{"@context":["https://w3id.org/fdo/context/v1",{"schema":"https://schema.org/","prov":"http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#","fdo":"https://w3id.org/fdo/vocabulary/"}],"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q498698","@type":"DigitalObject","kernel":{"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q498698","digitalObjectType":"https://schema.org/ScholarlyArticle","primaryIdentifier":"mardi:Q498698","kernelVersion":"v1","immutable":true,"modified":"2026-03-25T15:35:26Z"},"profile":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q498698","name":"Representations of knot groups into \\(\\mathrm{SL}_n(\\mathbb{C})\\) and twisted Alexander polynomials","headline":"Representations of knot groups into \\(\\mathrm{SL}_n(\\mathbb{C})\\) and twisted Alexander polynomials","description":"scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6486444","url":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q498698","datePublished":"2015-09-29","author":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q357895"},{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q258847"}],"publisher":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q161301"}],"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","propertyID":"doi","value":"10.2140/PJM.2015.277.313","url":"https://doi.org/10.2140/PJM.2015.277.313"},"sameAs":["https://doi.org/10.2140/PJM.2015.277.313"],"comment":"Let \\(\\Gamma\\) be the fundamental group of the complement of a knot in \\(S^3\\). Consider the character variety that parametrizes (semisimple) representations of \\(\\Gamma\\) into \\(SL_n({\\mathbb C})\\), denoted \\(X(\\Gamma,SL_n({\\mathbb C}))\\). This paper studies the question of when a reducible representation can be deformed into an irreducible one.  Take \\(\\alpha:\\Gamma \\to SL_a({\\mathbb C})\\) and \\(\\beta:\\Gamma \\to SL_b({\\mathbb C})\\) two irreducible and infinitesimally regular representations, with \\(n=a+b\\). Here infinitesimally regular means that \\(H^1(\\Gamma, {\\mathfrak sl}_a({\\mathbb C}_{Ad \\alpha})={\\mathbb C}^{a-1}\\), which implies in particular that \\(\\alpha\\) defines a smooth point of \\(X(\\Gamma,SL_a({\\mathbb C}))\\). For a given \\(\\lambda\\in {\\mathbb C}^*\\), consider the representation \\(\\rho_\\lambda= \\lambda^{b\\varphi}\\alpha \\oplus\\lambda^{a\\varphi}\\beta\\), where \\(\\varphi:\\Gamma \\to \\mathbb Z\\) is the abelianization map. Associated to the representation \\(\\alpha\\otimes \\beta^*\\) on \\(M_{a\\times b}({\\mathbb C})\\), we have twisted Alexander polynomials \\(\\Delta_i^+(t)=\\Delta^{\\alpha\\otimes\\beta^*}_i(t) \\in {\\mathbb C}[t^{\\pm 1}]\\). The twisted Alexander polynomial \\(\\Delta^V_i(t)\\) is essentially the generator of the ideal of relations on the cohomology module \\(H_i(X_\\infty, V)\\), where \\(X_\\infty\\) is the infinite cyclic covering of \\(X\\), and \\(t\\) is the Deck action on it. Analogously we have \\(\\Delta_i^-(t)=\\Delta^{\\beta\\otimes \\alpha^*}_i(t)\\).  The main results of the paper are the following. First, if \\(\\rho_\\lambda\\) can be deformed to an irreducible representation, then  \\[  \\Delta_1^+(\\lambda^n)=\\Delta_1^-(\\lambda^{-n})=0.  \\]  Second, if \\(\\Delta_0^+(\\lambda^n) \\neq 0\\) and \\(\\lambda^n\\) is a simple root of \\(\\Delta_1^+(t)\\), then \\(\\rho_\\lambda\\) can be deformed to irreducible representations. Actually, under these hypothesis, the local structure of the character variety around \\(\\rho_\\lambda\\) is described very explicitly. There are two components of dimension \\(n-1\\), intersecting transverselly along a subvariety of dimension \\(n-2\\). One of the components consists of characters of irreducible representations and the other one consists of characters of reducible ones.  The paper ends with the descripiton of the \\(SL_3({\\mathbb C})\\)-character variety of the trefoil knot exterior. This is extended to the case of the exterior of a general torus knot in [\\textit{V. Muñoz} and \\textit{J. Porti}, ``Geometry of the \\(SL(3,{\\mathbb C})\\)-character variety of torus knots'', Algebraic and Geometric Topology, 2015, to appear, arXiv:1409.4784]."},"provenance":{"prov:generatedAtTime":"2026-03-25T15:35:26Z","prov:wasAttributedTo":"MaRDI Knowledge Graph"}}