The boundary at infinity of a quasifuchsian hyperbolic manifold is equiped
with a holomorphic quadratic differential. Its horizontal measured foliation
f can be interpreted as the natural analog of the measured bending lamination
on the boundary of the convex core. This analogy leads to a number of
questions. We provide a variation formula for the renormalized volume in terms
of the extremal length \ext(f) of f, and an upper bound on \ext(f).
We then describe two extensions of the holomorphic quadratic differential at
infinity, both valid in higher dimensions. One is in terms of
Poincar\'e-Einstein metrics, the other (specifically for conformally flat
structures) of the second fundamental form of a hypersurface in a "constant
curvature" space with a degenerate metric, interpreted as the space of
horospheres in hyperbolic space. This clarifies a relation between linear
Weingarten surfaces in hyperbolic manifolds and Monge-Amp\`ere equations.Comment: Notes aiming at clarifying the relations between different points of
view and introducing one new notion, no real result. Not intended to be
submitted at this poin