On the (in)finiteness of the image of Reshetikhin-Turaev representations (Q1660094)

The author considers a version of the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev TQFTs constructed by \textit{C. Blanchet} et al. [Topology 34, No. 4, 883--927 (1995; Zbl 0887.57009)]. These TQFTs give rise to linear representations \(\rho_p\), \(p\geq 3\), of some central extension of the mapping class group of a surface \(\Sigma\), called Reshetikhin-Turaev representations. One of the basic questions about these representations is whether their image group is finite or not. An answer to this question is known in many cases. In particular, \textit{L. Funar} [Pac. J. Math. 188, No. 2, 251--274 (1999; Zbl 0948.57024)] proved that the image of \(\rho_p\) is infinite if \(\Sigma\) is a closed surface of genus \(g>1\), except for a few small values of \(p\). In the present paper, the author provides a criterion for the infiniteness of the image of the Reshetikhin-Turaev representations when they are irreducible, and uses it to obtain new results in the case where \(\Sigma\) is a torus with one or two punctures. The author also offers an alternative proof of Funar's result.