Mapping class groups and moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces were the topics of the Graduate Summer School at the 2011 IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute. This book presents the nine different lecture series comprising the summer school, covering a selection of topics of current interest. The introductory courses treat mapping class groups and Teichmüller theory. The more advanced courses cover intersection theory on moduli spaces, the dynamics of polygonal billiards and moduli spaces, the stable cohomology of mapping class groups, the structure of Torelli groups, and arithmetic mapping class groups. The courses consist of a set of intensive short lectures offered by leaders in the field, designed to introduce students to exciting, current research in mathematics. These lectures do not duplicate standard courses available elsewhere. The book should be a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers interested in the topology, geometry and dynamics of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces and related topics. Titles in this series are co-published with the Institute for Advanced Study/Park City Mathematics Institute. Members of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) receive a 20% discount from list price.

Mapping class groups and moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces were the topics of the Graduate Summer School at the 2011 IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute. This book presents the nine different lecture series comprising the summer school, covering a selection of topics of current interest. The introductory courses treat mapping class groups and Teichmüller theory. The more advanced courses cover intersection theory on moduli spaces, the dynamics of polygonal billiards and moduli spaces, the stable cohomology of mapping class groups, the structure of Torelli groups, and arithmetic mapping class g.

This lecture is intended as an introduction to the mathematical concepts of algebraic and analytic geometry. It is addressed primarily to theoretical physicists, in particular those working in string theories. The author gives a very clear exposition of the main theorems, introducing the necessary concepts by lucid examples, and shows how to work with the methods of algebraic geometry. As an example he presents the Krichever-Novikov construction of algebras of Virasaro type. The book will be welcomed by many researchers as an overview of an important branch of mathematics, a collection of useful formulae and an excellent guide to the more extensive mathematical literature.

The moduli problem is to describe the structure of the space of isomorphism classes of Riemann surfaces of a given topological type. This space is known as the moduli space and has been at the center of pure mathematics for more than a hundred years. In spite of its age, this field still attracts a lot of attention, the smooth compact Riemann surfaces being simply complex projective algebraic curves. Therefore the moduli space of compact Riemann surfaces is also the moduli space of complex algebraic curves. This space lies on the intersection of many fields of mathematics and may be studied from many different points of view. The aim of this monograph is to present information about the structure of the moduli space using as concrete and elementary methods as possible. This simple approach leads to a rich theory and opens a new way of treating the moduli problem, putting new life into classical methods that were used in the study of moduli problems in the 1920s.

The moduli space Mg of curves of fixed genus g – that is, the algebraic variety that parametrizes all curves of genus g – is one of the most intriguing objects of study in algebraic geometry these days. Its appeal results not only from its beautiful mathematical structure but also from recent developments in theoretical physics, in particular in conformal field theory.

Original research and expert surveys on Riemann surfaces.