Counting curve types

Abstract

Let $S$ be a closed orientable hyperbolic surface, and let $\mathcal{O}(K,S)$ denote the number of mapping class group orbits of curves on $S$ with at most $K$ self-intersections. Building on work of Sapir [16], we give upper and lower bounds for $\mathcal{O}(K,S)$ which are both exponential in $\sqrt{K}$.