Flat grafting deformations of quadratic differentials on surfaces

Abstract

In this paper we introduce flat grafting as a deformation of quadratic differentials on a surface of finite type that is analogous to the grafting map on hyperbolic surfaces. Flat grafting maps are generic in the strata structure and preserve parallel measured foliations. We use flat grafting to construct paths connecting any pair of quadratic differentials. In other words, we characterize cone point splitting deformations. The slices of quadratic differentials closed under flat grafting maps with a fixed direction arise naturally and we prove rigidity properties with respect to the lengths of closed curves.