We consider$Thurston maps$, i.e., branched covering maps$f:S$^{2}→$S$^{2}that are$post-critically finite$. In addition, we assume that$f$is$expanding$in a suitable sense. It is shown that each sufficiently high iterate$F$=$f$^{$n$}of$f$is$semi-conjugate$to$z$^{$d$}:$S$^{1}→$S$^{1}, where$d$= deg F. More precisely, for such an$F$we construct a$Peano curve γ$:$S$^{1}→$S$^{2}(onto), such that$F$∘$γ$($z$) =$γ$($z$^{$d$}) (for all$z$∈$S$^{1}).

We introduce and study the notion of singular hermitian metrics on holomorphic vector bundles, following Berndtsson and Păun. We define what it means for such a metric to be positively and negatively curved in the sense of Griffiths and investigate the assumptions needed in order to locally define the curvature Θ^{$h$}as a matrix of currents. We then proceed to show that such metrics can be regularised in such a way that the corresponding curvature tensors converge weakly to Θ^{$h$}. Finally we define what it means for$h$to be strictly negatively curved in the sense of Nakano and show that it is possible to regularise such metrics with a sequence of smooth, strictly Nakano negative metrics.

We investigate the Chern–Ricci flow, an evolution equation of Hermitian metrics generalizing the Kähler–Ricci flow, on elliptic bundles over a Riemann surface of genus greater than one. We show that, starting at any Gauduchon metric, the flow collapses the elliptic fibers and the metrics converge to the pullback of a Kähler–Einstein metric from the base. Some of our estimates are new even for the Kähler–Ricci flow. A consequence of our result is that, on every minimal non-Kähler surface of Kodaira dimension one, the Chern–Ricci flow converges in the sense of Gromov–Hausdorff to an orbifold Kähler–Einstein metric on a Riemann surface.