Behavior of Distant Maximal Geodesics in Finitely Connected Complete 2-dimensional Riemannian Manifolds

Book excerpt: This monograph studies the topological shapes of geodesics outside a large compact set in a finitely connected, complete, and noncompact surface admitting total curvature. When the surface is homeomorphic to a plane, all such geodesics behave like those of a flat cone. In particular, the rotation numbers of the geodesics are controlled by the total curvature. Accessible to beginners in differential geometry, but also of interest to specialists, this monograph features many illustrations that enhance understanding of the main ideas.