo-Anosov maps $f_i$ for all $i=1,2...$ on a boundary component of a family of irreducible 3-manifolds $M_i$ such that $f_i^i$ partially extends to the interior of $M_i$ but $f_i^j$ does not for $j<i$.
We determine the smallest stretch factor among pseudo-Anosov maps with an orientable invariant foliation on the closed nonorientable surfaces of genus 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. We also determine the smallest stretch factor of an orientation-reversing pseudo-Anosov map with orientable invariant foliations on the closed orientable surfaces of genus 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. As a byproduct, we obtain that the stretch factor of a pseudo-Anosov map on a nonorientable surface or an orientation-reversing pseudo-Anosov map on an orientable surface does not have Galois conjugates on the uni…
The invariant measured foliations of a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism induce a natural (singular) Sol structure on mapping tori of surfaces with pseudo-Anosov monodromy. We show that when the pseudo-Anosov $ϕ:S\rightarrow S$ has orientable foliations and does not have 1 as an eigenvalue of the induced cohomology action on the closed surface, then the Sol structure can be deformed to nearby cone hyperbolic structures, in the sense of projective structures. The cone angles can be chosen to be decreasing from multiples of $2π$.
For a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism $f$ on a closed surface of genus $g\geq 2$, for which the entropy is on the order $\frac{1}{g}$ (the lowest possible order), Farb-Leininger-Margalit showed that the volume of the mapping torus is bounded, independent of $g$. We show that the analogous result fails for a surface of fixed genus $g$ with $n$ punctures, by constructing pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism with entropy of the minimal order $\frac{\log n}{n}$, and volume tending to infinity.
Let $ρ:Γ\rightarrow PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$ be a Zariski dense Borel-Anosov representation, for $\mathbb{K}$ equal to $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$. Let $o$ be a form of signature $(p,d-p)$ on $\mathbb{K}^d$ (where $0<p<d)$. Let $\mathsf{S}^o$ be the corresponding geodesic copy of the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSO(o)$, inside the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$. For certain choices of $o$ and every $t$ large enough, we show exponential bounds for the number of $γ\inΓ$ for which the distance between $\mathsf{S}^o$ and $ργ\cdot\mathsf{S}^o$ is smaller than $t$. Under an extra as…
We show that any pseudo-Anosov map that is a lift of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism of a nonorientable surface has vanishing SAF invariant. We also provide a criterion to certify that a pseudo-Anosov map is not such a lift.