Schottky groups and maximal representations (Q1663781)

A partial cyclic order on a set \(C\) is a relation on triples in \(C\) satisfying properties of cyclicity, asymmetry and transitivity. The authors describe in the present paper a construction of generalized Schottky subgroups of the automorphism group \(G\) of a partially cyclically ordered set. In order to do that, they use a combinatorial method on the fundamental group of the interior of a compact, connected, oriented, surface with boundary, of negative Euler characteristic. The above construction is general, and applies to many examples. The authors highlight the Shilov boundary of Hermitian symmetric spaces, which admits a partial cyclic order. In this setting the main result of the paper is as follows: Let \(\mathcal{S}\) be the Shilov boundary of a Hermitian symmetric space on which the group of holomorphic isometries \(G\) acts by order-preserving diffeomorphisms. Then the Schottky construction gives representations \(\rho : \Gamma \rightarrow G\) where \(\Gamma\) is the fundamental group of a surface with boundary. Then, Theorem 5, the representation \(\rho\) is maximal if and only if it admits a Schottky presentation. As an application, the final Section 5 of the paper is devoted to construct in an explicit way fundamental domains for the action of maximal representations of the symplectic group Sp\((2n, \mathbb{R})\) acting on \(\mathbb{R}^{2n}\).