Work

Counting tangles in coverings of closed 2-orbifolds via ribbon categories

Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We describe what a typical covering of a closed 2-orbifold looks like on a small scale. Specifically, we prove that a uniformly random covering of degree n contains in expectation $Θ(n^0)$ short closed geodesics, potentially $Θ(n^0)$ pairs of nearby order-2 cone points, in general $Θ(n^{\frac{1}{m}})$ cone points of order m, and with high probability no small regions with more complicated topology. This generalises many results of Magee and Puder (2023) from orientable surfaces to possibly non-orientable orbifolds, and answers some of the questions raised by Puder and Zimhoni (2024).
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214020671
Cites: 21
Cited by:
Related to: 10