Previous work of the author has developed coordinates on bundles over the classical Teichmueller spaces of punctured surfaces and on the space of cosets of the Moebius group in the group of orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the circle, and this work is surveyed here. Joint work with Dragomir Saric is also sketched which extends these results to the setting of the Teichmueller space of the solenoid of a punctured surface, which is defined here in analogy to Dennis Sullivan's original definition for the case of closed surfaces. Because of relations with the classical modular group, the punctured solenoid and its Teichmueller theory have connections with number theory.
In this paper we give two different proofs of Bobenko and Springborn's theorem of circle pattern: there exists a hyperbolic (or Euclidean) circle pattern with proscribed intersection angles and cone angles on a cellular decomposed surface up to isometry (or similarity).
The Andreev-Thurston theorem states that for any triangulation of a closed orientable surface Σ_g of genus g which is covered by a simple graph in the universal cover, there exists a unique metric of curvature 1, 0 or -1 on the surface depending on whether g=0, 1 or \ge 2 such that the surface with this metric admits a circle packing with combinatorics given by the triangulation. Furthermore, the circle packing is essentially rigid, that is, unique up to conformal automorphisms of the surface isotopic to the identity. In this paper, we consider projective structures on the surface Σ_g where ci…
This paper investigates circle patterns with obtuse exterior intersection angles on surfaces of finite topological type. We characterise the images of the curvature maps and establish several equivalent conditions regarding long time behaviors of Chow-Luo's combinatorial Ricci flows for these patterns. As consequences, several generalizations of circle pattern theorem are obtained. Moreover, our approach suggests a computational method to find the desired circle patterns.
We classify the path-components of the space of circle-valued Morse functions on compact surfaces: two Morse functions $f, g: M\to S^1$ belong to same path-component of this space if and only if they are homotopic and have equal numbers of critical points at each index.
The punctured solenoid $§$ is an initial object for the category of punctured surfaces with morphisms given by finite covers branched only over the punctures. The (decorated) Teichmüller space of $§$ is introduced, studied, and found to be parametrized by certain coordinates on a fixed triangulation of $§$. Furthermore, a point in the decorated Teichmüller space induces a polygonal decomposition of $§$ giving a combinatorial description of its decorated Teichmüller space itself. This is used to obtain a non-trivial set of generators of the modular group of $§$, which is presumably the main res…
The branched virtual fibering theorem by Sakuma states that every closed orientable $3$-manifold with a Heegaard surface of genus $g$ has a branched double cover which is a genus $g$ surface bundle over the circle. It is proved by Brooks that such a surface bundle can be chosen to be hyperbolic. We prove that the minimal entropy over all hyperbolic, genus $g$ surface bundles as branched double covers of the $3$-sphere behaves like 1/$g$. We also give an alternative construction of surface bundles over the circle in Sakuma's theorem when closed $3$-manifolds are branched double covers of the $3…
We study surface groups $Γ$ in $SO(4,1)$, which is the group of Mobius tranformations of $S^3$, and also the group of isometries of $\mathbb{H}^4$. We consider such $Γ$ so that its limit set $Λ_Γ$ is a quasi-circle in $S^3$, and so that the quotient $(S^3 - Λ_Γ) / Γ$ is a circle bundle over a surface. This circle bundle is said to be conformally flat, and our main goal is to discover how twisted such bundle may be by establishing a bound on its Euler number. By combinatorial approaches, we have two soft bounds in this direction on certain types of nice structures. In this article we also const…
This paper proves a deformation circle pattern theorem, which gives a complete description of those circle patterns with interstices in terms of the combinatorial type, the exterior intersections angles and the conformal structures of interstices. As results, the surface version of Rivin's theorem and the approximation property of packable surfaces are obtained.
We make a detailed study of the Heegaard Floer homology of the product of a closed surface Sigma_g of genus g with S^1. We determine HF^+ for this 3-manifold completely for the spin^c structure having trivial first Chern class, which for g>2 was previously unknown. We show that in this case HF^\infty is closely related to the cohomology of the total space of a certain circle bundle over the Jacobian torus of Sigma_g, and furthermore that HF^+ of a surface times a circle with integral coefficients contains nontrivial 2-torsion whenever g>2. This is the first example known to the authors of tors…
Let Σ_g be a closed orientable surface of genus g \geq 2 and τa graph on Σ_g with one vertex which lifts to a triangulation of the universal cover. We have shown that the cross ratio parameter space \mathcal{C}_τassociated with τ, which can be identified with the set of all pairs of a projective structure and a circle packing on it with nerve isotopic to τ, is homeomorphic to \mathbb{R}^{6g-6}, and moreover that the forgetting map of \mathcal{C}_τto the space of projective structures is injective. In this paper, we show that the composition of the forgetting map with the uniformization from \m…
Let t_a be the Dehn twist about a circle a on an orientable surface. It is well known that for each circle b and an integer n, I(t_a^n(b),b)=|n|I(a,b)^2, where I(,) is the geometric intersection number. We prove a similar formula for circles on nonorientable surfaces. As a corollary we prove some algebraic properties of twists on nonorientable surfaces. We also prove that if M(N) is the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface N, then up to a finite number of exceptions, the centraliser of the subgroup of M(N) generated by the twists is equal to the centre of M(N) and is generated by twi…
A Euclidean (or hyperbolic) circle packing on a closed triangulated surface with prescribed inversive distance is locally determined by its cone angles. We prove this by applying a variational principle.
