Related papers: Monodromy groups of $\mathbb{C}\mathrm{P}^1$-struc…

In many situations, the monodromy group of enumerative problems will be the full symmetric group. In this paper, we study a similar phenomenon on the rational curves in $|\mathcal{O}(1)|$ on a generic K3 surface of fixed genus over…

We compute the E-polynomials of the moduli spaces of representations of the fundamental group of a once-punctured surface of any genus into SL(2,C), for any possible holonomy around the puncture. We follow the geometric technique introduced…

We use geometric methods to show that given any $3$-manifold $M$, and $g$ a sufficiently large integer, the mapping class group $\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,1})$ contains a coset of an abelian subgroup of rank $\lfloor \frac{g}{2}\rfloor,$…

Let $g, n \geq 0$ and $\Sigma = \Sigma_{g, n}$ be a connected oriented surface of genus $g$ with $n$ punctures. The $\mathrm{SL}_2$-character variety of $\Sigma$ has a rigid relative automorphism group, whose elements fix each monodromies…

This paper contains a purely topological theorem and a geometric application. The topological theorem states that if M is a simple closed orientable 3-manifold such that \pi_1(M) contains a genus g surface group and H_1(M;Z/2Z) has rank at…

We characterize the representations of the fundamental group of a closed surface to $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb C)$ that arise as the holonomy of a branched complex projective structure with fixed branch divisor. In particular, we compute the…

Let $p:\Sigma'\to\Sigma$ be a finite Galois cover, possibly branched, with Galois group $G$. We are interested in the structure of the cohomology of $\Sigma'$ as a module over $G$. We treat the cases of branched and unbranched covers…

Given a second-order, holomorphic, linear differential equation $Lf=0$ on a punctured Riemann surface, we say that its monodromy group $G\subset\operatorname{GL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ is `unitary' if it preserves a non-degenerate Hermitian form…

We borrow a classical construction from the study of rational billiards in dynamical systems known as the "unfolding construction" and show that it can be used to study the automorphism group of a Platonic surface. More precisely, the…

Fix a degree $d$ projective curve $X \subset \mathbb{P}^r$ over an algebraically closed field $K$. Let $U \subset (\mathbb{P}^r)^*$ be a dense open subvariety such that every hyperplane $H \in U$ intersects $X$ in $d$ smooth points. Varying…

The fundamental group of a smooth projective variety is fibered if it maps onto the fundamental group of smooth curve of genus 2 or more. The goal of this paper is to establish some strong restrictions on these groups, and in particular on…

Let $\mathcal{M}_{n,2n+2}$ be the coarse moduli space of CY manifolds arising from a crepant resolution of double covers of $\mathbb{P}^n$ branched along $2n+2$ hyperplanes in general position. We show that the monodromy group of a good…

Let $X$ be surface with isolated singularities in the complex projective space $P^3$ and let denote $Y$ the smooth part of $X$. In this note we discuss some aspects of the topology of such quasi-projective surfaces $Y$: the fundamental…

The combination of this paper and its companion complete the classification of monodromy groups of indecomposable coverings of complex curves $f:X\rightarrow \mathbb P^1$ of sufficiently large degree in comparison to the genus of $X$. In…

We develop recursive formulas for the horizontal and vertical monodromies of a quasi-ordinary surface. These are monodromies associated to the Milnor fiber of a slice transverse to a component of the singular locus. In the course of working…

This paper, together with a forthcoming paper by the author and Seitz, proves the Margulis-Platonov conjecture concerning the normal subgroup structure of algebraic groups over number fields, in the case of inner forms of anisotropic groups…

By Koebe's retrosection theorem, every closed Riemann surface of genus $g \geq 2$ is uniformized by a Schottky group. Marden observed that there are Schottky groups that are not classical ones, that is, they cannot be defined by a suitable…

For all $d$ belonging to a density-$1/8$ subset of the natural numbers, we give an example of a square-tiled surface conjecturally realizing the group $\mathrm{SO}^*(2d)$ in its standard representation as the Zariski-closure of a factor of…

The Chen series map giving the universal monodromy representation of $\mathbb{P}^1\backslash\{0,1,\infty\}$ is extended to an injective 1-cocycle of $PSL(2, \mathbb{Z})$ into power series with complex coefficients in two non-commuting…

We analyze the hamiltonian quantization of Chern-Simons theory associated to the universal covering of the Lorentz group SO(3,1). The algebra of observables is generated by finite dimensional spin networks drawn on a punctured topological…