The affine geometry of meromorphic connections with irregular singularities

Abstract

A meromorphic connection on the tangent bundle of a Riemann surface induces a complex affine structure on the complement of the poles. Local models for Fuchsian singularities are already known. In this paper, we introduce a complete set of local invariants for a meromorphic connection and provide local models for a complex affine structure in a punctured neighborhood of an irregular singularity. Generalizing a construction attributed to Veech, we introduce the Delaunay decomposition of a compact Riemann surface endowed with a meromorphic connection with irregular singularities. In particular, we give upper bounds on the complexity of the decomposition.