Paper detail

Counting curves, and the stable length of currents

Let $γ_0$ be a curve on a surface $Σ$ of genus $g$ and with $r$ boundary components and let $π_1(Σ)\curvearrowright X$ be a discrete and cocompact action on some metric space. We study the asymptotic behavior of the number of curves $γ$ of type $γ_0$ with translation length at most $L$ on $X$. For example, as an application, we derive that for any finite generating set $S$ of $π_1(Σ)$ the limit $$\lim_{L\to\infty}\frac 1{L^{6g-6+2r}}\{γ\text{ of type }γ_0\text{ with }S\text{-translation length}\le L\}$$ exists and is positive. The main new technical tool is that the function which associates to each curve its stable length with respect to the action on $X$ extends to a (unique) continuous and homogenous function on the space of currents. We prove that this is indeed the case for any action of a torsion free hyperbolic group.