Geometric generators for braid-like groups

DOI10.2140/GT.2016.20.747zbMATH Open1372.57004arXiv1403.2401OpenAlexW3102875741MaRDI QIDQ280910FDOQ280910

Tathagata Basak, Daniel Allcock

Publication date: 10 May 2016

Published in: Geometry \& Topology (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We study the problem of finding generators for the fundamental group G of a space of the following sort: one removes a family of complex hyperplanes from n dimensional complex vector space, or n dimensional complex hyperbolic space, or the Hermitian symmetric space for O(2,n), and then takes the quotient by a discrete group $PGamma$. The classical example is the braid group, but there are many similar "braid-like" groups that arise in topology and algebraic geometry. Our main result is that if $PGamma$ contains reflections in the hyperplanes nearest the basepoint, and these reflections satisfy a certain property, then G is generated by the analogues of the generators of the classical braid group. We apply this to obtain generators for G in a particular intricate example in complex hyperbolic space of dimension 13. The interest in this example comes from a conjectured relationship between this braid-like group and the monster simple group M, that gives geometric meaning to the generators and relations in the Conway-Simons presentation of $(MimesM):2$.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1403.2401

zbMATH Keywords

Artin groupscomplex hyperbolic spaceLeech latticebraid groupsfundamental groupsinfinite hyperplane arrangementmonsterpresentations

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Braid groups; Artin groups (20F36) Arrangements of points, flats, hyperplanes (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C35) Fundamental group, presentations, free differential calculus (57M05) Relations with arrangements of hyperplanes (32S22)

Cited In (7)

• A theory of orbit braids
• A new complex reflection group in \(PU(9,1)\) and the Barnes-Wall lattice
• A Poincaré series on hyperbolic space
• The complex Lorentzian Leech lattice and the bimonster. II.
• Noncrossing partitions and Milnor fibers
• Generators for a complex hyperbolic braid group
• Locally toroidal polytopes of rank 6 and sporadic groups

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