On totally hyperbolic non-Fuchsian type-preserving representations

TL;DR

This paper identifies non-Fuchsian, totally hyperbolic, type-preserving representations of punctured surface groups that send all non-peripheral simple closed curves to hyperbolic elements, answering a question of Bowditch.

Contribution

It characterizes a new class of non-Fuchsian representations with hyperbolic images for all non-peripheral simple closed curves, expanding understanding of surface group representations.

Findings

Representations have relative Euler class $e() = ext{±} ( ext{χ}( ext{Σ}) + 1)$.

These representations form a full-measure subset of certain connected components.

Restrictions of these representations to subsurfaces are Fuchsian.

Abstract

We identify type-preserving representations $\phi: \pi_1(\Sigma)\to \mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{R})$ of the fundamental group of every punctured surface $\Sigma = \Sigma_{g,p}$ that are not Fuchsian yet send all non-peripheral simple closed curves to hyperbolic elements, which give a negative answer to a question of Bowditch. These representations have relative Euler class $e(\phi) = \pm (\chi(\Sigma) + 1)$, and their $\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{R})$-conjugacy classes form a full-measure subset of $2p$ connected components of the relative character variety. We further show that, while these representations are not Fuchsian, their restrictions to certain subsurfaces of $\Sigma$ are Fuchsian.