We determine which connected surfaces can be partitioned into topological circles. There are exactly seven such surfaces up to homeomorphism: those of finite type, of Euler characteristic zero, and with compact boundary components. As a byproduct, we get that any circle decomposition of a surface is upper semicontinuous.
S. Blank solved the question of classifying immersed circles in $\mathbb{R}^{2}$ that extend to immersed disks, and how many topologically inequivalent disks can be extended. The quetions of various cases in $2$-dimension have already been solved by generalizing his method. In this paper, we give a new way, which is straightforward for the questions, and we determine all topological equivalence classes of immersed surfaces bounded by an arbitrary immersed circle in a closed oriented surface.
For a hyperbolic fibered 3-manifold M, we prove results that uniformly relate the structure of surface projections as one varies the fibrations of M. This extends our previous work from the fully-punctured to the general case.
We estimate from below the number of lines meeting each of given 4 disjoint smooth closed curves in a given cyclic order in the real projective 3-space and in a given linear order in the Euclidean 3-space. Similarly, we estimate the number of circles meeting in a given cyclic order given 6 disjoint smooth closed curves in Euclidean 3-space. The estimations are formulated in terms of linking numbers of the curves and obtained by orienting of the corresponding configuration spaces and evaluating of their signatures. This involves a study of a surface swept by lines meeting 3 given disjoint smoot…
We consider ``hyperideal'' circle patterns, i.e. patterns of disks appearing in the definition of the Delaunay decomposition associated to a set of disjoint disks, possibly with cone singularities at the center of those disks. Hyperideal circle patterns are associated to hyperideal hyperbolic polyhedra. We describe the possible intersection angles and singular curvatures of those circle patterns, on Euclidean or hyperbolic surfaces with conical singularities. This is related to results on the dihedral angles of ideal or hyperideal hyperbolic polyhedra.
In this paper, we study the algebraic structure of mapping class group $Mod(X)$ of 3-manifolds $X$ that fiber as a circle bundle over a surface $S^1\rightarrow X\rightarrow S_g$. There is an exact sequence $1\rightarrow H^1(S_g)\rightarrow Mod(X)\rightarrow Mod(S_g)\rightarrow1$. We relate this to the Birman exact sequence and determine when this sequence splits.
The full solenoid over a topological space $X$ is the inverse limit of all finite covers. When $X$ is a compact Hausdorff space admitting a locally path connected universal cover, we relate the pointed homotopy equivalences of the full solenoid to the abstract commensurator of the fundamental group $π_1(X)$. The relationship is an isomorphism when $X$ is an aspherical CW complex. If $X$ is additionally a geodesic metric space and $π_1(X)$ is residually finite, we show that this topological model is compatible with the realization of the abstract commensurator as a subgroup of the quasi-isometr…
Let Sigma be a closed oriented surface of genus g. We show that the Kauffman bracket skein module of Sigma x S^1 over the field of rational functions in A has dimension at least 2^{2g+1}+2g-1.
This paper investigates several global rigidity issues for polyhedral surfaces including inversive distance circle packings. Inversive distance circle packings are polyhedral surfaces introduced by P. Bowers and K. Stephenson as a generalization of Andreev-Thurston's circle packing. They conjectured that inversive distance circle packings are rigid. Using a recent work of R. Guo on variational principle associated to the inversive distance circle packing, we prove rigidity conjecture of Bowers-Stephenson in this paper. We also show that each polyhedral metric on a triangulated surface is deter…
We show that the analog of Hamilton's Ricci flow in the combinatorial setting produces solutions which converge exponentially fast to Thurston's circle packing on surfaces. As a consequence, a new proof of Thurston's existence of circle packing theorem is obtained. As another consequence, Ricci flow suggests a new algorithm to find circle packings.
If $M$ is a compact 3-manifold whose first betti number is 1, and $N$ is a compact 3-manifold such that $π_1N$ and $π_1M$ have the same finite quotients, then $M$ fibres over the circle if and only if $N$ does. We prove that groups of the form $F_2\rtimes\mathbb{Z}$ are distinguished from one another by their profinite completions. Thus, regardless of betti number, if $M$ and $N$ are punctured torus bundles over the circle and $M$ is not homeomorphic to $N$, then there is a finite group $G$ such that one of $π_1M$ and $π_1N$ maps onto $G$ and the other does not.
The Kauffman bracket skein module $S(M)$ of a 3-manifold $M$ is a $\mathbb{Q}(A)$-vector space spanned by links in $M$ modulo the so-called Kauffman relations. In this article, for any closed oriented surface $Σ$ we provide an explicit spanning family for the skein modules $S(Σ\times S^1)$. Combined with earlier work of Gilmer and Masbaum, we answer their question about the dimension of $S(Σ\times S^1)$ being $2^{2g+1} + 2g -1$.
