The growth rate of trajectories of a quadratic differential

Abstract

Suppose q is a holomorphic quadratic differential on a compact Riemann surface of genus g 2. Then q defines a metric, flat except at the zeroes. A saddle connection is a geodesic joining two zeroes with no zeroes in its interior. This paper shows the asymptotic growth rate of the number of saddles of length at most T is at most quadratic in T. An application is given to billiards. © 1990, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.