We study the action of the mapping class group Mod(S) on the boundary dQ of quasifuchsian space Q. Among other results, Mod(S) is shown to be topologically transitive on the subset C in dQ of manifolds without a conformally compact end. We also prove that any open subset of the character variety X(pi_1(S),SL(2,C)) intersecting dQ does not admit a nonconstant Mod(S)-invariant meromorphic function. This is related to a question of Goldman.
In this paper we consider the action of the mapping class group of a surface on the space of homomorphisms from the fundamental group of a surface into PSL(2,R). Goldman conjectured that when the surface is closed and of genus bigger than one, the action on non-Teichmuller connected components of the associated moduli space (i.e. the space of homomorphisms modulo conjugation) is ergodic. One approach to this question is to use sewing techniques which requires that one considers the action on the level of homomorphisms, and for surfaces with boundary. In this paper we consider the case of the o…
For given closed orientable 3-manifolds $M$ and $N$ let $cD(M,N)$ be the set of mapping degrees from $M$ to $N$. We address the problem: For which $N$, $cD(M,N)$ is finite for all $M$? The answer is known in Thurston's picture of closed orientable irreducible 3-manifolds unless the target is a non-trivial graph manifold. We prove that for each closed non-trivial graph manifold $N$, $cD(M,N)$ is finite for all graph manifold $M$. The proof uses a recently developed standard forms of maps between graph manifolds and the estimation of the $\widetilde{\rm PSL}(2,{\R})$-volume for certain class of …
Let M be a nontrivial compression body without toroidal boundary components. We study the dynamics of the group of outer automorphisms of the fundamental group of M on the PSL(2,C)-character variety of M.
Let M be a compact, orientable, hyperbolizable 3-manifold with incompressible boundary which is not an interval bundle. We study the dynamics of the action of the outer automorphism group of the fundamental group of M on the relative PSL(2,C)-character variety.
We study small Seifert possibly chiral cosmetic surgeries on not necessarily null-homologous knot in rational homology spheres. Using $PSL_2(\mathbb{C})$-character variety theory we give a sharp bound on the number of slopes producing the same small Seifert manifold if the ambient manifold satisfies some representation theoretic conditions.
We study some basic properties of the variety of characters in PSL(2,C) of a finitely generated group. In particular we give an interpretation of its points as characters of representations. We construct 3-manifolds whose variety of characters has arbitrarily many components that do not lift to SL(2,C). We also study the singular locus of the variety of characters of a free group.
Let M be a twisted interval bundle over a nonorientable hyperbolizable surface. Let X(M) be the PSL(2,C)-character variety of π_1(M). We examine the dynamics of the action of Out(π_1(M)) on X(M), and in particular, we find an open set on which the action is properly discontinuous that is strictly larger than the interior of the deformation space of marked hyperbolic manifolds homotopy equivalent to M. Further, we identify which discrete and faithful representations can lie in a domain of discontinuity for the action of Out(π_1(M)) on X(M).
For an oriented surface of genus g with b boundary components, we construct a rational map from a subset of C^{6g-6+3b} onto an open algebraic subset of the PSL(2,C)-character variety as an analogue of the Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates. After taking the quotient by an action of a finite group, we obtain a parametrization of a subset of the PSL(2,C)-character variety, and similarly for the SL(2,C)-character variety. We can systematically calculate a set of matrix generators by rational functions of the parameters. We give transformation formulae under elementary moves of pants decompositions.
We explore the dynamics of the action of the mapping class group in genus 2 on the PSL(2,R)-character variety. We prove that this action is ergodic on the connected components of Euler class 1 and -1, as it was conjectured by Goldman. In the connected component of Euler class 0 there are two invariant open subsets, on one of them the action is ergodic. In this process we give a partial answer to a question of Bowditch.
Let $M$ be a hyperbolizable $3$-manifold with boundary, and let $χ_0(M)$ be a component of the $PSL_2\mathbb{C}$-character variety of $M$ that contains the convex co-compact characters. We show that the peripheral map $i_*:χ_0(M)\rightarrowχ(\partial M)$ to the character variety of $\partial M$ is a birational isomorphism with its image, and in particular is generically a one-to-one map. This generalizes work of Dunfield (one cusped hyperbolic $3$-manifolds) and Klaff-Tillmann (finite volume hyperbolic $3$-manifolds). We use the Bonahon-Schläfli formula and volume rigidity of discrete co-compa…
We use intersection theory techniques to define an invariant of closed 3-manifolds counting the characters of irreducible representations of the fundamental group in PSL(2,C). We note several properties of the invariant and compute the invariant for certain Seifert fibered spaces and for some Dehn surgeries on twist knots. We discuss the relationship between this invariant and the SL(2,C)-invariant.
