Relative pro-\(\ell \)completions of mapping class groups (Q834836)

Fix a prime number \(\ell \). In this paper, the authors develop a theory of relative pro-\(\ell \) completion of discrete and profinite groups --- a natural generalization of the classical notion of pro-\(\ell \) completion, and show that the pro-\(\ell \) completion of the Torelli group does not inject into the relative pro-\(\ell \) completion of the corresponding mapping class group when the genus is at least 2. As an application, it follows that when \(g\geqslant 2\), the action of the pro-\(\ell\) completion of the Torelli group \(T_{g,1}\) on the pro-\(\ell \) fundamental group of a pointed genus \(g\) surface is not faithful. The choice of a first-order deformation of a maximally degenerate stable curve of genus \(g\) determines an action of the absolute Galois group \(G_{\mathbb Q}\) on the relative pro-\(\ell \) completion of the corresponding mapping class group. It is shown that for all \(g\) all such representations are unramified at all primes \(\neq \ell \) when the first order deformation is chosen to be compatible with those tangential base points studied by \textit{Y. Ihara} and \textit{H. Nakamura} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 487, 125--151 (1997; Zbl 0910.14010)].