Horospheres in Teichm\"uller space and mapping class group

Abstract

We study the geometry of horospheres in Teichm\"uller space of Riemann surfaces of genus g with n punctures, where $3g-3+n\geq 2$. We show that every $C^1$-diffeomorphism of Teichm\"uller space to itself that preserves horospheres is an element of the extended mapping class group. Using the relation between horospheres and metric balls, we obtain a new proof of Royden's Theorem that the isometry group of the Teichm\"uller metric is the extended mapping class group.