Non-asphericity of strata of genus-one differentials and stability spaces

Abstract

We show that when the number of zeros or poles is at least four, every connected component of the strata of differentials in genus one with prescribed zero and pole orders is not an orbifold $K(\ddot{I}€,1)$. For quadratic differentials, this provides infinitely many counterexamples to a conjecture attributed to Kontsevich, as well as to a folklore conjecture concerning the contractibility of spaces of Bridgeland stability conditions.

Two proofs are included; the appendix proof was first developed with AI assistance and verified by the authors; the main-text proof was then obtained by the authors