Related papers: On SL(3,$\mathbb C$)-representations of the Whiteh…

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…

We give a nice description for a Zariski open subset of the ${\rm SL}(3,\mathbb{C})$-character variety of the Whitehead link.

We describe the Stiefel-Whitney classes (SWCs) of orthogonal representations $\pi$ of the finite special linear groups $G=\text{SL}(2,\mathbb F_q)$, in terms of character values of $\pi$. From this calculation, we can answer interesting…

The spherical principal series representations $\pi(\nu)$ of SL(2,$\mathbb R$) is a family of infinite dimensional representations parametrized by $\nu\in\mathbb C$. The representation $\pi(\nu)$ is irreducible unless $\nu$ is an odd…

We give a description of several representation varieties of the fundamental group of the complement of the figure eight knot in PGL(3,C) or SL(3,C). We moreover obtain an explicit parametrization of matrices generating the representation…

We give explicit equations that describe the character variety of the figure eight knot for the groups SL(3,C), GL(3,C) and PGL(3,C). This has five components of dimension 2, one consisting of totally reducible representations, another one…

We consider quotients of the group algebra of the $3$-string braid group $B_3$ by $p$-th order generic polynomial relations on the elementary braids. In cases $p=2,3,4,5$ these quotient algebras are finite dimensional. We give…

We determine the total Culler-Shalen seminorms for the 3-manifolds W_{p/q}:=W(p/q,-) obtained by Dehn filling with slope p/q on one boundary component of the Whitehead link exterior W when p is odd. As part of the proof, we use an explicit…

In this paper we are interested in computing representations of the fundamental group of a 3-manifold into PSL(3;C) (in particular in PSL(2;C); PSL(3;R) and PU(2; 1)). The representations are obtained by gluing decorated tetrahedra of…

The SL(2,Z) representation $\pi$ on the center of the restricted quantum group U_{q}sl(2) at the primitive 2p-th root of unity is shown to be equivalent to the SL(2,Z) representation on the extended characters of the logarithmic (1,p)…

Given a knot K and an irreducible metabelian SL(n,C) representation we establish an equality for the dimension of the first twisted cohomology. In the case of equality, we prove that the representation must have finite image and that it is…

Let $G$ be a split real form of a complex simple adjoint group whose Weyl group contains $-1$, let $\lambda$ be the Jordan projection of $G$, and let $S$ be a closed orientable surface of genus at least 2. For a $G$-Hitchin representation…

We study the representation theory of the fundamental group of the complement of a Hopf link with n twists. A general framework is described to analyze the $SL_r(C)$-representation varieties of these twisted Hopf links as byproduct of a…

Using a combinatorial argument, we prove the well-known result that the Wirtinger and Dehn presentations of a link in 3-space describe isomorphic groups. The result is not true for links $\ell$ in a thickened surface $S \times [0,1]$. Their…

Let $G$ be a real compact Lie group, such that $G=G^0\rtimes C_2$, with $G^0$ simple. Here $G^0$ is the connected component of $G$ containing the identity and $C_2$ is the cyclic group of order $2$. We give a criterion for whether an…

We consider spherical principal series representations of the semisimple Lie group of rank one $G=SO(n, 1; \mathbb K)$, $\mathbb K=\br, \bc, \bh$. There is a family of unitarizable representations $\pi_{\nu}$ of $G$ for $\nu$ in an interval…

We give a complete classification of simple representations of the braid group B_3 with dimension $\leq 5$ over any algebraically closed f ield. In particular, we prove that a simple d-dimensional representation $\rho: B_3 \to GL(V)$ is…

The SL(3,C)-representation variety R of a free group F arises naturally by considering surface group representations for a surface with boundary. There is a SL(3,C)-action on the coordinate ring of R by conjugation. The geometric points of…

In this paper we determine topologically the canonical component of the $SL_2(\mathbb{C})$ character variety of the Whitehead link complement.

The first part of this article is a general introduction to the the theory of representation spaces of discrete groups into SL(n,C). Special attention is paid to knot groups. In Section 2 we discuss the difference between the tangent space…