Conformal Dynamics and Hyperbolic Geometry


Book Description

This volume contains the proceedings of the Conference on Conformal Dynamics and Hyperbolic Geometry, held October 21-23, 2010, in honor of Linda Keen's 70th birthday. This volume provides a valuable introduction to problems in conformal and hyperbolic geometry and one dimensional, conformal dynamics. It includes a classic expository article by John Milnor on the structure of hyperbolic components of the parameter space for dynamical systems arising from the iteration of polynomial maps in the complex plane. In addition there are foundational results concerning Teichmuller theory, the geometry of Fuchsian and Kleinian groups, domain convergence properties for the Poincare metric, elaboration of the theory of the universal solenoid, the geometry of dynamical systems acting on a circle, and realization of Thompson's group as a mapping class group for a uniformly asymptotically affine circle endomorphism. The portion of the volume dealing with complex dynamics will appeal to a diverse group of mathematicians. Recently many researchers working in a wide range of topics, including topology, algebraic geometry, complex analysis, and dynamical systems, have become involved in aspects of this field.




Conformal Dimension


Book Description

Conformal dimension measures the extent to which the Hausdorff dimension of a metric space can be lowered by quasisymmetric deformations. Introduced by Pansu in 1989, this concept has proved extremely fruitful in a diverse range of areas, including geometric function theory, conformal dynamics, and geometric group theory. This survey leads the reader from the definitions and basic theory through to active research applications in geometric function theory, Gromov hyperbolic geometry, and the dynamics of rational maps, amongst other areas. It reviews the theory of dimension in metric spaces and of deformations of metric spaces. It summarizes the basic tools for estimating conformal dimension and illustrates their application to concrete problems of independent interest. Numerous examples and proofs are provided. Working from basic definitions through to current research areas, this book can be used as a guide for graduate students interested in this field, or as a helpful survey for experts. Background needed for a potential reader of the book consists of a working knowledge of real and complex analysis on the level of first- and second-year graduate courses.




Geometry In Advanced Pure Mathematics


Book Description

This book leads readers from a basic foundation to an advanced level understanding of geometry in advanced pure mathematics. Chapter by chapter, readers will be led from a foundation level understanding to advanced level understanding. This is the perfect text for graduate or PhD mathematical-science students looking for support in algebraic geometry, geometric group theory, modular group, holomorphic dynamics and hyperbolic geometry, syzygies and minimal resolutions, and minimal surfaces.Geometry in Advanced Pure Mathematics is the fourth volume of the LTCC Advanced Mathematics Series. This series is the first to provide advanced introductions to mathematical science topics to advanced students of mathematics. Edited by the three joint heads of the London Taught Course Centre for PhD Students in the Mathematical Sciences (LTCC), each book supports readers in broadening their mathematical knowledge outside of their immediate research disciplines while also covering specialized key areas.




Geometry and Dynamics in Gromov Hyperbolic Metric Spaces


Book Description

This book presents the foundations of the theory of groups and semigroups acting isometrically on Gromov hyperbolic metric spaces. Particular emphasis is paid to the geometry of their limit sets and on behavior not found in the proper setting. The authors provide a number of examples of groups which exhibit a wide range of phenomena not to be found in the finite-dimensional theory. The book contains both introductory material to help beginners as well as new research results, and closes with a list of attractive unsolved problems.




Renormalization and 3-manifolds which Fiber Over the Circle


Book Description

Many parallels between complex dynamics and hyperbolic geometry have emerged in the past decade. Building on work of Sullivan and Thurston, this book gives a unified treatment of the construction of fixed-points for renormalization and the construction of hyperbolic 3- manifolds fibering over the circle. Both subjects are studied via geometric limits and rigidity. This approach shows open hyperbolic manifolds are inflexible, and yields quantitative counterparts to Mostow rigidity. In complex dynamics, it motivates the construction of towers of quadratic-like maps, and leads to a quantitative proof of convergence of renormalization.




