We introduce a class of objects which we call 'affine surfaces'. These provide families of foliations on surfaces whose dynamics we are interested in. We present and analyze a couple of examples, and we define concepts related to these in order to motivate several questions and open problems. In particular we generalise the notion of Veech group to affine surfaces, and we prove a structure result about these Veech groups.
We classify the non arithmetic rank one affine invariant orbifolds that do not arise from Veech surfaces in H(3,1) and H^odd(2,2). We also give rigidity results on the isoperiodic leaf of non arithmetic Veech surfaces.
A nice trick for studying the billiard flow in a rational polygon is to unfold the polygon along the trajectories. This gives rise to a translation or half-translation surface tiled by the original polygon, or equivalently an Abelian or quadratic differential. Veech surfaces are a special class of translation surfaces with a large group of affine automorphisms, and interesting dynamical properties. The first examples of Veech surfaces came from rational billiards. We first present the mathematical objects and fix some vocabulary and notation. Then we review known results about Veech surfaces a…
These notes discuss an infinite translation surface, introduced by Chamanara. We review his proof that the Veech group is a non-elementary Fuchsian group of the second kind which is generated by two parabolic elements.
We prove that a ``bouillabaisse'' surface (translation surface which has two transverse parabolic elements) has totally real trace field. As a corollary, non trivial Veech groups which have no parabolic elements do exist. The proof follows Veech's viewpoint on Thurston's construction of pseudo-Anosov diffeomorphisms.
Dilation surfaces are generalizations of translation surfaces where the geometric structure is modelled on the complex plane up to affine maps whose linear part is real. They are the geometric framework to study suspensions of affine interval exchange maps. However, though the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-action is ergodic in connected components of strata of translation surfaces, there may be mutually disjoint $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant open subsets in components of dilation surfaces. A first distinction is between triangulable and non-triangulable dilation surfaces. For non-triangulable surfaces, th…
We give a description of asymptotic quadratic growth rates for geodesic segments on covers of Veech surfaces in terms of the modular fiber parameterizing coverings of a fixed Veech surface. To make the paper self contained we derive the necessary asymptotic formulas from the Gutkin-Judge formula. As an application of the method we define and analyze d-symmetric elliptic differentials and their modular fibers F^{sym}_d. For given genus g, g-symmetric elliptic differentials (with fixed base lattice) provide a 2-dimensional family of translation surfaces. We calculate several asymptotic constants…
We prove the existence of Veech groups having a critical exponent strictly greater than any elementary Fuchsian group (i.e. $>\frac{1}{2}$) but strictly smaller than any lattice (i.e. $<1$). More precisely, every affine covering of a primitive L-shaped Veech surface $X$ ramified over the singularity and a non-periodic connection point $P\in X$ has such a Veech group. Hubert and Schmidt showed that these Veech groups are infinitely generated and of the first kind. We use a result of Roblin and Tapie which connects the critical exponent of the Veech group of the covering with the Cheeger constan…
We show that every surface in H^hyp(4) is either a Veech surface or a generic surface, i.e. its GL^+(2,R)-orbit is either a closed or a dense subset of H^hyp(4) . The proof develops new techniques applicable in general to the problem of classifying orbit closures, especially in low genus. Recent results of Eskin-Mirzakhani-Mohammadi, Avila-Eskin-Möller, and the second author are used. Combined with work of Matheus and the second author, a corollary is that there are at most finitely many non-arithmetic Teichmüller curves (closed orbits of surfaces not covering the torus) in H^hyp(4).
An Abelian differential gives rise to a flat structure (translation surface) on the underlying Riemann surface. In some directions the directional flow on the flat surface may contain a periodic region that is made up of maximal cylinders filled by parallel geodesics of the same length. The growth rate of the number of such regions counted with weights, as a function of the length, is quadratic with a coefficient, called Siegel-Veech constant, that is shared by almost all translation surfaces in the ambient stratum. We evaluate various Siegel-Veech constants associated to the geometry of confi…
We study the SL(2,R)-infimal lengths of simple closed curves on half-translation surfaces. Our main result is a characterization of Veech surfaces in terms of these lengths. We also revisit the "no small virtual triangles" theorem of Smillie and Weiss and establish the following dichotomy: the virtual triangle area spectrum of a half-translation surface either has a gap above zero or is dense in a neighborhood of zero. These results make use of the auxiliary polygon associated to a curve on a half-translation surface, as introduced by Tang and Webb.
