On dynamics of Out(F_n) on PSL(2,C) characters

Yair N. Minsky

Published 2009-06-18, updated 2010-10-11Version 2

This note introduces and studies an open set of PSL(2,C) characters of a nonabelian free group, on which the action of the outer automorphism group is properly discontinuous, and which is strictly larger than the set of discrete, faithful convex-cocompact (i.e. Schottky) characters. This implies, in particular, that the outer automorphism group does not act ergodically on the set of characters with dense image. Hence there is a difference between the geometric (discrete vs. dense) decomposition of the characters, and a natural dynamical decomposition.