Complex Dynamics and Renormalization


Book Description

Addressing researchers and graduate students in the active meeting ground of analysis, geometry, and dynamics, this book presents a study of renormalization of quadratic polynomials and a rapid introduction to techniques in complex dynamics. Its central concern is the structure of an infinitely renormalizable quadratic polynomial f(z) = z2 + c. As discovered by Feigenbaum, such a mapping exhibits a repetition of form at infinitely many scales. Drawing on universal estimates in hyperbolic geometry, this work gives an analysis of the limiting forms that can occur and develops a rigidity criterion for the polynomial f. This criterion supports general conjectures about the behavior of rational maps and the structure of the Mandelbrot set. The course of the main argument entails many facets of modern complex dynamics. Included are foundational results in geometric function theory, quasiconformal mappings, and hyperbolic geometry. Most of the tools are discussed in the setting of general polynomials and rational maps.




Flavors of Geometry


Book Description

Flavors of Geometry is a volume of lectures on four geometrically-influenced fields of mathematics that have experienced great development in recent years. Growing out of a series of introductory lectures given at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in January 1995 and January 1996, the book presents chapters by masters in their respective fields on hyperbolic geometry, dynamics in several complex variables, convex geometry, and volume estimation. Each lecture begins with a discussion of elementary concepts, examines the highlights of the field, and concludes with a look at more advanced material. The style and presentation of the chapters are clear and accessible, and most of the lectures are richly illustrated. Bibiliographies and indexes are included to encourage further reading on the topics discussed.




Non-linear Elliptic Equations in Conformal Geometry


Book Description

Non-linear elliptic partial differential equations are an important tool in the study of Riemannian metrics in differential geometry, in particular for problems concerning the conformal change of metrics in Riemannian geometry. In recent years the role played by the second order semi-linear elliptic equations in the study of Gaussian curvature and scalar curvature has been extended to a family of fully non-linear elliptic equations associated with other symmetric functions of the Ricci tensor. A case of particular interest is the second symmetric function of the Ricci tensor in dimension four closely related to the Pfaffian. In these lectures, starting from the background material, the author reviews the problem of prescribing Gaussian curvature on compact surfaces. She then develops the analytic tools (e.g., higher order conformal invariant operators, Sobolev inequalities, blow-up analysis) in order to solve a fully nonlinear equation in prescribing the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet integrand on compact manifolds of dimension four. The material is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in geometry, topology, and differential equations.




Distance Expanding Random Mappings, Thermodynamical Formalism, Gibbs Measures and Fractal Geometry


Book Description

The theory of random dynamical systems originated from stochastic differential equations. It is intended to provide a framework and techniques to describe and analyze the evolution of dynamical systems when the input and output data are known only approximately, according to some probability distribution. The development of this field, in both the theory and applications, has gone in many directions. In this manuscript we introduce measurable expanding random dynamical systems, develop the thermodynamical formalism and establish, in particular, the exponential decay of correlations and analyticity of the expected pressure although the spectral gap property does not hold. This theory is then used to investigate fractal properties of conformal random systems. We prove a Bowen’s formula and develop the multifractal formalism of the Gibbs states. Depending on the behavior of the Birkhoff sums of the pressure function we arrive at a natural classification of the systems into two classes: quasi-deterministic systems, which share many properties of deterministic ones; and essentially random systems, which are rather generic and never bi-Lipschitz equivalent to deterministic systems. We show that in the essentially random case the Hausdorff measure vanishes, which refutes a conjecture by Bogenschutz and Ochs. Lastly, we present applications of our results to various specific conformal random systems and positively answer a question posed by Bruck and Buger concerning the Hausdorff dimension of quadratic random Julia sets.




Complex Kleinian Groups


Book Description

This monograph lays down the foundations of the theory of complex Kleinian groups, a newly born area of mathematics whose origin traces back to the work of Riemann, Poincaré, Picard and many others. Kleinian groups are, classically, discrete groups of conformal automorphisms of the Riemann sphere, and these can be regarded too as being groups of holomorphic automorphisms of the complex projective line CP1. When going into higher dimensions, there is a dichotomy: Should we look at conformal automorphisms of the n-sphere?, or should we look at holomorphic automorphisms of higher dimensional complex projective spaces? These two theories are different in higher dimensions. In the first case we are talking about groups of isometries of real hyperbolic spaces, an area of mathematics with a long-standing tradition. In the second case we are talking about an area of mathematics that still is in its childhood, and this is the focus of study in this monograph. This brings together several important areas of mathematics, as for instance classical Kleinian group actions, complex hyperbolic geometry, chrystallographic groups and the uniformization problem for complex manifolds.​