Coarse density of subsets of $M_g$

Abstract

Let $\mathcal{M}_g$ be the moduli space of genus $g$ Riemann surfaces. We show that an algebraic subvariety of $\mathcal{M}_g$ is coarsely dense with respect to the Teichmüller metric (or Thurston metric) if and only if it is all of $\mathcal{M}_g$. We apply this to projections of $\operatorname{GL}_2(\mathbb{R})$-orbit closures in the space of abelian differentials. Moreover, we determine which strata of abelian differentials have coarsely dense projection to $\mathcal{M}_g$.