arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Martin Moeller.
We show that for many strata of Abelian differentials in low genus the sum of Lyapunov exponents for the Teichmueller geodesic flow is the same for all Teichmueller curves in that stratum, hence equal to the sum of Lyapunov exponents for the whole stratum. This behavior is due to the disjointness property of Teichmueller curves with various geometrically defined divisors on moduli spaces of curves.
We give an algebraic way of distinguishing the components of the exceptional strata of quadratic differentials in genus three and four. The complete list of these strata is (9, -1), (6,3,-1), (3,3,3, -1) in genus three and (12), (9,3), (6,6), (6,3,3) and (3,3,3,3) in genus four. This result is part of a more general investigation of disjointness of Teichmueller curves with divisors of Brill-Noether type on the moduli space of curves. As a result we show that for many strata of quadratic differentials in low genus the sum of Lyapunov exponents for the Teichmueller geodesic flow is the same for all Teichmueller curves in that stratum.
Algebraic curves in Hilbert modular surfaces that are totally geodesic for the Kobayashi metric have very interesting geometric and arithmetic properties, e.g. they are rigid. There are very few methods known to construct such algebraic geodesics that we call Kobayashi curves. We give an explicit way of constructing Kobayashi curves using determinants of derivatives of theta functions. This construction also allows to calculate the Euler characteristics of the Teichmueller curves constructed by McMullen using Prym covers.
We classify curves in the moduli space of curves that are both Shimura- and Teichmueller curves: Except for the moduli space of genus one curves there is only a single such curve. We start with a Hodge-theoretic description of Shimura curves and of Teichmueller curves that reveals similarities and differences of the two classes of curves. The proof of the classification relies on the geometry of square-tiled coverings and on estimating the numerical invariants of these particular fibered surfaces. Finally we translate our main result into a classification of Teichmueller curves with totally degenerate Lyapunov spectrum.
In the moduli space M_g of genus g Riemann surfaces, consider the locus RM_O of Riemann surfaces whose Jacobians have real multiplication by the order O in a totally real number field F of degree g. If g = 2 or 3, we compute the closure of RM_O in the Deligne-Mumford compactification of M_g and the closure of the locus of eigenforms over RM_O in the Deligne-Mumford compactification of the moduli space of holomorphic one-forms. For higher genera, we give strong necessary conditions for a stable curve to be in the boundary of RM_O Boundary strata of RM_O are parameterized by configurations of elements of the field F satisfying a strong geometry of numbers type restriction. We apply this computation to give evidence for the conjecture that there are only finitely many algebraically primitive Teichmueller curves in M_3. In particular, we prove that there are only finitely many algebraically primitive Teichmueller curves generated by a one-form having two zeros of order 3 and 1. We also present the results of a computer search for algebraically primitive Teichmueller curves generated by a one-form having a single zero.
Consider a family f:A --> U of g-dimensional abelian varieties over a quasiprojective manifold U. Suppose that the induced map from U to the moduli scheme of polarized abelian varieties is generically finite and that there is a projective manifold Y, containing U as the complement of a normal crossing divisor S, such that the sheaf of logarithmic one forms is nef and that its determinant is ample with respect to U. We characterize whether $U$ is a Shimura variety by numerical data attached to the variation of Hodge structures, rather than by properties of the map from U to the moduli scheme or by the existence of CM points. More precisely, we show that U is a Shimura variety, if and only if two conditions hold. First, each irreducible local subsystem V of the complex weight one variation of Hodge structures is either unitary or satisfies the Arakelov equality. Secondly, for each factor M in the universal cover of U whose tangent bundle behaves like the one of a complex ball, an iterated Kodaira-Spencer map associated with V has minimal possible length in the direction of M.
We consider Kobayashi geodesics in the moduli space of abelian varieties A_g that is, algebraic curves that are totally geodesic submanifolds for the Kobayashi metric. We show that Kobayashi geodesics can be characterized as those curves whose logarithmic tangent bundle splits as a subbundle of the logarithmic tangent bundle of A_g. Both Shimura curves and Teichmueller curves are examples of Kobayashi geodesics, but there are other examples. We show moreover that non-compact Kobayashi geodesics always map to the locus of real multiplication and that the Q-irreducibility of the induced variation of Hodge structures implies that they are defined over a number field.
We prove that the Teichmueller disc stabilized by the Arnoux-Yoccoz pseudo-Anosov diffeomorphism contains at least two closed Teichmueller geodesics. This proves that the corresponding flat surface does not have a cyclic Veech group. In addition, we prove that this Teichmueller disc is dense inside the hyperelliptic locus of the connected component H^odd(2,2). The proof uses Ratner's theorems. Rephrasing our results in terms of quadratic differentials, we show that there exists a holomorphic quadratic differential, on a genus 2 surface, with the two following properties. (1) The Teichmueller disc is dense inside the moduli space of holomorphic quadratic differentials (which are not the global square of any Abelian differentials). (2) The stabilizer of the PSL(2,R)-action contains two non-commuting pseudo-Anosov diffeomorphisms.
