The deformation spaces of convex RP^2-structures on 2-orbifolds

Suhyoung Choi, William Goldman

Published 2001-07-27, updated 2003-07-29Version 2

We determine that the deformation space of convex real projective structures, that is, projectively flat torsion-free connections with the geodesic convexity property on a compact 2-orbifold of negative Euler characteristic is homeomorphic to a cell of certain dimension. The basic techniques are from Thurston's lecture notes on hyperbolic 2-orbifolds, and the previous work of Goldman on convex real projective structures on surfaces.