On separated families of Anosov representations

Abstract

We introduce different notions of separation for families of Anosov representations. We show that, along a diverging sequence of such families, the critical exponent is asymptotic to a combinatorial invariant computable from the spectral data of a finite graph. Our method allows us to derive bounds on the Thurston asymmetric metric. As an application, we study specific degenerations of convex projective structures on a pair of pants, generalizing an example of McMullen.

arXiv comment35 pages, 3 figures v2: fixed some references, improved exposition