Hyperbolic manifolds with polyhedral boundary

Jean-Marc Schlenker

Published 2001-11-12, updated 2002-09-30Version 5

Let $(M, \partial M)$ be a compact 3-manifold with boundary which admits a complete, convex co-compact hyperbolic metric. For each hyperbolic metric $g$ on $M$ such that $\dr M$ is smooth and strictly convex, the induced metric on $\dr M$ has curvature $K>-1$, and each such metric on $\dr M$ is obtained for a unique choice of $g$. A dual statement is that, for each $g$ as above, the third fundamental form of $\dr M$ has curvature $K<1$, and its closed geodesics which are contractible in $M$ have length $L>2\pi$. Conversely, any such metric on $\dr M$ is obtained for a unique choice of $g$. We are interested here in the similar situation where $\partial M$ is not smooth, but rather looks locally like an ideal polyhedron in $H^3$. We can give a fairly complete answer to the question on the third fundamental form -- which in this case concerns the dihedral angles -- and some partial results about the induced metric. This has some by-products, like an affine piecewise flat structure on the Teichmueller space of a surface with some marked points, or an extension of the Koebe circle packing theorem to many 3-manifolds with boundary.