Home : Book details : Book description

Description of  Translation Surfaces: 242 (Graduate Studies in Mathematics)

147047655X pdf This textbook offers an accessible introduction to translation surfaces. Building on modest prerequisites, the authors focus on the fundamentals behind big ideas in the field: ergodic properties of translation flows, counting problems for saddle connections, and associated renormalization techniques. Proofs that go beyond the introductory nature of the book are deftly omitted, allowing readers to develop essential tools and motivation before delving into the literature. Beginning with the fundamental example of the flat torus, the book goes on to establish the three equivalent definitions of translation surface. An introduction to the moduli space of translation surfaces follows, leading into a study of the dynamics and ergodic theory associated to a translation surface. Counting problems and group actions come to the fore in the latter chapters, giving a broad overview of progress in the 40 years since the ergodicity of the Teichmuller geodesic flow was proven. Exercises are included throughout, inviting readers to actively explore and extend the theory along the way. Read more