arXiv research

Study on moduli spaces of branched projective structures on surfaces.

Holomorphic projective structures and bundles are studied on surfaces, revealing affine spaces of parameters.

Characterizes representations for complex projective structures with specific branch data.

We introduce the concept of a branched holomorphic Cartan geometry. It generalizes to higher dimension the definition of branched (flat) complex projective structure on a Riemann surface introduced by Mandelbaum. This new framework is much more flexible than that of the usual holomorphic Cartan geometries. We show that…

We prove that if S is a closed compact surface of negative Euler characteristic, and if R is a quasi-Fuchsian representation in PSL(2,C), then the deformation space M(k,R) of branched projective structures on S with total branching order k and holonomy R is connected, as soon as k>0. Equivalently, two branched projecti…

We study a class of continuous deformations of branched complex projective structures on closed surfaces of genus $g\geq 2$, which preserve the holonomy representation of the structure and the order of the branch points. In the case of non-elementary holonomy we show that when the underlying complex structure is infini…

For a given quasi-Fuchsian representation $ρ:π_1(S)\to$ PSL$_2\mathbb{C}$ of the fundamental group of a closed surface $S$ of genus $g\geq 2$, we prove that a generic branched complex projective structure on $S$ with holonomy $ρ$ and two branch points is obtained by bubbling some unbranched structure on $S$ with the sa…

This is largely a survey paper, dealing with Cartan geometries in the complex analytic category. We first remind some standard facts going back to the seminal works of F. Klein, E. Cartan and C. Ehresmann. Then we present the concept of a branched holomorphic Cartan geometry which was introduced by the authors in [BD].…

Finite groups can be automorphism groups of translation surfaces with poles.

This paper classifies ball quotients of the complex projective plane.

This research connects Higgs bundles to projective structures via conformal limits.

In this work we characterize branch data of branched coverings of even degree over the projective plane which are realizable by indecomposable branched coverings.

A canonical branched covering over each sufficiently good simplicial complex is constructed. Its structure depends on the combinatorial type of the complex. In this way, each closed orientable 3-manifold arises as a branched covering over the 3-sphere from some triangulation of S^3. This result is related to a theorem …

The paper characterizes coverings over the projective plane with minimal defect.

Characterizes monodromies of projective structures on finite-type surfaces.

In this paper, we demonstrate that the complete hyperbolic structure of various two-bridge knots and links cannot be deformed to an inequivalent strictly convex projective structure. We also prove a complementary result showing that under certain rigidity hypotheses, branched covers of amphicheiral knots admit non-triv…

We show that the simultaneous (de)grafting of a complex projective structure with quasi-Fuchsian holonomy along a multicurve can be performed by a simple sequence of one bubbling and one debubbling. As a consequence we obtain that any complex projective structure with quasi-Fuchsian holonomy $ρ:π_1(S)\to$ PSL$_2\mathbb…

A companion paper to "On knot Floer homology in branched double covers" applied to braided branched loci. We reprove the main result of that paper concerning alternating branched loci when projected to an annulus, without using Khovanov homology. This provides two advantages: 1) the results hold for integer coefficient…

Let M^3 be a compact, oriented, irreducible, and boundary incompressible 3-manifold. Assume that its fundamental group is without rank two abelian subgroups and its boundary is non-empty. We will show that every homomorphism from pi_1(M) to PSL(2,C) which is not `boundary elementary' is induced by a possibly branched c…

We strengthen our previous results regarding the moduli spaces of Zoll metrics and Zoll projective structures on S^2. In particular, we describe a concrete, open condition which suffices to guarantee that a totally real embedding of RP^2 in CP_2 arises from a unique Zoll projective structure on the 2-sphere. Our method…

We consider two applications of the strata of differentials of the second kind (all residues equal to zero) with fixed multiplicities of zeros and poles: Positivity: In genus $g=0$ we show any associated divisorial projection to $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{0,n}$ is $F$-nef and hence conjectured to be nef. We compute the c…

In this work we study the decomposability property of branched coverings of degree $d$ odd, over the projective plane, where the covering surface has Euler characteristic $\leq 0$. The latter condition is equivalent to say that the defect of the covering is greater than $d$. We show that, given a datum $\mathscr{D}=\{D…

Minimal surfaces in a Riemannian manifold $M^n$ are surfaces which are stationary for area: the first variation of area vanishes. In this paper we focus on surfaces of the topological type of the real projective plane $\R P^2$. We show that a minimal surface $f:\R P^2\to M^3$ which has the smallest area, among those ma…

Given a triangulation of a closed surface, we consider a cross ratio system that assigns a complex number to every edge satisfying certain polynomial equations per vertex. Every cross ratio system induces a complex projective structure together with a circle pattern on the closed surface. In particular, there is an ass…

Earlier we introduced and studied the concept of holomorphic {\it branched Cartan geometry}. We define here a foliated version of this notion; this is done in terms of Atiyah bundle. We show that any complex compact manifold of algebraic dimension $d$ admits, away from a closed analytic subset of positive codimension, …

Framework separates chemical and structural contributions to aqueous solubility.

