Related papers: Finite and infinite degree Thurston maps with a sm…

We show that Thurston's skinning maps of Teichmuller space have finite fibers. The proof centers around a study of two subvarieties of the SL_2(C) character variety of a surface, one associated to complex projective structures and the other…

The goal of this note is to generalize Thurston's Topological Characterization of Rational Functions to the setting when both the covering degree and the set of marked points are infinite. A relevant class of branched coverings are…

We assign to a finite $CW$-complex and an element in its first cohomology group a twisted version of the $L^2$-Euler characteristic and study its main properties. In the case of an irreducible orientable $3$-manifold with empty or toroidal…

We introduce and study a class of Thurston maps from the 2-sphere to itself which we call nearly Euclidean Thurston (NET) maps. These are simple generalizations of Euclidean Thurston maps.

We obtain an analog of the prime number theorem for a class of branched covering maps on the $2$-sphere $S^2$ called expanding Thurston maps, which are topological models of some non-uniformly expanding rational maps without any smoothness…

In three dimensions, a `master theory' for all Thurston geometries requires imaginary flux. However, these geometries can be obtained from physical three-dimensional theories with various additional scalar fields, which can be interpreted…

We define two classes of topological infinite degree covering maps modeled on two families of transcendental holomorphic maps. The first, which we call exponential maps of type $(p,q)$, are branched covers and is modeled on transcendental…

We obtain an analog of the prime number theorem for a class of branched covering maps on the $2$-sphere $S^2$ called expanding Thurston maps, which are topological models of some non-uniformly expanding rational maps without any smoothness…

Every Thurston map $f\colon S^2\rightarrow S^2$ on a $2$-sphere $S^2$ induces a pull-back operation on Jordan curves $\alpha\subset S^2\setminus P_f$, where $P_f$ is the postcritical set of $f$. Here the isotopy class $[f^{-1}(\alpha)]$…

We study the geometry of the Thurston metric on the Teichm\"uller space $\mathcal{T}(S)$ of hyperbolic structures on a surface $S$. Some of our results on the coarse geometry of this metric apply to arbitrary surfaces $S$ of finite type;…

Given a hypersurface in a complex projective space, we prove that the multidegrees of its toric polar map agree, up to sign, with the coefficients of the Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson class of a distinguished open set, namely the complement of…

Expanding Thurston maps form a class of branched covering maps on the topological $2$-sphere $S^{2}$, which are topological models of some non-uniformly expanding rational maps without any smoothness or holomorphicity assumption initially…

An orientation-preserving branched covering $f: S^2 \to S^2$ is a nearly Euclidean Thurston (NET) map if each critical point is simple and its postcritical set has exactly four points. Inspired by classical, non-dynamical notions such as…

Let $f: S^2 \to S^2$ be a postcritically finite branched covering map without periodic branch points. We give necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions for $f$ to be homotopic, relative to its postcritical set, to an expanding map $g$.

Thurston maps are branched self-coverings of the sphere whose critical points have finite forward orbits. We give combinatorial and algebraic characterizations of Thurston maps that are isotopic to expanding maps as "Levy-free" maps and as…

In 1980's, Thurston established a combinatorial characterization for post-critically finite rational maps. This criterion was then extended by Cui, Jiang, and Sullivan to sub-hyperbolic rational maps. The goal of this paper is to present a…

We give a unified and self-contained proof of the Nielsen-Thurston classification theorem from the theory of mapping class groups and Thurston's characterization of rational maps from the theory of complex dynamics (plus various extensions…

We extend many known results for harmonic maps from the 2-sphere into a Grassmannian to harmonic maps of finite uniton number from an arbitrary Riemann surface. Our method relies on a new theory of nilpotent cycles arising from the diagrams…

We introduce and study tame homeomorphisms of surfaces of infinite type. These are maps for which curves under iterations do not accumulate onto geodesic laminations with non-proper leaves, but rather just a union of possibly intersecting…

We show that the Teichm\"uller space of a surface without boundary and with punctures, equipped with Thurston's metric is the limit (in an appropriate sense) of Teichm\"uller spaces of surfaces with boundary, equipped with their arc…