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Let $F$ be a hyperbolic once-punctured torus, and $G=\pi_1(F)$. Fix a discrete, faithful representation $\rho\colon G\to\mathbb{P}SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ and an element $g\in G$ corresponding to a non-peripheral, simple, closed geodesic $\gamma$ in $F$. I'd like to understand why the following relation holds: $$\frac{1}{1+e^{l(\gamma)}}=\frac{1}{2}\left(1-\sqrt{1-\frac{4}{(\textrm{tr}\rho(g))^2}}\right)$$ where $l(\gamma)$ is the length of the geodesic and tr$\rho(g)$ is assumed to be positive (in particular $>2$ since $\rho(\gamma)$ must be a hyperbolic element). I am trying to write the right-hand side in terms of $l(\gamma)$ by using the relation $$\textrm{tr}\rho(\gamma)=2\cosh(l(\gamma)/2)$$ but I think that at some point I should use other trigonometric relations. I took a look at a list of those but whichever I use I always end up with horrible equations. Could you help me with that? Thank you.

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