On monodromy representations in Denham-Suciu fibrations (Q2341543)

Let \((X,A)\) be a pair of spaces and let \(K\) be a simplicial complex with \(n\) vertices. A new topological space can be constructed using the pair \((X,A)\) and \(K\), called a polyhedral product and denoted by \(Z_K(X,A)\subset X^n\). Polyhedral products are actively studied and stand at the foundations of the field of toric topology. Given a locally trivial fibration \(f:E\rightarrow B\) with fibre \(F\), there is an action of the fundamental group of \(B\) on the fundamental group of the fibre \(F\) and consequently the first homology of \(F\). This action gives rise to a representation called the monodromy representation. One natural use of this representation is calculating the homology of the total space \(E\) using the Serre spectral sequence, when the fundamental group of the base space \(B\) acts non-trivially on the homology of \(F\). In that case the homology of \(F\) is a non-trivial module over the group ring \(\mathbb{Z}_{\pi_1}(B)\). In the paper under review, the author studies the monodromy representation of a natural fibration introduced by G. Denham and A. Suciu, which involves polyhedral products. Algebraic and geometric descriptions for these monodromy representations are given. In particular, the author studies the case of a product of two finite cyclic groups and obtains representations into \(\text{Out}(F_n)\) and \(SL_n(\mathbb{Z})\). The author gives algebraic descriptions of monodromy for the case of a product of any two finite groups. Also, a geometric description for monodromy representations of a product of \(2\) or more finite groups to \(\text{Out}(F_n)\), as well as some algebraic properties are given. The geometric description does not rely on choosing a basis for the fundamental group of the fibre in terms of commutators, hence avoids this delicate question.