The SL(2, ℂ) character variety of a one-holed torus

Abstract

In this note we announce several results concerning the SL(2, ℂ) character variety χ of a one-holed torus. We give a description of the largest open subset χBQ of χ on which the mapping class group Γ acts properly discontinuously, in terms of two very simple conditions, and show that a series identity generalizing McShane's identity for the punctured torus holds for all characters in this subset. We also give variations of the McShane-Bowditch identities for characters fixed by an Anosov element of Γ with applications to closed hyperbolic three-manifolds. Finally we give a definition of end invariants for SL(2, ℂ) characters and give a partial classification of the set of end invariants of a character in χ. © 2005 American Mathematical Society.