In this note, we give an explicit counterexample to the simple loop conjecture for representations of surface groups into PSL(2,R). Specifically, we show that for any surface with negative Euler characteristic and genus at least 1, there are uncountably many non-conjugate, non-injective homomorphisms of its fundamental group into PSL(2,R) that kill no simple closed curve (nor any power of a simple closed curve). This result is not new -- work of Louder and Calegari for representations of surface groups into SL(2, C) applies to the PSL(2,R) case, but our approach here is explicit and elementary…
We show that a PSL(2;R)-representation of a Fuchsian group induces the asymptotics of the Reidemeister torsion for the Seifert manifold corresponding to the euler class of the PSL(2;R)-representation. We also show that the limit of leading coefficient of the Reidemeister torsion is determined by the euler class of a PSL(2;R)-representation of a Fuchsian group. In particular, the leading coefficient of the Reidemeister torsion for the unit tangent bundle over a two-orbifold converges to $-χ\log2$ where $χ$ is the Euler characteristic of the two-orbifold. We also give a relation between $\mathbb…
Let M a 3-manifold with torus boundary which is a rational homology circle. We study deformations of reducible representations of p_1(M) into PSL_2(C) associated to a simple zero of the twisted Alexander polynomial. We also describe the local structure of the representation and character varieties.
We present a complete classification of elements in the mapping class group of the torus which have a representative that can be written as a product of two orientation reversing involutions. Our interest in such decompositions is motivated by features of the monodromy maps of real fibrations. We employ the property that the mapping class group of the torus is identifiable with $SL(2,\Z)$ as well as that the quotient group $PSL(2,\Z)$ is the symmetry group of the {\em Farey tessellation} of the Poincaré disk.
This note introduces and studies an open set of PSL(2,C) characters of a nonabelian free group, on which the action of the outer automorphism group is properly discontinuous, and which is strictly larger than the set of discrete, faithful convex-cocompact (i.e. Schottky) characters. This implies, in particular, that the outer automorphism group does not act ergodically on the set of characters with dense image. Hence there is a difference between the geometric (discrete vs. dense) decomposition of the characters, and a natural dynamical decomposition.
We construct a new family of exact quantum field theories modeled on hyperbolic geometry, called {\it quantum hyperbolic field theories} (QHFTs). The QHFTs are defined for a $(2+1)$-bordism category based on the set of compact oriented 3-manifolds $Y$, equipped with properly embedded framed links $L_\Ff$ and with flat connections $ρ$ of principal $PSL(2,\C)$-bundles over $Y \setminus L_\Ff$, with arbitrary holonomy at the link meridians. A main point is the introduction of new parameters for the space of all $PSL(2,\C)$-characters of a punctured surface. Each QHFT associates to a triple $(Y,L_…
We study the vectorial length compactification of the space of conjugacy classes of maximal representations of the fundamental group $Γ$ of a closed hyperbolic surface $Σ$ in ${\rm PSL}(2,\mathbb R)^n$. We identify the boundary with the sphere $\mathbb P((\mathcal{ML})^n)$, where $\mathcal{ML}$ is the space of measured geodesic laminations on $Σ$. In the case $n=2$, we give a geometric interpretation of the boundary as the space of homothety classes of $\mathbb R^2$-mixed structures on $Σ$. We associate to such a structure a dual tree-graded space endowed with an $\mathbb R_+^2$-valued metric,…
Let $X$ be the space of isometry classes of ordered sextuples of points in the hyperbolic plane such that the product of the six corresponding rotations of angle $π$ is the identity. This space $X$ is closely related to the PSL$_2(\mathbb{R})$-character variety of the genus 2 surface $Σ$. In this article we study the topology and the natural symplectic structure on $X$, and we describe the action of the mapping class group of $Σ$ on $X$. This completes the classification of the ergodic components of the character variety in genus 2 initiated in our previous work.
