On real projective connections, V.I. Smirnov's approach, and black hole type solutions of the Liouville equation

We consider real projective connections on Riemann surfaces and corresponding solutions of the Liouville equation. It is shown that these solutions have singularities of special type (of a black hole type) on a finite number of simple analytical contours. The case of the Riemann sphere with four real punctures, considered in V.I. Smirnov's thesis (Petrograd, 1918), is analyzed in detail.Comment: 13 pages, final versio

Equivalence of Geometric h<1/2 and Standard c>25 Approaches to Two-Dimensional Quantum Gravity

We show equivalence between the standard weak coupling regime c>25 of the two-dimensional quantum gravity and regime h<1/2 of the original geometric approach of Polyakov [1,2], developed in [3,4,5].Comment: 10 pages, late

The first Chern form on moduli of parabolic bundles

For moduli space of stable parabolic bundles on a compact Riemann surface, we derive an explicit formula for the curvature of its canonical line bundle with respect to Quillen's metric and interpret it as a local index theorem for the family of dbar-operators in associated parabolic endomorphism bundles. The formula consists of two terms: one standard (proportional to the canonical Kaehler form on the moduli space), and one nonstandard, called a cuspidal defect, that is defined by means of special values of the Eisenstein-Maass series. The cuspidal defect is explicitly expressed through curvature forms of certain natural line bundles on the moduli space related to the parabolic structure. We also compare our result with Witten's volume computation.Comment: 22 pages. references added. The final version, to appear in Mathematische Annale

Liouville action and Weil-Petersson metric on deformation spaces, global Kleinian reciprocity and holography

We rigorously define the Liouville action functional for finitely generated, purely loxodromic quasi-Fuchsian group using homology and cohomology double complexes naturally associated with the group action. We prove that the classical action - the critical point of the Liouville action functional, considered as a function on the quasi-Fuchsian deformation space, is an antiderivative of a 1-form given by the difference of Fuchsian and quasi-Fuchsian projective connections. This result can be considered as global quasi-Fuchsian reciprocity which implies McMullen's quasi-Fuchsian reciprocity. We prove that the classical action is a Kahler potential of the Weil-Petersson metric. We also prove that Liouville action functional satisfies holography principle, i.e., it is a regularized limit of the hyperbolic volume of a 3-manifold associated with a quasi-Fuchsian group. We generalize these results to a large class of Kleinian groups including finitely generated, purely loxodromic Schottky and quasi-Fuchsian groups and their free combinations.Comment: 60 pages, proof of the Lemma 5.1 corrected, references and section 5.3 adde