Dynamics of geodesics, and Maass cusp forms

Abstract

The correspondence principle in physics between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics suggests deep relations between spectral and geometric entities of Riemannian manifolds. We survey---in a way intended to be accessible to a wide audience of mathematicians---a mathematically rigorous instance of such a relation that emerged in recent years, showing a dynamical interpretation of certain Laplace eigenfunctions of hyperbolic surfaces.