We prove that PSL(2,Z[1/p]) gives the first example of groups which are not quasi-isometric to each other but have the same quasi-isometry group. Namely, PSL(2,Z[1/p]) and PSL(2,Z[1/q]) are not quasi-isometric unless p=q, and, independent of p, the quasi-isometry group of PSL(2,Z[1/p]) is PSL(2,Q). In addition, we characterize PSL(2,Z[1/p]) uniquely among all finitely generated groups by its quasi-isometry type.
Consider the exterior M of a hyperbolic knot lying in a closed, connected, orientable 3-manifold. Culler and Shalen defined norm on H_1(dM;R) using the SL(2,C) character variety of pi_1(M). The Culler-Shalen norm encodes many topological properties of M; in particular it provides information about Dehn fillings of M. Their construction may be applied to arbitrary curves in the SL_2(C)-character variety of a connected, compact, orientable, irreducible 3-manifold whose boundary is a torus, though in this generality one can only guarantee that it will define a seminorm. The first half of this pap…
We give parallel constructions of an invariant R(W,f), based on the classical Rogers dilogarithm, and of quantum hyperbolic invariants (QHI), based on the Faddeev-Kashaev quantum dilogarithms, for flat PSL(2,C)-bundles f over closed oriented 3-manifolds W. All these invariants are explicitely computed as a sum or state sums over the same hyperbolic ideal tetrahedra of the idealization of any fixed simplicial 1-cocycle description of (W,f) of a special kind, called a D-triangulation. R(W,f) recovers the volume and the Chern-Simons invariant of f, and we conjecture that it determines the semi-cl…
This note investigates the dynamics of the mapping class group action on the character variety of super-maximal representations of the fundamental group of a punctured sphere into $\text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{R})$, discovered by Deroin and Tholozan. We apply symplectic methods developed by Goldman and Xia to prove that the action is ergodic.
Let M be a hyperbolizable, nontrivial compression body without toroidal boundary components. In this paper, we characterize which discrete and faithful representations of the fundamental group of M into PSL(2,C) are separable-stable. The set of separable-stable representations forms a domain of discontinuity for the action of the outer automorphism group of the fundamental group of M on the PSL(2,C)-character variety of M.
We establish some facts about the behavior of the rational-geometric subvariety of the $SL_2(\c)$ or $PSL_2(\c)$ character variety of a hyperbolic knot manifold under the restriction map to the $SL_2(\c)$ or $PSL_2(\c)$ character variety of the boundary torus, and use the results to get some properties about the A-polynomials and to prove the AJ conjecture for certain class of knots in $S^3$ including in particular any $2$-bridge knot over which the double branched cover of $S^3$ is a lens space of prime order.
The Hitchin component Hit_n(S) of a closed surface S is a preferred component of the character variety X_PSL_n(R)(S) consisting of homomorphisms from the fundamental group pi_1(S) to the Lie group PSL_n(R)(S), whose elements enjoy remarkable geometric and dynamical properties. We consider a certain type of deformations of the elements of Hit_n(S), called shearing deformations, and compute their pairing for the Atiyah-Bott-Goldman symplectic form of the character variety.