We study closures of GL_2(R)-orbits on the total space of the Hodge bundle over the moduli space of curves under the assumption that they are algebraic manifolds. We show that, in the generic stratum, such manifolds are the whole stratum, the hyperelliptic locus or parameterize curves whose Jacobian has additional endomorphisms. This follows from a cohomological description of the tangent bundle to strata. For non-generic strata similar results can be shown by a case-by-case inspection. We also propose to study a notion of 'linear manifold' that comprises Teichmueller curves, Hilbert modular surfaces and the ball quotients of Deligne and Mostow. Moreover, we give an explanation for the difference between Hilbert modular surfaces and Hilbert modular threefolds with respect to this notion of linearity.
We describe globally nilpotent differential operators of rank 2 defined over a number field whose monodromy group is a nonarithmetic Fuchsian group. We show that these differential operators have an S-integral solution. These differential operators are naturally associated with Teichmueller curves in genus 2. They are counterexamples to conjectures by Chudnovsky--Chudnovsky and Dwork. We also determine the field of moduli of primitive Teichmueller curves in genus 2, and an explicit equation in some cases.
In this paper, we investigate the closure of a large class of Teichmüller discs in the stratum Q(1,1,1,1) or equivalently, in a GL^+_2(R)-invariant locus L of translation surfaces of genus three. We describe a systematic way to prove that the GL^+_2(R)-orbit closure of a translation surface in L is the whole of L. The strategy of the proof is an analysis of completely periodic directions on such a surface and an iterated application of Ratner's theorem to unipotent subgroups acting on an ``adequate'' splitting. This analysis applies for example to all Teichmueller discs stabilized obtained by Thurston's construction with a trace field of degree three which moreover ``obviously not Veech''. We produce an infinite series of such examples and show moreover that the favourable splitting situation does not arise everywhere on L, contrary to the situation in genus two. We also study completely periodic directions on translation surfaces in L. For instance, we prove that completely periodic directions are dense on surfaces obtained by Thurston's construction.
We construct a Teichmueller curve uniformized by the Fuchsian triangle group (m,n,\infty) for every m<n. Our construction includes the Teichmueller curves constructed by Veech and Ward as special cases. The construction essentially relies on properties of hypergeometric differential operators. For small m, we find Billiard tables that generate these Teichmueller curves. We interprete some of the so-called Lyapunov exponents of the Kontsevich--Zorich cocycle as normalized degrees of some natural line bundles on a Teichmueller curves. We determine the Lyapunov exponents for the Teichmueller curves we construct.
This survey article discusses some results on the structure of families f:V-->U of n-dimensional manifolds over quasi-projective curves U, with semistable reduction over a compactification Y of U. We improve the Arakelov inequality for the direct images of powers of the dualizing sheaf. For families of Abelian varieties we recall the characterization of Shimura curves by Arakelov equalities. For families of curves we recall the characterization of Teichmueller curves in terms of the existence of certain sub variation of Hodge structures. We sketch the proof that the moduli scheme of curves of genus g>1 can not contain compact Shimura curves, and that it only contains a non-compact Shimura curve for g=3.
We show that for each genus there are only finitely many algebraically primitive Teichmueller curves C, such that i) C lies in the hyperelliptic locus and ii) C is generated by an abelian differential with two zeros of order g-1. We prove moreover that for these Teichmueller curves the trace field of the affine group is not only totally real but cyclotomic.
Teichmueller curves are geodesic discs in Teichmueller space that project to an algebraic curve in the moduli space $M_g$. We show that for all $g \geq 2$ Teichmueller curves map to the locus of real multiplication in the moduli space of abelian varieties. Remark that McMullen has shown that precisely for $g=2$ the locus of real multiplication is stable under the $\SL_2(\RR)$-action on the tautological bundle $Ω\M_g$. We also show that Teichmueller curves are defined over number fields and we provide a completely algebraic description of Teichmueller curves in terms of Higgs bundles. As a consequence we show that the absolute Galois group acts on the set of Teichmueller curves.
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.
We generalise a method of Xiao Gang to construct 'prototypes' of fibred surfaces with maximal irregularity without being a product. This enables us, in the case of fibre genus g=3 to describe the possible singular fibres and to calculate the invariants of these surfaces. We also prove structure theorems on the moduli space for fibred surfaces with fibre genus g=2 and g=3.
Teichmueller curves are geodesic discs in Teichmueller space that project to algebraic curves $C$ in the moduli space $M_g$. Some Teichmüller curves can be considered as components of Hurwitz spaces. We show that the absolute Galois group $G_\QQ$ acts faithfully on the set of these embedded curves. We also compare the action of $G_\QQ$ on $π_1(C)$ with the one on $π_1(M_g)$ and obtain a relation in the Grothendieck-Teichmueller group, seemingly independent of the known ones.