Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

Zoom link: https://gatech.zoom.us/j/94868589860 

The Teichmueller space parametrizes Riemann surfaces of fixed topological type and is fundamental in various contexts of mathematics and physics. It can be defined as a component of the moduli space of flat G=PSL(2,R) connections on the surface. Higher Teichmüller spaces extend this notion to appropriate higher rank classical Lie groups G. Other generalizations are given by the super-Teichmueller spaces, describing Riemann surfaces enhanced by odd or anti-commuting coordinates (known as super Riemann surfaces). The super-Teichmueller spaces arise naturally as higher Teichmueller spaces, corresponding to supergroups, which play an important role in geometric topology, algebraic geometry, and mathematical physics, where the anti-commuting variables correspond to Fermions.

After introducing these spaces, I will explain the solution to the long-standing problem of describing the counterpart of Penner coordinates on the super-Teichmueller space and its higher analogues. The importance of these coordinates is justified by two remarkable properties: the action of the mapping class group is rational, and the Weil-Petersson form is given by a simple explicit formula. From the algebraic and combinatorial perspectives, their transformations lead to an important generalization of cluster algebras. 

In the end, I will discuss some recent applications of this construction.