Let $S$ be an infinite-type surface and $p\in S$. We show that the Thurston-Veech construction for pseudo-Anosov elements, adapted for infinite-type surfaces, produces infinitely many loxodromic elements for the action of $Mod(S;p)$ on the loop graph $L(S;p)$ that do not leave any finite-type subsurface $S'\subset S$ invariant. Moreover, in the language of Bavard-Walker, Thurston-Veech's construction produces loxodromic elements of any weight. As a consequence of Bavard and Walker's work, any subgroup of $Mod(S;p)$ containing two "Thurston-Veech loxodromics" of different weight has an infinite…
These are the notes of a talk that I gave at the Weihnachtsworkshop 2017 in Saarbrücken. It answered a question by Hooper and Treviño on the Veech group of the golden ladder, a translation surface of infinite type.
For each stratum of the space of translation surfaces, we introduce an infinite translation surface containing in an appropriate manner a copy of every translation surface of the stratum. Given a translation surface $(X, ω)$ in the stratum, a matrix is in its Veech group $\mathrm{SL}(X,ω)$ if and only if an associated affine automorphism of the infinite surface sends each of a finite set, the ``marked" {\em Voronoi staples}, arising from orientation-paired segments appropriately perpendicular to Voronoi 1-cells, to another pair of orientation-paired ``marked" segments. We prove a result of ind…
We study Veech surfaces of genus 2 arising from quadratic differentials that are not squares of abelian differentials. We prove that all such surfaces of type (2,2) and (2,1,1) are arithmetic. In (1,1,1,1) case, we reduce the question to abelian differentials of type (2,2) on hyperelliptic genus 3 surfaces with singularities at Weierstrass points, and we give an example of a non-arithmetic Veech surface.
We show that every countable subgroup $G<\rm GL_+(2,\mathbb{R})$ without contracting elements is the Veech group of a tame translation surface $S$ of infinite genus, for infinitely many different topological types of $S$. Moreover, we prove that as long as every end has genus, there are no restrictions on the topological type of $S$ to realise all possible uncountable Veech groups.
Flat surfaces that correspond to meromorphic $1$-forms or to meromorphic quadratic differentials containing poles of order two and higher are surfaces of infinite area. We classify groups that appear as Veech groups of translation surfaces with poles. We characterize those surfaces such that their $GL^{+}(2,\mathbb{R})$-orbit or their $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-orbit is closed. Finally, we provide a way to determine the Veech group for a typical infinite surface in a given chamber of a stratum.
In this paper, we construct new examples of Veech groups by extending Schmithusen's method for calculating Veech groups of origamis to Veech groups of unramified finite coverings of regular 2n-gons. We calculate the Veech groups of certain Abelian coverings of regular 2n-gons by using an algebraic method.
Veech groups are discrete subgroups of SL(2, R) which play an important role in the theory of translation surfaces. For a special class of translation surfaces called origamis or square-tiled surfaces their Veech groups are subgroups of finite index of SL(2, Z). We show that each stratum of the space of translation surfaces contains infinitely many origamis whose Veech group is a totally non congruence group, i.e. it surjects to SL(2, Z/nZ) for any n.