Geometrization theorem, fibered case: Every three-manifold that fibers over the circle admits a geometric decomposition. Double limit theorem: for any sequence of quasi-Fuchsian groups whose controlling pair of conformal structures tends toward a pair of projectively measured laminations that bind the surface, there is a convergent subsequence. This preprint also analyzes the quasi-isometric geometry of quasi-Fuchsian 3-manifolds. This eprint is based on a 1986 preprint, which was refereed and accepted for publication, but which I neglected to correct and return. The referee's corrections have…
In this paper, we introduce a new combinatorial curvature on triangulated surfaces with inversive distance circle packing metrics. Then we prove that this combinatorial curvature has global rigidity. To study the Yamabe problem of the new curvature, we introduce a combinatorial Ricci flow, along which the curvature evolves almost in the same way as that of scalar curvature along the surface Ricci flow obtained by Hamilton \cite{Ham1}. Then we study the long time behavior of the combinatorial Ricci flow and obtain that the existence of a constant curvature metric is equivalent to the convergenc…
We prove that closed symplectic four-manifolds do not admit any smooth free circle actions with contractible orbits, without assuming that the actions preserve the symplectic forms. In higher dimensions such actions by symplectomorphisms do exist, and we give explicit examples based on a construction of Fernandez, Gray and Morgan. We also prove that the only compact complex surfaces admitting free circle actions with contractible orbits are primary Hopf surfaces.
Let $M$ be a smooth connected orientable compact surface. Denote by $F(M,S^1)$ the space of all Morse functions $f:M\to S^1$ having no critical points on the boundary of $M$ and such that for every boundary component $V$ of $M$ the restriction $f|_{V}:V\to S^1$ is either a constant map or a covering map. Endow $F(M,S^1)$ with the $C^{\infty}$-topology. In this note the connected components of $F(M,S^1)$ are classified. This result extends the results of S. V. Matveev, V. V. Sharko, and the author for the case of Morse functions being locally constant on the boundary of $M$.
Let N be a closed oriented k-dimensional submanifold of the (k+2)-dimensional sphere; denote its complement by C(N). Denote by x the 1-dimensional cohomology class in C(N), dual to N. The Morse-Novikov number of C(N) is by definition the minimal possible number of critical points of a regular Morse map f from C(N) to a circle, such that f belongs to x. In the first part of this paper we study the case when N is the twist frame spun knot associated to an m-knot K. We obtain a formula which relates the Morse-Novikov numbers of N and K and generalizes the classical results of D. Roseman and E.C. …
In this paper, we determine the group of contact transformations modulo contact isotopies for Legendrian circle bundles over closed surfaces of nonpositive Euler characteristic. These results extend and correct those presented by the first author in a former work. The main ingredient we use is connectedness of certain spaces of embeddings of surfaces into contact 3-manifolds. In the third section, this connectedness question is studied in more details with a number of (hopefully instructive) examples.
We investigate the maximal solid tubes around short simple geodesics in hyperbolic three-manifolds and how complex length of curves relate to closed, incompressible, least area minimal surfaces. As applications, we prove, there are some closed hyperbolic three-manifolds fibering over the circle which are not foliated by closed incompressible minimal surfaces diffeomorphic to the fiber. We also show, the existence of quasi-Fuchsian manifolds containing arbitrarily many embedded closed incompressible minimal surfaces. Our strategy is to prove main theorems under natural geometric conditions on t…
With the help of hyper-ideal circle pattern theory, we have developed a discrete version of the classical uniformization theorems for surfaces represented as finite branched covers over the Riemann sphere as well as compact polyhedral surfaces with non-positive curvature. We show that in the case of such surfaces discrete uniformization via hyper-ideal circle patterns always exists and is unique. We also propose a numerical algorithm, utilizing convex optimization, that constructs the desired discrete uniformization.
We investigate the combinatorial Ricci flow on a surface of nonpositive Euler characteristic when the necessary and sufficient condition for the convergence of the combinatorial Ricci flow is not valid. This observation addresses one of questions raised by B. Chow and F. Luo.
Recently V. Arnold introduced Strangeness and $J^{\pm}$ invariants of generic immersions of an oriented circle to $\R^2$. Here these invariants are generalized to the case of generic immersions of an oriented circle to an arbitrary surface $F$. We explicitly describe all the invariants satisfying axioms, which naturally generalize the axioms used by V. Arnold.
Ricci flow deforms the Riemannian metric proportionally to the curvature, such that the curvature evolves according to a heat diffusion process and eventually becomes constant everywhere. Ricci flow has demonstrated its great potential by solving various problems in many fields, which can be hardly handled by alternative methods so far. This work introduces the unified theoretic framework for discrete Surface Ricci Flow, including all common schemes: Thurston's Circle Packing, Tangential Circle Packing, Inversive Distance Circle Packing and Discrete Yamabe. Furthermore, this work also introduc…