A framework separates chemical and structural contributions to aqueous solubility.

Using twistor methods, we explicitly construct all local forms of four--dimensional real analytic neutral signature anti--self--dual conformal structures $(M,[g])$ with a null conformal Killing vector. We show that $M$ is foliated by anti-self-dual null surfaces, and the two-dimensional leaf space inherits a natural pr…

We identify branched coverings (continuous open surjections p:Y->X of Hausdorff spaces with uniformly bounded number of pre-images) with Hilbert C*-modules C(Y) over C(X) and with faithful unital positive conditional expectations E:C(Y)->C(X) topologically of index-finite type. The case of non-branched coverings corres…

Smooth fractal trees via analytic generators, preserving combinatorial and geometric properties.

The paper calculates homology and intersection pairing of branched covers using disoriented homology.

Techniques for constructing codimension 2 embeddings and immersions of the 2 and 3-fold branched covers of the 3 and 4-dimensional spheres are presented. These covers are in braided form, and it is in this sense that they are folded. More precisely the composition of the embedding (or immersion) and the canonical proje…

Introducing the notion of stabilized fundamental group for the complement of a branch curve in $CP^2$, we define effectively computable invariants of symplectic 4-manifolds that generalize those previously introduced by Moishezon and Teicher for complex projective surfaces. Moreover, we study the structure of these inv…

The paper details folding of branched covers of the 3-sphere over knots.

This paper extends cyclic branched coverings theory to surfaces with quotient singularities.

The paper studies projectively equivalent para-Kaehler metrics in 4D.

The paper classifies and constructs differential symmetry breaking operators from a line bundle to a vector bundle over real projective spaces.

The paper studies which branched covers can be lifted to braided embeddings.

We consider the Neumann Laplacian acting on square-integrable functions on a triangle in the hyperbolic plane that has one cusp. We show that the generic such triangle has no eigenvalues embedded in its continuous spectrum. To prove this result we study the behavior of the real-analytic eigenvalue branches of a degener…

We extend the classification of Robert Bryant of Willmore spheres in $S^3$ to variational branched Willmore spheres $S^3$ and show that they are inverse stereographic projections of complete minimal surfaces with finite total curvature in $\mathbb{R}^3$ and vanishing flux. We also obtain a classification of variational…

Authors prove a contact structure result using branched covers and overtwisted disks.

New constraints on embedded spheres and projective planes in 4-manifolds from Seiberg-Witten theory.

We introduce and analyze the characteristic foliation induced by a contact structure on a branched surface, in particular a branched standard spine of a 3-manifold. We extend to (fairly general) singular foliations of branched surfaces the local existence and uniqueness results which hold for genuine surfaces. Moreover…

We study branched covering spaces in several contexts, proving that under suitable circumstances the cover satisfies the same upper curvature bounds as the base space. The first context is of a branched cover of an arbitrary metric space that satisfies Alexandrov's curvature condition CAT(k), over an arbitrary complete…

Study on bending deformations in hyperbolic manifolds, generalizing Johnson and Millson's work.

A branched affine structure on a compact topological surface with marked points is a complex affine structure outside the marked points. We give a proof of an unpublished foundational theorem of Veech, stating that any branched affine surface can be decomposed into affine triangles and some annulus-shaped cylinders. Th…

We define and study branched shadows of 4-manifolds as a combination of branched spines of 3-manifolds and Turaev's shadows. We use these objects to combinatorially represent 4-manifolds equipped with $Spin^c$-structures and homotopy classes of almost complex structures. We then use branched shadows to study complex 4-…

We propose in this paper a method for studying contact structures in 3-manifolds by means of branched surfaces. We explain what it means for a contact structure to be carried by a branched surface embedded in a 3-manifold. To make the transition from contact structures to branched surfaces, we first define auxiliary ob…