We compute explicitly the absolute contribution of square-tiled surfaces having a single horizontal cylinder to the Masur-Veech volume of any ambient stratum of Abelian differentials. The resulting count is particularly simple and efficient in the large genus asymptotics. Using the recent results of Aggarwal and of Chen-Moeller-Zagier on the long-standing conjecture about the large genus asymptotics of Masur-Veech volumes, we derive that the relative contribution is asymptotically of the order 1/d, where d is the dimension of the stratum. Similarly, we evaluate the contribution of one-cylinder…
We study Veech groups of covering surfaces of primitive translation surfaces. Therefore we define congruence subgroups in Veech groups of primitive translation surfaces using their action on the homology with entries in $\mathbb{Z}/a\mathbb{Z}$. We introduce a congruence level definition and a property of a primitive translation surface which we call property $(\star)$. It guarantees that partition stabilising congruence subgroups of this level occur as Veech group of a translation covering. Each primitive surface with exactly one singular point has property $(\star)$ in every level. We additi…
For a Veech surface (x,ω), we characterize subspaces of X^n, invariant under the diagonal action of the affine group of X. We prove that non-arithmetic Veech surfaces have only finitely many invariant subspaces of very particular shape (in any dimension). Among other consequences we find copies of (X,ω) embedded in the moduli-space of translation surfaces. We study illumination problems in (pre-)lattice surfaces. For (X,ω) prelattice we prove the at most countableness of points non-illuminable from any x in X. Applying our results on invariant subspaces we prove the finiteness of these sets wh…
Periodic points are points on Veech surfaces, whose orbit under the group of affine diffeomorphisms is finite. We characterise those points as being torsion points if the Veech surfaces is suitably mapped to its Jacobian or an appropriate factor thereof. For a primitive Veech surface in genus two we show that the only periodic points are the Weierstrass points and the singularities. Our main tool is the Hodge-theoretic characterisation of Teichmueller curves. We deduce from it a finiteness result for the Mordell-Weil group of the family of Jacobians over a Teichmueller curve.
Interval exchange maps are related to geodesic flows on translation surfaces; they correspond to the first return maps of the vertical flow on a transverse segment. The Rauzy-Veech induction on the space of interval exchange maps provides a powerful tool to analyze the Teichmueller geodesic flow on the moduli space of Abelian differentials. Several major results have been proved using this renormalization. Danthony and Nogueira introduced in 1988 a natural generalization of interval exchange transformations, namely the linear involutions. These maps are related to general measured foliations o…
In this paper we consider the symmetries of triangulable half-dilation structures on the sphere with four singularities. We show that all such surfaces can be produced by a tetrahedral construction. Using this construction, we calculate each such surface's symmetry group in $\operatorname{PSL}(2, \mathbb{R})$ called the Veech group.
Abelian differentials on Riemann surfaces can be seen as translation surfaces, which are flat surfaces with cone-type singularities. Closed geodesics for the associated flat metrics form cylinders whose number under a given maximal length generically has quadratic asymptotics in this length, with a common coefficient constant for the quadratic asymptotics called a Siegel--Veech constant which is shared by almost all surfaces in each moduli space of translation surfaces. Square-tiled surfaces are specific translation surfaces which have their own quadratic asymptotics for the number of cylinder…
We study the boundary of an affine invariant submanifold of a stratum of translation surfaces in a partial compactification consisting of all finite area Abelian differentials over nodal Riemann surfaces, modulo zero area components. The main result is a formula for the tangent space to the boundary. We also prove finiteness results concerning cylinders, a partial converse to the Cylinder Deformation Theorem, and a result generalizing part of the Veech dichotomy.
We investigate specific examples of locally-defined real vector-fields on strata of translation surfaces. Integrating SL(2,R)-loci of Veech surfaces along these vector-fields yield interesting new examples of horocyle-invariant ergodic measures. These measures are supported on closed immersed manifolds with boundary that approach the boundary of strata in a novel way.
We define an infinite series of translation coverings of Veech's double-n-gon for odd n greater or equal to 5 which share the same Veech group. Additionally we give an infinite series of translation coverings with constant Veech group of a regular n-gon for even n greater or equal to 8. These families give rise to explicit examples of infinite translation surfaces with lattice Veech group.
Schmithüsen proved in 2004 that the Veech group of an origami is closely related to a subgroup of the automorphism group of the free group $F_2$. This result is significant in the sense that the framework of approachable Veech groups is greatly extended. In this paper, we continue the analysis and consider what kind of settings of flat surfaces allow Veech groups to be characterized combinatorially like origamis. We show that elements in the Veech group of a flat surface with two finite Jenkins-Strebel directions are characterized to allow a concurrence between two `origamis' defined by geodes…
As main result we show that for each g > 1 there is some translation surface of genus g whose Veech group is a non congruence subgroup of SL(2,Z). We use origamis/square-tiled surfaces to produce our examples. The article is divided into two parts: In the first part we introduce translation surfaces, origamis, Veech groups and Teichmueller curves and show for two origamis in genus 2 that their Veech groups are non congruence groups; in the second part we provide a technique that produces sequences of origamis whose Veech groups are decreasing. This is used to prove the main result.
