Parabolic degrees and Lyapunov exponents for hypergeometric local systems

Abstract: Consider the flat bundle on $\mathrm{CP}^1 - {0,1,\infty }$ corresponding to solutions of the hypergeometric differential equation $ \prod_{i=1}^h (\mathrm D - \alpha_i) - z \prod_{j=1}^h (\mathrm D - \beta_j) = 0$ where $\mathrm D = z \frac {d}{dz}$. For $\alpha_i$ and $\beta_j$ distinct real numbers, this bundle is known to underlie a complex polarized variation of Hodge structure. Setting the complete hyperbolic metric on $\mathrm{CP}^1 - {0,1,\infty }$, we associate $n$ Lyapunov exponents to this bundle. We compute the parabolic degrees of the holomorphic subbundles induced by the variation of Hodge structure and study the dependence of the Lyapunov exponents in terms of these degrees by means of numerical simulations.