Realizing the Teichm\"uller space as a symplectic quotient

Abstract

Given a closed surface endowed with a volume form, we equip the space of compatible Riemannian structures with the structure of an infinite-dimensional symplectic manifold. We show that the natural action of the group of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms by push-forward has a group-valued momentum map that assigns to a Riemannian metric the canonical bundle. We then deduce that the Teichm\"uller space and the moduli space of Riemann surfaces can be realized as symplectic orbit reduced spaces.