Dense real Rel flow orbits and absolute period leaves

Abstract

We show the existence of a dense orbit for real Rel flows on the area-1 locus of every connected component of every stratum of holomorphic 1-forms with at least 2 distinct zeros. For this purpose, we establish a general density criterion for ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$-orbit closures, based on finding an orbit of a real Rel flow whose closure contains a horocycle. This criterion can be verified using explicit constructions of holomorphic 1-forms with a periodic horizontal foliation. Our constructions also provide explicit examples of dense leaves of the absolute period foliation and many subfoliations of these loci.