We construct {\it quantum hyperbolic invariants} (QHI) for triples $(W,L,ρ)$, where $W$ is a compact closed oriented 3-manifold, $ρ$ is a flat principal bundle over $W$ with structural group $PSL(2,\mc)$, and $L$ is a non-empty link in $W$. These invariants are based on the Faddeev-Kashaev's {\it quantum dilogarithms}, interpreted as matrix valued functions of suitably decorated hyperbolic ideal tetrahedra. They are explicitely computed as state sums over the decorated hyperbolic ideal tetrahedra of the {\it idealization} of any fixed {\it $\Dd$-triangulation}; the $\Dd$-triangulations are sim…
We study a particular class of representations from the fundamental groups of punctured spheres $Σ_{0,n}$ to the group $\text{PSL} (2,\mathbb R)$ (and their moduli spaces), that we call \emph{super-maximal}. Super-maximal representations are shown to be \emph{totally non hyperbolic}, in the sense that every simple closed curve is mapped to a non hyperbolic element. They are also shown to be \emph{geometrizable} (appart from the reducible super-maximal ones) in the following very strong sense : for any element of the Teichmüller space $\mathcal T_{0,n}$, there is a unique holomorphic equivarian…
In this paper we use character variety methods to study homomorphisms between the fundamental groups of 3-manifolds, in particular those induced by non-zero degree maps. A {\it knot manifold} is a compact, connected, irreducible, orientable 3-manifold whose boundary is an incompressible torus. A {\it virtual epimorphism} is a homomorphism whose image is of finite index in its range. We show that the existence of such homomorphisms places constraints on the algebraic decomposition of a knot manifold's $PSL_2(\mathbb C)$-character variety and consequently determine a priori bounds on the number …
This paper proves a theorem about Dehn surgery using a new theorem about PSL(2, C) character varieties. Confirming a conjecture of Boyer and Zhang, this paper shows that a small hyperbolic knot in a homotopy sphere having a non-trivial cyclic slope r has an incompressible surface with non-integer boundary slope strictly between r-1 and r+1. A corollary is that any small knot which has only integer boundary slopes has Property P. The proof uses connections between the topology of the complement of the knot, M, and the PSL(2, C) character variety of M that were discovered by Culler and Shalen. T…
Algebraic characterization of reversibility in the quaternionic Möbius group
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali（印度科学教育与研究学院莫哈利分校）；Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre（印度统计学院德里中心）；Kalna College（卡尔纳学院）
It is proved that the Hasse-Weil zeta functions of the canonical components of the ${\rm SL}_2$ (${\rm PSL}_2$)-character varieties of closed orientable complete hyperbolic $3$-manifolds of finite volume are equal to the Dedekind zeta functions of their trace fields (invariant trace fields). When the closed $3$-manifold is arithmetic, the special value at $s=2$ of the Hasse-Weil zeta function of the canonical component of the ${\rm PSL}_2$-character variety is expressed in terms of the hyperbolic volume of the manifold up to rational numbers.
Let M be an orientable, cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold of finite volume. We show that the restriction map from a Dehn surgery component in the PSL(2,C)-character variety of M to the character variety of the boundary of M is a birational isomorphism onto its image. This generalises a result by Nathan Dunfield. A key step in our proof is the exactness of Craig Hodgson's volume differential on the eigenvalue variety.
We survey recent work on the dynamics of the outer automorphism group of a word hyperbolic group on spaces of (conjugacy classes of) representations ofthe group into a semi-simple Lie group G. All these results are motivated by the fact that the mapping class group of a closed surface acts properly discontinuously on the Teichmuller space of the surface. We explore two settings. 1) The work of Guichard, Labourie and Wienhard establishing the proper discontinuity of the action of outer automorphism groups on spaces of Anosov representations. 2) The work of Canary, Gelander, Lee, Magid, Minsky a…
We give counterexamples to a question of Bowditch that if a non-elementary type-preserving representation $ρ:π_1(Σ_{g,n})\rightarrow PSL(2;\mathbb R)$ of a punctured surface group sends every non-peripheral simple closed curve to a hyperbolic element, then must $ρ$ be Fuchsian. The counterexamples come from relative Euler class $\pm1$ representations of the four-punctured sphere group. We also show that the mapping class group action on each non-extremal component of the character space of type-preserving representations of the four-punctured sphere group is ergodic, which confirms a conjectur…
This is a survey on Reidemeister torsion for hyperbolic three-manifolds of finite volume. Torsions are viewed as topological invariants and also as functions on the variety of representations in $\operatorname{ SL}_2(\mathbb C)$. In both cases, the torsions may also be computed after composing with finite dimensional representations of $\operatorname{ SL}_2(\mathbb C)$. In addition the paper deals with the torsion of the adjoint representation as a function on the variety of $\operatorname{ PSL}_{n+1}(\mathbb C)$-characters, using that the first cohomology group with coefficients twisted by th…
The space AH(M) of marked hyperbolic 3-manifold homotopy equivalent to a compact 3-manifold with boundary M sits inside the PSL_2(C)-character variety X(M) of π_1(M). We study the dynamics of the action of Out(π_1(M)) on both AH(M) and X(M). The nature of the dynamics reflects the topology of M. The quotient AI(M)=AH(M)/Out(π_1(M)) may naturally be thought of as the moduli space of unmarked hyperbolic 3-manifolds homotopy equivalent to M and its topology reflects the dynamics of the action.
