English

Fields of definition for triangle groups as Fuchsian groups

Geometric Topology 2025-01-06 v1 Group Theory Number Theory

Abstract

The compact hyperbolic triangle group Δ(p,q,r)\Delta(p,q,r) admits a canonical representation to PSL2(R)\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbf{R}) with discrete image which is unique up to conjugation. The trace field of this representation is K=Q(cos(π/p),cos(π/q),cos(π/r)).K = \mathbf{Q}(\cos(\pi/p), \cos(\pi/q), \cos(\pi/r)). We prove that there are exactly eleven such groups which are conjugate to subgroups of PSL2(K)\mathrm{PSL}_2(K). Moreover, we prove that there are no additional compact hyperbolic triangle groups which are conjugate to subgroups of PSL2(L)\mathrm{PSL}_2(L) for any totally real field LL. This answers a question first raised by Waterman and Machlachlan, and also resolves (in the positive) five (interrelated) recent conjectures of McMullen.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.01780,
  title  = {Fields of definition for triangle groups as Fuchsian groups},
  author = {Frank Calegari and Qiankang Chen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.01780},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

40 pages, comments welcome

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:55:25.781Z