Stratification and realization of singularity data on the Loch Ness monster

Abstract

The classical theory of compact translation surfaces is organized through the stratification of moduli spaces according to the orders of the zeros of the associated Abelian differentials. In the setting of tame translation surfaces of infinite topological type, no analogous notion of strata has been systematically developed. In this article, we introduce a stratification theory for tame translation surfaces based on their singularity data. To each non-compact tame translation surface, we associate a sequence recording the cardinalities of finite-angle cone singularities of each possible cone angle together with the cardinality of the set of infinite-angle singularities. We call this sequence the singularity data of the surface. We study the realization problem for singularity data on the Loch Ness monster. Our first main result shows that there is no tame translation structure on the Loch Ness monster having only a finite number of finite cone angle singularities. We then prove that this is the only obstruction: every singularity data not excluded by the previous result is realized by a tame translation structure on the Loch Ness monster. As a consequence, we obtain a complete characterization of the strata of tame translation structures on this surface in terms of their singularity data. These results provide the first realization theorem for strata of non-compact tame translation surfaces and reveal a strong interaction between singularity data and the ends space.