English

Representations of the quantum Teichmuller space, and invariants of surface diffeomorphisms

Geometric Topology 2014-11-11 v5 Quantum Algebra

Abstract

We investigate the representation theory of the polynomial core of the quantum Teichmuller space of a punctured surface S. This is a purely algebraic object, closely related to the combinatorics of the simplicial complex of ideal cell decompositions of S. Our main result is that irreducible finite-dimensional representations of this polynomial core are classified, up to finitely many choices, by group homomorphisms from the fundamental group of the surface to the isometry group of the hyperbolic 3--space. We exploit this connection between algebra and hyperbolic geometry to exhibit new invariants of diffeomorphisms of S.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0407086,
  title  = {Representations of the quantum Teichmuller space, and invariants of surface diffeomorphisms},
  author = {Francis Bonahon and Xiaobo Liu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0407086},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

Revised introduction. To appear in Geometry & Topology