Meromorphic quadratic differentials with prescribed singularities

We study the singular flat structure associated to any meromorphic quadratic differential on a compact Riemann surface to prove an existence theorem as follows. There exists a meromorphic quadratic differential with given orders of the poles and zeros and orientability or non orientability of the horizontal foliation, iff these prescribed topological data are admissible according to the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem, the Residue Theorem and certain conditions arising from local orientability or non orientablity considerations. Some few exceptional cases remain excluded. Thus, we generalize two previous results. One due to Masur & Smillie, which assumes that poles are at most simple; and a second one due to Muciño-Raymundo, which assumes that the horizontal foliation is orientable.Partially supported by DGAPA-UNAM and CONACYT 28492-E.