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We begin by recalling the definition of Teichmüller space but stated a little more convolutedly (which will make it easy to generalize).

Given a surface $S$ we can define Teichmüller space $T(S)$ to be the set of all complex structures on $S$ modulo homeomorphisms isotopic to the identity (that is an atlas $A$ of charts $\mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow S $ such that if $u_i$, $u_j$ are two charts that overlap on some domain $D$ then $u_i \circ u_j^{-1}$ is a holomorphic function $D \rightarrow E$ where $D,E \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2$.

Now a holomorphic function $\mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^2$ is defined as a function $(u(x,y), v(x,y))$ which obeys the Cauchy–Riemann System of PDEs

$$ \frac{\partial u}{\partial x} = \frac{\partial v}{\partial y} \\ \frac{\partial u}{\partial y} = - \frac{\partial v}{\partial x}.$$

So now naturally the question then arises, suppose we consider some OTHER system of PDEs and leave the rest of the definition of Teichmüller space unchanged, e.g., we swap out the Cauchy–Riemann equations with some other system which could be as arbitrary as the following:

$$ xy\frac{\partial u}{\partial x} = e^u \frac{\partial v^2}{\partial y^2} \\ \frac{\partial u}{\partial x} \frac{\partial v}{\partial x} = 1.$$

Then in that case, how does the resultant "generalized-Teichmüller" space of our surface change?

I'm interested in results for any non-Cauchy–Riemann system of equations (perhaps even just antiholomorphic or harmonic would be a good place to begin or just generally conformal).

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    $\begingroup$ It seems odd to consider a pde for coordinate changes which is not invariant under those coordinate changes. $\endgroup$
    – Ben McKay
    Commented Sep 9, 2022 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ For pdes which are invariant under their solutions, we are really looking at Lie pseudogroups, a rich theory but not one for which we have a global Teichmueller theory. $\endgroup$
    – Ben McKay
    Commented Sep 9, 2022 at 13:56
  • $\begingroup$ what do you mean by invariant under coordinate changes? is that a generalization of the idea holomorphic functions are closed under composition? $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 9, 2022 at 13:59
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    $\begingroup$ Ghoshal: yes: the theory of complex manifolds seems natural because the composition of holomorphic maps is holomorphic. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudogroup $\endgroup$
    – Ben McKay
    Commented Sep 9, 2022 at 16:50

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