Convergence groups and semi conjugacy

Abstract

We study a simple problem that arises from the study of Lorentz surfaces and Anosov flows. For a non decreasing map of degree one $h:\mathbb{S}^1\to \mathbb{S}^1$, we are interested in groups of circle diffeomorphisms that act on the complement of the graph of $h$ in $\mathbb{S}^1\times \mathbb{S}^1$ by preserving a volume form. We show that such groups are semi conjugate to subgroups of $\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{R})$, and that when $h\in \mathrm{Homeo}(\mathbb{S}^1)$, we have a topological conjugacy. We also construct examples, where $h$ is not continuous, for which there is no such conjugacy.