The Heisenberg Plane

A classification of geometric structures on surfaces for Heisenberg geometry.

Abstract:

The geometry of the Heisenberg group acting on the plane arises naturally in geometric topology as a degeneration of the familiar spaces $S^2$, $H^2$ and $E^2$ via conjugacy limit as defined by Cooper, Danciger, and Wienhard. This paper considers the deformation and regeneration of Heisenberg structures on orbifolds, adding a carefully worked low-dimensional example to the existing literature on geometric transitions. In particular, the closed orbifolds admitting Heisenberg structures are classified, and their deformation spaces are computed. Considering the regeneration problem, which Heisenberg tori arise as rescaled limits of collapsing paths of constant curvature cone tori is completely determined in the case of a single cone point.