From rational billiards to dynamics on moduli spaces

Abstract

This short expository note gives an elementary introduction to the study of dynamics on certain moduli spaces and, in particular, the recent breakthrough result of Eskin, Mirzakhani, and Mohammadi. We also discuss the context and applications of this result, and its connections to other areas of mathematics, such as algebraic geometry, Teichmüller theory, and ergodic theory on homogeneous spaces.