Discreteness criteria and the hyperbolic geometry of palindromes

Abstract:

We consider non-elementary representations of two generator free groups in $PSL(2,\mathbb {C})$, not necessarily discrete or free, $G = \langle A, B \rangle$. A word in $A$ and $B$, $W(A,B)$, is a palindrome if it reads the same forwards and backwards. A word in a free group is primitive if it is part of a minimal generating set. Primitive elements of the free group on two generators can be identified with the positive rational numbers. We study the geometry of palindromes and the action of $G$ in ${\mathbb {H}}^3$ whether or not $G$ is discrete. We show that there is a core geodesic ${\mathbf {L}}$ in the convex hull of the limit set of $G$ and use it to prove three results: the first is that there are well-defined maps from the non-negative rationals and from the primitive elements to ${\mathbf {L}}$; the second is that $G$ is geometrically finite if and only if the axis of every non-parabolic palindromic word in $G$ intersects ${\mathbf {L}}$ in a compact interval; the third is a description of the relation of the pleating locus of the convex hull boundary to the core geodesic and to palindromic elements.