This paper deals with Prym eigenforms which are introduced previously by McMullen. We prove several results on the directional flow on those surfaces, related to complete periodicity (introduced by Calta). More precisely we show that any homological direction is algebraically periodic, and any direction of a regular closed geodesic is a completely periodic direction. As a consequence we draw that the limit set of the Veech group of every Prym eigenform in some Prym loci of genus 3,4, and 5 is either empty, one point, or the full circle at infinity. We also construct new examples of translation…
In this century, a square-tiled translation surface (an origami) is intensively studied as an object with special properties of its translation structure and its $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-orbit embedded in the moduli space. We generalize this concept in the language of flat surfaces appearing naturally in the Teichmüller theory. We study the combinatorial structure of origamis and show that a certain system of linear equations realizes the flat surface in which rectangles of specified moduli replace squares of an origami. This construction gives a parametrization of the family of flat surfaces with t…
We study the action of the Veech group of square-tiled surfaces of genus two on homology. This action defines the homology Veech group which is a subgroup of $\textrm{SL}_2(\mathcal{O}_D)$ where $\mathcal{O}_D$ is a quadratic order of square discriminant. Extending a result of Weitze-Schmithüsen we show that also the homology Veech group is a totally non-congruence subgroup with exceptions stemming only from the prime ideals lying above 2. While Weitze-Schmithüsen's result for Veech groups is asymmetric with respect to the spin structure our use of the homology Veech group yields a completely …
Veech groups are an important tool to examine translation surfaces and related mathematical objects. Origamis, also known as square-tiled surfaces, form an interesting class of translation surfaces with finite index subgroups of SL(2,Z) as Veech groups. We study when Veech groups of origamis with maximal symmetry group are totally non-congruence groups, i.e., when they surject onto SL(2, Z/nZ) for each natural number n. For this, we use a result of Schlage-Puchta and Weitze-Schmithüsen to deduce sufficient conditions on the deck transformation group of the origami. More precisely, we show that…
We study the Veech group of an origami, i.e. of a translation surface, tessellated by parallelograms. We show that it is isomorphic to the image of a certain subgroup of Aut(F_2) in SL_2(Z) = Out^+(F_2). Based on this we present an algorithm that determines the Veech group.
For every half-translation surface with marked points $(M,Σ)$, we construct an associated tessellation $Π(M,Σ)$ of the Poincaré upper half plane whose tiles have finitely many sides and area at most $π$. The tessellation $Π(M,Σ)$ is equivariant with respect to the action of $\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{R})$, and invariant with respect to (half-)translation covering. In the case $(M,Σ)$ is the torus $\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{Z}^2$ with a one marked point, $Π(\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{Z}^2,\{0\})$ coincides with the iso-Delaunay tessellation introduced by Veech as both tessellations give the Farey tessellation. A…
We construct moduli spaces of complex affine and dilation surfaces. Using ideas of Veech, we show that the the moduli space of affine surfaces with fixed genus and with cone points of fixed complex order is a holomorphic affine bundle over the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Similarly, the moduli space of dilation surfaces is a covering space of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. We classify the connected components of the moduli space of dilation surfaces and show that any component is an orbifold K(G,1) where G is the framed mapping class group of Calderon-Salter.
We express the Masur-Veech volume and the area Siegel-Veech constant of the moduli space $\mathcal{Q}_{g,n}$ of genus $g$ meromorphic quadratic differentials with $n$ simple poles as polynomials in the intersection numbers of $ψ$-classes with explicit rational coefficients. The formulae obtained in this article result from lattice point counts involving the Kontsevich volume polynomials that also appear in Mirzakhani's recursion for the Weil-Petersson volumes of the moduli spaces of bordered hyperbolic surfaces with geodesic boundaries. A similar formula for the Masur-Veech volume (though with…
A branched affine structure on a compact topological surface with marked points is a complex affine structure outside the marked points. We give a proof of an unpublished foundational theorem of Veech, stating that any branched affine surface can be decomposed into affine triangles and some annulus-shaped cylinders. Then, we prove that any pair of such decompositions can be connected by a chain of flips. As a first step toward a compactification of the moduli spaces of branched affine structures, we introduce invariant $α$ of a branched affine surface that controls degeneracy of the structure.…
