The complex volume of SL(n,C)-representations of 3-manifolds

DOI10.1215/00127094-3121185MaRDI QIDQ498671zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Stavros Garoufalidis, Dylan P. Thurston, Christian K. Zickert

Publication date 29 September 2015

Published in Duke Mathematical Journal (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1111.2828

zbMATH Keywords

\(\mathrm{SL}(n,\mathbb{C})\)-representationsalgebraic \(K\)-theorycensus manifoldsCheeger-Chern-Simons classChern-Simons invariantcomplex volumeextended Bloch grouphyperbolic \(3\)-manifoldsPtolemy coordinatesRogers dilogarithmSnapPy

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Polylogarithms and relations with (K)-theory (11G55) (K)-theory of global fields (11R70) Étale cohomology, higher regulators, zeta and (L)-functions ((K)-theoretic aspects) (19F27) General geometric structures on low-dimensional manifolds (57M50) Eta-invariants, Chern-Simons invariants (58J28)

Abstract: For a compact 3-manifold M with arbitrary (possibly empty) boundary, we give a parametrization of the set of conjugacy classes of boundary-unipotent representations of the fundamental group of M into SL(n,C). Our parametrization uses Ptolemy coordinates, which are inspired by coordinates on higher Teichmueller spaces due to Fock and Goncharov. We show that a boundary-unipotent representation determines an element in Neumann's extended Bloch group, and use this to obtain an efficient formula for the Cheeger-Chern-Simons invariant, and in particular for the volume. Computations for the census manifolds show that boundary-unipotent representations are abundant, and numerical comparisons with census volumes, suggest that the volume of a representation is an integral linear combination of volumes of hyperbolic 3-manifolds. This is in agreement with a conjecture of Walter Neumann, stating that the Bloch group is generated by hyperbolic manifolds.

Review text

Representations of \(3\)--manifold groups into \(SL(2,\mathbb{C})\) have been intensively studied for both classical reasons (e.g. CR geometry) and quantum reasons (e.g. the Volume Conjecture). Representations of surface groups into algebraic groups have also been intensively studied. This paper under review extends Ptolemy coordinates, first introduced in the \(SL(2,\mathbb{C})\) context, to the \(SL(n,\mathbb{C})\) case. These are are \(3\)--dimensional analogues of coordinates of Fock and Goncharov on higher Teichmüller spaces which parameterize the set of conjugacy classes of boundary-unipotent representations of the fundamental group of a compact \(3\)-manifold \(M\) into \(SL(n,\mathbb{C})\); Ptolemy coordinates define a variety called the `Ptolemy variety' which is an invariant of a topological ideal triangulation of \(M\). This variety in turn defines an element in the extended Bloch group which in turn gives the Cheeger--Chern--Simons invariant of \(M\), echoing the \(SL(2,\mathbb{C})\) construction of \textit{W. D. Neumann} [Geom. Topol. 8, 413--474 (2004; Zbl 1053.57010)]. The computational advantage of Ptolemy coordinates is that they homogenize gluing equations and lower their degree to 2, at the price of increasing the number of variables. M. Goerner computed the Ptolemy variety and its decomposition by running the algorithm in this paper on MAGMA for all census manifolds up to \(8\) simplices and for many link complements for \(n=2\), for fewer for \(n=3\), and for triangulations with two simplices for \(n=4\). These appear to be the first computations of Cheeger--Chern--Simons invariants for \(n>2\). These computations support a conjecture of Walter Neumann stating that the Bloch group is generated by Bloch invariants of hyperbolic manifolds.

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Cited in

(43)

• Aspects of defects in 3d-3d correspondence
• K-decompositions and 3d gauge theories
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• The volume and Chern-Simons invariant of a Dehn-filled manifold
• The bounded Borel class and 3-manifold groups
• Volumes of \(\operatorname{SL}_n(\mathbb{C})\)-representations of hyperbolic 3-manifolds
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• Higher-derivative supergravity, wrapped M5-branes, and theories of class \(\mathcal{R}\)
• Volume and symplectic structure for \(\ell\)-adic local systems
• Geometric structures and configurations of flags in orbits of real forms
• Augmentations and link group representations
• Floer homology, group orderability, and taut foliations of hyperbolic 3-manifolds
• On \(\mathrm{SL}(3,\mathbb{C})\)-representations of the Whitehead link group
• Fock-Goncharov coordinates for rank two Lie groups
• On the fundamental 3-classes of knot group representations
• Torsion functions on moduli spaces in view of the cluster algebra
• The Ptolemy field of 3-manifold representations
• Gluing equations for \(\mathrm{PGL}(n, \mathbb{C})\)-representations of 3-manifolds
• Representations of fundamental groups of 3-manifolds into \(\mathrm{PGL}(3,\mathbb C)\): exact computations in low complexity
• Holography of 3d-3d correspondence at large N
• Quantum invariants of three-manifolds obtained by surgeries along torus knots
• Ptolemy coordinates, Dehn invariant and the \(A\)-polynomial
• The symplectic properties of the \(\mathrm{PGL}(n,\mathbb{C})\)-gluing equations
• Local coordinates for SL\((n,C)\)-character varieties of finite-volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds
• Perturbative and nonperturbative aspects of complex Chern-Simons theory
• Tetrahedra of flags, volume and homology of SL(3)
• Cohomological invariants of representations of 3-manifold groups
• BRANCHED CAUCHY–RIEMANN STRUCTURES ON ONCE-PUNCTURED TORUS BUNDLES
• Symplectic quandles and parabolic representations of 2-bridge knots and links
• Fundamental classes of 3-manifold groups representations in SL(4,R)
• An intersection theory count of the \(\text{SL}_2({\mathbb C})\)-representations of the fundamental group of a \(3\)-manifold
• Octahedral developing of knot complement II: Ptolemy coordinates and applications
• A-polynomials of fillings of the Whitehead sister
• The twisted 1-loop invariant and the Jacobian of Ptolemy varieties
• Chern-Simons theory and cohomological invariants of representation varieties
• Knots, perturbative series and quantum modularity
• Circle-valued angle structures and obstruction theory
• A-polynomials, Ptolemy equations and Dehn filling
• A trilogy of mapping class group representations from three-dimensional quantum gravity
• Spinors and horospheres
• 3d quantum trace map
• Homological and Bloch invariants for Q-rank one spaces and flag structures
• The volume and Chern-Simons invariant of a representation

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