Using a result of Harer, we prove certain upper bounds for the homotopical/cohomological dimension of the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces of compact type, of Riemann surfaces with rational tails and of Riemann surfaces with at most k rational components. These bounds would follow from conjectures of Looijenga and Roth–Vakil.
We compare some natural triangulations of the Teichmüller space of hyperbolic surfaces with geodesic boundary and of some bordifications. We adapt Scannell–Wolf’s proof to show that grafting semi-infinite cylinders at the ends of hyperbolic surfaces with fixed boundary lengths is a homeomorphism. This way, we construct a family of equivariant triangulations of the Teichmüller space of punctured surfaces that interpolates between Bowditch–Epstein–Penner’s (using the spine construction) and Harer–Mumford–Thurston’s...
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