Session
Abstract: The moduli space ${\mathcal M}_g$ of compact Riemann surfaces of genus g has been studied from diverse mathematical viewpoints for more than a century. In this talk, intended for a general audience, we will discuss moduli space from a dynamical perspective. We will present general rigidity results, provide a glimpse of the remarkable geodesic curves and surfaces in ${\mathcal M}_g$ discovered during the last three decades, and explain how these algebraic varieties are related to the dynamics of billiards in regular polygons, L-shaped tables and quadrilaterals.