We extend Culler and Shalen's construction of detecting essential surfaces in 3-manifolds to 3-orbifolds. We do so in the setting of the $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})$ character variety, and following Boyer and Zhang in the $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{C})$ character variety as well. We show that any slope detected on a canonical component of the $\mathrm{(P)SL}_2(\mathbb{C})$ character variety of a one cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold with symmetries must be the slope of a symmetric surface. As an application, we show that for each symmetric double twist knot there are slopes which are strongly detected …
For a punctured surface $S$, we characterize the representations of its fundamental group into $\mathrm{PSL}_2 (\mathbb{C})$ that arise as the monodromy of a meromorphic projective structure on $S$ with poles of order at most two and no apparent singularities. This proves the analogue of a theorem of Gallo-Kapovich-Marden concerning $\mathbb{C}\mathrm{P}^1$-structures on closed surfaces, and settles a long-standing question about characterizing monodromy groups for the Schwarzian equation on punctured spheres. The proof involves a geometric interpretation of the Fock-Goncharov coordinates of t…
We compute the fundamental class (in the extended Bloch group) for representations of fundamental groups of 3-manifolds to SL(4,R) that factor over SL(2,C), in particular for those factoring over the isomorphism PSL(2,C) = S0(3,1). We also discuss consequences for the number of connected components of SL(4,R)-character varieties, and we show that there are knots with arbitrarily many components of vanishing Chern-Simons invariant in their SL(n,C)-character varieties
We review and reformulate old and prove new results about the triad $ {\rm PPSL}_2({\mathbb Z})\subseteq{\rm PPSL}_2({\mathbb R})\circlearrowright ppsl_2({\mathbb R}) $, which provides a universal generalization of the classical automorphic triad ${\rm PSL}_2({\mathbb Z})\subseteq{\rm PSL}_2({\mathbb R})\circlearrowright psl_2({\mathbb R})$. The leading P or $p$ in the universal setting stands for $piecewise$, and the group ${\rm PPSL}_2({\mathbb Z})$ plays at once the role of universal modular group, universal mapping class group, Thompson group $T$ and Ptolemy group. We produce a new basis o…
For a closed surface S, the Hitchin component Hit_n(S) is a preferred component of the character variety consisting of group homomorphisms from the fundamental group pi_1(S) to the Lie group PSL_n(R). We construct a parametrization of the Hitchin component that is well-adapted to a maximal geodesic lamination on the surface. This is a natural extension of Thurston's parametrization of the Teichmueller space of S by shear coordinates associated to a maximal geodesic lamination, corresponding to the case n=2. However, significantly new ideas are needed in this higher dimensional case. The articl…
The first part of this paper surveys several characterizations of Teichmüller space as a subset of the space of representation of the fundamental group of a surface into PSL(2,R). Special emphasis is put on (bounded) cohomological invariants which generalize when PSL(2,R) is replaced by a Lie group of Hermitian type. The second part discusses underlying structures of the two families of higher Teichmüller spaces, namely the space of maximal representations for Lie groups of Hermitian type and the space of Hitchin representations or positive representations for split real simple Lie groups.
We find explicit models for the PSL(2,C)- and SL(2,C)-character varieties of the fundamental groups of complements in S^3 of an infinite family of two-bridge knots that contains the twist knots. We compute the genus of the components of these character varieties, and deduce upper bounds on the degree of the associated trace fields. We also show that these knot complements are fibered if and only if they are commensurable to a fibered knot complement in a Z/2Z-homology sphere, resolving a conjecture of Hoste and Shanahan.
We review the representation theory of the quantum group $U_εsl_2\mathbb{C}$ at a root of unity $ε$ of odd order, focusing on geometric aspects related to the 3-dimensional quantum hyperbolic field theories (QHFT). Our analysis relies on the quantum coadjoint action of De Concini-Kac-Procesi, and the theory of Heisenberg doubles of Poisson-Lie groups and Hopf algebras. We identify the 6j-symbols of generic representations of $U_εsl2\mathbb{C}$, the main ingredients of QHFT, with a bundle morphism defined over a finite cover of the algebraic quotient $PSL_2\mathbb{C}/!/PSL_2\mathbb{C}$, of degr…
