Density of monodromy actions on non-abelian cohomology. (Q1413094)

Let \(X@>f>>B\) be a smooth projective morphism of quasi-projective schemes over \(\mathbb{C}\), and assume that \(f\) has connected fibers of dimension one and genus at least two. For a fixed base point \(0\in B\), let \(\pi_1(X_0)\) denote the abstract fundamental group of the fiber \(X_0:=f^{-1}(0)\). Then, for any positive integer \(n\), the geometric monodromy representation \(\text{mon}:\pi_1(B,0)\to\text{Out} (\pi_1 (X_0))\) induces a monodromy action \(\text{mon}^n_B:\pi_1(B,0)\to\Aut (H_B^1 (X_0,\text{GL}(n,\mathbb{C}))\) of \(\pi_1(B,0)\) on the first non-abelian Betti cohomology (with coefficients in GL\((n,\mathbb{C}))\) of the fiber \(X_0\). The de Rham object corresponding to the monodromy representation \(\text{mon}_B^n\) is then the Gauss-Manin connection \(\nabla^n_{\text{DR}}\) on the relative de Rham cohomology stack \(H^1_{\text{DR}} (X/B,\text{GL}(n,\mathbb{C}))\). In the present paper, the authors study this particular set-up more closely from the following point of view: While the cohomology objects in this context are most naturally viewed as stacks, the authors consider their associated coarse moduli spaces \(M_B(X_0,n)\) of representations of \(\pi_1(X_0)\) in \(\text{GL}(n,\mathbb{C})\) and \(M_{\text{DR}} (X_0,n)\) of rank-\(n\) algebraic local systems of complex vector spaces on \(X_0\), respectively. Using the analytic monodromy action \(\text{mon}^n_{\text{DR}}\) of \(\pi_1 (B,0)\) on \(M_{\text{DR}}(X_0,n)\), where \(M_{\text{DR}} (X_0,n)\) is in fact the fiber of the fibration \(M_{\text{DR}}(X/B,n)\to B\) over the base point \(0\in B\), and applying the natural analytic isomorphism \(\tau:M_{\text{DR}}(X_0,n)^{\text{an}}\cong M_B(X_0,n)^{\text{an}}\) established by \textit{I. Smith} [Q. J. Math. 52, 217--228 (2001; Zbl 0981.57013)], they obtain two induced monodromy actions \(\text{mon}_B^n:\pi_1(B,0)\to\Aut(M_B(X_0,n))\) and \(\text{mon}^n_{\text{DR}}: \pi_1(B,0)\to\Aut(M_{\text{DR}}(X_0,n)^{\text{an}})\). The main goal of the authors' work, in the sequel, is to understand the complexity of these two monodromy actions by measuring the size of their \(\pi_1(B,0)\)-orbits in a suitable way. This is done by deriving sufficient conditions for the existence of Zariski-dense orbits for each of these two monodromy actions. The main results, theorem A and theorem B, whose involved proofs constitute the better part of the present extensive paper, may be viewed as non-abelian analogues of \textit{P. Deligne}'s meanwhile classical irreducibility theorem [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 52, 137--252 (1980; Zbl 0456.14014)]. Deligne's irreducibility theorem asserts that the monodromy group acting on the first (classical) cohomology of a Lefschetz pencil of curves is a subgroup of finite index in the full symplectic group of the lattice of vanishing cycles, whereas the authors show that, in the above-mentioned non-abelian cases, the according monodromy actions are dense for a Lefschetz pencil of sufficiently high degree. As for the proofs of their two main theorems, the authors first examine actions of finitely generated groups on affine algebraic varieties with a view to the density property of orbits. In particular, they show how the existence of a Zariski-dense orbit can be deduced from the existence of an open orbit for the linearized action on the tangent space at a fixed-point. Then they construct a special point in the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group of a curve, which corresponds to the Schrödinger representation of a certain finite dihedral Heisenberg group. This point turns out to be regular and fixed by a subgroup of finite index in the monodromy, and the tangent space of the moduli space of representations at this particular ``Schrödinger point'' is then the basic object in the course of the (mainly topological) proofs of the main theorems. In the concluding section of the paper, the authors discuss the necessity of the hypotheses in theorems A and B for the existence of Zariski-dense monodromy orbits. The conclusion leads to the conjecture that the densitiy property holds under rather mild assumptions, which is supported by some additional evidence outlined in the course of the discussion.