Related papers: The mapping class group action on SU(3)-character …

Any nontrivial homomorphism from the mapping class group of an orientable surface of genus $g\geq 3$ to $\GL(2g,\C)$ is conjugate to the standard symplectic representation. It is also shown that the mapping class group has no faithful…

We prove that the number of distinct group actions on compact Riemann surfaces of a fixed genus $\sigma \geq 2$ is at least quadratic in $\sigma$. We do this through the introduction of a coarse signature space, the space…

We show that the mapping class group acts properly on the space of maximal representations of the fundamental group of a closed Riemann surface into G when G = Sp(2n,R), SU(n,n), SO*(2n) or Spin(2,n).

We study higher rank Cartan actions on compact manifolds preserving an ergodic measure with full support. In particular, we classify actions by $\R ^k$ with $k \geq 3$ whose one-parameter groups act transitively as well as nondegenerate…

We state a theorem relating the ergodicity of the action of a given subgroup of the mapping class group of a surface on the character variety, to the asymptotic of its invariant subspaces through the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev…

Let $\Gamma$ be an amenable countable discrete group. Fix an ergodic free nonsingular action of $\Gamma$ on a nonatomic standard probability space. Let $G$ be a compactly generated locally compact second countable group such that the…

For $\Sigma$ an orientable surface of finite topological type having genus at least 3 (possibly closed or possibly with any number of punctures or boundary components), we show that the mapping class group $Mod(\Sigma)$ has no faithful…

In this article, we continue the study of the action of subgroups of the mapping class group on the $SU(2)$-character variety. We prove the existence of a mapping class subgroup on the surface of genus $2$, containing infinitely many…

Let $\phi \in {\rm Mod}(\Sigma)$ be an arbitrary element of the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface $\Sigma$ of genus at least $2$. For any characteristic cover $\widetilde{\Sigma} \to \Sigma$ one can consider the linear…

Let S be an orientable surface of finite type and let Mod(S) be its mapping class group. We consider actions of Mod(S) by semisimple isometries on complete CAT(0) spaces. If the genus of S is at least 3, then in any such action all Dehn…

Let M be a Riemann surface with boundary $\partial M$ and genus greater than zero. Let $\Gamma$ be the mapping class group of M fixing $\partial M$. The group $\Gamma$ acts on ${\mathcal M}_{\mathcal C} = \Hom_{\mathcal…

We describe the topological behavior of the conjugacy action of the mapping class group of an orientable infinite-type surface $\Sigma$ on itself. Our main results are: (1) All conjugacy classes of $MCG(\Sigma)$ are meager for every…

Given a finite connected graph $\Lambda$, the space of $SU(2)$ lattice gauge-fields on $\Lambda$, modulo gauge transformations, is a Lagrangian submanifold -- with mild singularities -- of the $SU(2)$ character variety (= phase-space of…

We show that the first Johnson subgroup of the mapping class group of a surface S of genus greater than one acts ergodically on the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group of S in SU_2. Our proof relies on a local…

Let $\Sigma$ be a surface with either boundary or marked points, equipped with an arbitrary framing. In this note we determine the action of the associated "framed mapping class group" on the homology of $\Sigma$ relative to its boundary…

We define a family of groups that include the mapping class group of a genus g surface with one boundary component and the integral symplectic group Sp(2g,Z). We then prove that these groups are finitely generated. These groups, which we…

The group Gamma of automorphisms of the polynomial kappa(x,y,z) = x^2 + y^2 + z^2 - xyz -2 is isomorphic to PGL(2,Z) semi-direct product with (Z/2+Z/2). For t in R, Gamma-action on ktR = kappa^{-1}(t) intersect R displays rich and varied…

An algebraic $\Gamma$-action is an action of a countable group $\Gamma$ on a compact abelian group $X$ by continuous automorphisms of $X$. We prove that any expansive algebraic action of a finitely generated nilpotent group $\Gamma$ on a…

Let $S$ be a surface of finite type which is not a sphere with at most four punctures, a torus with at most two punctures, or a closed surface of genus two. Let $\mathcal{MF}$ be the space of equivalence classes of measured foliations of…

Let $\Sigma$ be a surface whose interior admits a hyperbolic structure of finite volume. In this paper, we show that any infinite order mapping class acts with infinite order on the homology of some universal $k$--step nilpotent cover of…