Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 0910.1559

Fundamental groups, Alexander invariants, and cohomology jumping loci

Abstract

We survey the cohomology jumping loci and the Alexander-type invariants associated to a space, or to its fundamental group. Though most of the material is expository, we provide new examples and applications, which in turn raise several questions and conjectures. The jump loci of a space X come in two basic flavors: the characteristic varieties, or, the support loci for homology with coefficients in rank 1 local systems, and the resonance varieties, or, the support loci for the homology of the cochain complexes arising from multiplication by degree 1 classes in the cohomology ring of X. The geometry of these varieties is intimately related to the formality, (quasi-) projectivity, and homological finiteness properties of π_1(X). We illustrate this approach with various applications to the study of hyperplane arrangements, Milnor fibrations, 3-manifolds, and right-angled Artin groups.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Alexander I. Suciu. 2010-10-24. Fundamental groups, Alexander invariants, and cohomology jumping loci. https://doi.org/10.1090/conm%2F538%2F10600

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Word Length Formulae, Normal Forms, Conjugation and Root-finding Algorithms in Surface Groups

In this paper, we mainly study the following symmetric presentation of the surface group $$π_1(Σ_g)=\left\langle c_1,\dots, c_{2g}\mid c_1\cdots c_{2g}c_1^{-1}\cdots c_{2g}^{-1}\right\rangle.$$ For every nontrivial element $x\in π_1(Σ_g)$ and $k\geq 2$, we obtain a uniform representative of the normal forms $\mathfrak{nf}(x^k)$ of $x^k$ under the length-lexicographical order: $$\mathfrak{nf}(x^k) = \overline{LW^{k-2}R}.$$ Building on this result, we establish a new relation among these normal forms, and then derive the following three formulae related to the word length: $|x^2|>|x|$; $|x^k|=(k-1)(|x^2|-|x|)+|x|$; $\lim_{k\to\infty}\frac{|x^k|}{k}=|x^2|-|x|$. Furthermore, we extend these results to obtain a coarser analogue for every minimal geometric presentation. We then define normal forms of conjugacy classes in $π_1(Σ_g)$ and provide a criterion for determining the conjugacy of group elements. As a consequence, we provide efficient algorithms for solving the root-finding and conjugacy problems. Finally, we present applications to the computation of several growth rates.

math.GT

Plane separating continua inscribe rectangles

We prove the following: If $X$ is a plane separating continuum, then every embedding of $X$ into $\mathbb{R}^2$ contains the vertices of a Euclidean rectangle. We arrive to this result by extending a known result by H. Vaughan for Jordan curves to a wider class of topological objects via shape theory and Steenrod homology.

math.GT

Every Link Has Infinitely Many Explicit Generalised T-Link Presentations

Generalised $T$-links provide a simple description of all links in $S^3$ as closures of products of standard twisting blocks, parametrised by finite sequences of integers. We prove that every link admits infinitely many pairwise distinct generalised $T$-link presentations. Starting from any such presentation, we give explicit parameter transformations that preserve the represented link and generate families of pairwise distinct presentations depending on arbitrarily many independent integer parameters.

math.GT