Quadratic differentials of real algebraic curves

It was shown by J. C. Langer and D. A. Singer in their influential 2007 paper [5] that real algebraic curves can be interpreted as trajectories of meromorphic quadratic differentials defined on appropriate Riemann surfaces. The goal of this note is to suggest a more elementary approach to this problem that is based on the classical complex analysis. To demonstrate how our approach works, we apply it to the simplest non-trivial case of real algebraic curves; i.e. to conics. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.