Liouville theory and the Weil-Petersson geometry of moduli space: bordered, conic, and higher genus surfaces

Abstract

Two-dimensional conformal field theory is a powerful tool to understand the geometry of surfaces. Here, we study Liouville conformal field theory in the classical (large central charge) limit, where it encodes the geometry of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Generalizing previous work, we employ this to study moduli spaces of higher genus surfaces, surfaces with boundaries, and surfaces with cone points. In each case, the knowledge of classical conformal blocks provides an extremely efficient approximation to the Weil-Petersson metric on moduli space. We find detailed agreement with analytic results for volumes and geodesic lengths on moduli space.