Related papers: Homotopy Groups of Free Group Character Varieties

Let G be a connected reductive complex affine algebraic group, and let X denote the moduli space of G-valued representations of a rank r free group. We first characterize the singularities in X, extending a theorem of Richardson and proving…

Let $G$ be a real reductive algebraic group with maximal compact subgroup $K$, and let $F_r$ be a rank $r$ free group. We show that the space of closed orbits in $\mathrm{Hom}(F_r,G)/G$ admits a strong deformation retraction to the orbit…

Deformation K-theory associates to each discrete group G a spectrum built from spaces of finite dimensional unitary representations of G. In all known examples, this spectrum is 2-periodic above the rational cohomological dimension of G…

Let X be the moduli space of SL(n,C), SU(n), GL(n,C), or U(n)-valued representations of a rank r free group. We classify the algebraic singular stratification of X. This comes down to showing that the singular locus corresponds exactly to…

If $G$ is a finite group or a torus, it is known that there is an isomorphism between the Grothendieck group of homotopy representations and that of generalized homotopy representations for $G$. We prove that there is such an isomorphism…

Let $X$ be a locally symmetric space $\Gamma\backslash G/K$ where $G$ is a connected non-compact semisimple real Lie group with trivial centre, $K$ is a maximal compact subgroup of $G$, and $\Gamma\subset G$ is a torsion-free irreducible…

Let $G$ be an affine algebraic group defined over field $k$ of characteristic zero. We study the derived moduli space of G-local systems on a pointed connected CW complex X trivialized at the basepoint of $X$. This derived moduli space is…

Let $G$ be a real linear algebraic group and $L$ a finitely generated cosimplicial group. We prove that the space of homomorphisms $Hom(L_n,G)$ has a homotopy stable decomposition for each $n\geq 1$. When $G$ is a compact Lie group, we show…

Let G be a connected complex simple Lie group with maximal compact subgroup U. Let g be the Lie algebra of G, and X = G/U be the associated Riemannian globally symmetric space of type IV. We have constructed three types of arithmetic…

Let $X$ be a homogeneous space of a connected linear algebraic group $G$ defined over the field of complex numbers $\mathbb C$. Let $x\in X({\mathbb C})$ be a point. We denote by $H$ the stabilizer of $x$ in $G$. When $H$ is connected, we…

For any complex affine reductive group G and a fixed choice of maximal compact subgroup K, we show that the G-character variety of a free group strongly deformation retracts to the corresponding K-character space, which is a real…

We calculate certain homotopy groups of the moduli spaces for representations of a compact oriented surface in the Lie groups GL(n,C) and U(p,q). Our approach relies on the interpretation of these representations in terms of Higgs bundles…

Let S be a surface of genus g with n points removed, G a connected Lie group, and X(G) the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group of S into G. We compute the fundamental group of X(G) when n>0 and G is a real or complex…

The purpose of this paper is to generalise Sullivan's rational homotopy theory to non-nilpotent spaces, providing an alternative approach to defining Toen's schematic homotopy types over any field k of characteristic zero. New features…

Let G be a complex affine algebraic reductive group, and let K be a maximal compact subgroup of G. Fix elements h_1,...,h_m in K. For n greater than or equal to 0, let X (respectively, Y) be the space of equivalence classes of…

Let $X$ be a smooth projective curve of genus $g \geq 3$, and let $G$ be a nontrivial connected reductive affine algebraic group over $\mathbb{C}$. Examining the moduli spaces of regularly stable $G$-Higgs bundles and holomorphic…

For all $k \ge 2$, we show that there exists a group $G$ and a non-free stably free $\mathbb{Z} G$-module of rank $k$. We use this to show that, for all $k \ge 2$, there exist homotopically distinct finite $2$-complexes with fundamental…

Let F be a finitely generated discrete group. Given a covering map H to G of Lie groups with G either compact or complex reductive, there is an induced covering map Hom(F, H) to Hom(F, G). We show that when the fundamental group of G is…

An irreducible representation of the free group on two generators X,Y into SL(2,C) is determined up to conjugation by the traces of X,Y and XY. We study the diagonal slice of representations for which X,Y and XY have equal trace. Using the…

We describe various equivalent ways of associating to an orbifold, or more generally a higher \'etale differentiable stack, a weak homotopy type. Some of these ways extend to arbitrary higher stacks on the site of smooth manifolds, and we…