Large flats in large subgraphs of fine curve graphs

Abstract

The fine curve graph of a surface is a graph whose vertices are essential simple closed curves and whose edges connect disjoint curves. Following a rich history of hyperbolicity of various graphs associated to surfaces, the fine curve graph was shown to be hyperbolic by Bowden-Hensel-Webb, while the curve graph, obtained from the fine curve graph by collapsing subgraphs corresponding to isotopy classes, was first proven to be hyperbolic by Masur-Minsky. We show that certain large subgraphs of fine curve graphs, including fibers over a vertex of the curve graph, are not hyperbolic. Indeed, such graphs contain flats of every finite dimension. We then compute bounds on distances in fibers over a vertex of the curve graph, which we call single-isotopy-class fine curve graphs.