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# Chandra Observations of Nuclear X-ray Emission from a Sample of Radio Sources

## 1 Introduction

An important distinction in the quasar class is between radio-quiet and radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), based on their optical-to-radio flux ratios (e.g., Kellermann et al. 1989). While the ultimate source of power is thought to be the same for both classes of AGNs (i.e., accretion of gas onto a supermassive black hole; Antonucci 1993; Urry & Padovani 1995), there are subtle but systematic differences in the continuum and line properties from radio to optical/UV wavelengths between the classes (Sanders et al. 1989; Miley & Miller 1979; Yee & Oke 1978). X-ray observations of both types of sources probe the inner regions and can thus help discriminate the origin of the radio-loud/quiet difference. However, while radio-quiet quasars have been extensively studied at X-rays (e.g., George et al. 2000; Fiore et al. 1998; Nandra et al. 1997a,b), the X-ray properties of radio-loud AGNs are relatively less well known (e.g., Sambruna, Eracleous, & Mushotzky 2002a and references therein). The study of the nuclear X-ray emission from radio-loud quasars with previous X-ray satellites was generally hampered by poor angular resolution and/or sensitivity.

Earlier studies of AGNs at medium-soft X-rays with Einstein and ROSAT showed that radio-loud quasars have significantly flatter continuum slopes, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ 1.5, than their radio-quiet counterparts, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ 2.0 (Fiore et al. 1998; Nandra et al. 1997a,b; Shastri et 1991; Wilkes & Elvis 1987). This was attributed to dilution of the core emission by a beamed X-ray component from the jet. Recent systematic studies of radio-loud AGNs at harder X-rays with ASCA confirmed that radio-loud quasars are flatter, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ 1.6, than radio-quiet quasars (Reeves & Turner 2000). However, observations of Broad-Line Radio Galaxies (BLRGs) and double-lobe quasars, believed to be at larger jet orientations, indicate steeper slopes ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.8`$) more similar to Seyferts (Hasenkopf et al. 2002; Sambruna, Eracleous, & Mushoztky 1999).

In low-luminosity radio-quiet AGNs, Fe K-shell emission is a relatively well known property. In several Seyfert 1s a prominent K$`\alpha `$ fluorescent emission line from cold Fe was detected with ASCA at rest-frame energies 6.4 keV, with Equivalent Widths (EWs) $``$ 250 eV (Nandra et al. 1997b). However, the presence and the nature of Fe K emission at higher luminosities is not yet established. Nandra et al. (1997a) detected an Fe line in a radio-quiet quasar at energies higher than 6.4 keV, consistent with emission from highly ionized Iron. A highly ionized Fe line, observed by ASCA with energies consistent with emission from Fe XXV-XXVI, may be common in radio-quiet quasars (Reeves & Turner 2000). An ionized Fe line was recently confirmed in a high-redshift quasar with XMM-Newton (Reeves et al. 2001).

However, Fe K emission is rare in radio-loud AGNs. So far, a weak and generally narrow Fe K$`\alpha `$ emission line was observed in the brightest BLRGs (see Sambruna, Eracleous, & Mushotzky 2002a and references therein), and more recently in 3 high-luminosity (L$`{}_{210keV}{}^{}10^{45}`$ ergs s-1) radio-loud quasars (Hasenkopf et al. 2002). While there is evidence that Fe K emission and other reflection features in BLRGs are intrinsically weak (e.g., Eracleous, Sambruna, & Mushotzky 2000), an additional difficulty in their detection is the presence of diffuse X-ray emission from the host galaxy/associated cluster of galaxies, which may dilute any intrinsic (weak) Fe emission lines from the active nucleus in low-resolution observations.

The advent of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, with unprecedented angular resolution (0.492′′/pixel) and improved sensitivity, makes significant progress possible in the study of the X-ray emission from the cores of radio-loud quasars. With Chandra, the X-ray emission from the nucleus can be isolated from the extended (kiloparsec-scale) jet emission and other extended components (e.g., thermal radiation from a cluster). Also, the X-ray spectral index and other features in the spectrum can be better quantified.

In this paper, we report on the X-ray properties of the nuclei of 17 radio-loud sources observed with Chandra. The sample was selected based on the properties of the extended radio features as part of a survey aimed at finding the jet X-ray and optical counterparts with Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The Chandra and multiwavelength jet properties of the first six observed sources were discussed in Sambruna et al. (2002b), while the remaning sources will be presented in a future publication. Here we concentrate on the X-ray properties of the cores in our Chandra images.

The plan of the paper is as follows: Section 2 presents the sample, the Chandra observations, and the analysis methods, Section 3 describes the results of the spatial, timing, and spectral analysis, and Section 4 discusses the implications of Section 3. Throughout this work, H$`{}_{0}{}^{}=75`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 and $`q_0=0.5`$ are adopted.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 The Sample

The selection criteria of the sample of 17 radio-loud sources are discussed in Sambruna et al. (2002b). Briefly, the sample was extracted from the list of radio jets of Bridle & Perley (1984) and Liu & Xie (1992) based on the length and brightness of the jet, in order to match the Chandra and HST observing capabilities. As a result, the sample contains 17 targets and is biased toward the presence of a bright radio jet. The targets include 16 quasars, 11 Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs, 5 Steep Spectrum Radio Quasars (SSRQs), and 1 nearby, low-power radio galaxy (0836+299). All the quasars have one-sided jets indicating that beaming is likely to be important in these sources.

Chandra and HST observations were awarded to us for 16 of the 17 sources in the sample. Chandra observations of the 17th source, 3C 207, were awarded to other investigators (Brunetti et al. 2002); we complete our sample with archival Chandra data of 3C 207. Table 1 lists the sources and their basic properties. Based on the listed ratio of core-to-jet radio power (Cheung et al. 2003), 11 sources are classified as core-dominated and 6 as lobe-dominated (Table 1, Col. 7).

All sources except 0836+299 are high-power radio sources (P$`_{1.4GHz}`$$`\stackrel{>}{}`$$`10^{32}`$ ergs s-1) and exhibit a Fanaroff-Riley II (FRII) radio morphology (Fanaroff & Riley 1974). The source 0836+299 has low-power (P$`{}_{1.4GHz}{}^{}3\times 10^{31}`$ ergs s-1) and a radio morphology resembling a Fanaroff-Riley I (FRI) (van Breugel et al. 1986). We classify this source as an FRI.

### 2.2 Data Acquisition, Reduction, and Analysis

The observations were made with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-S), with the sources at the nominal aimpoint on chip S3. The awarded exposures were 10 ks per target, with occasionally longer or shorter exposures to accommodate gaps in the Chandra observing schedule. To avoid pileup of the core, a 1/8 subarray mode was used with one operational CCD, reducing the frame time to 0.4 s. Despite this precaution, the nuclear X-ray emission was so strong that in 10/17 sources pileup was still present. The measured counts/frame for the piledup sources range from 0.1 to 0.5 counts/frame. Based on Figure 6.25 of the Chandra Proposer Observer Guide (POG), the pileup fraction in the sources of our sample ranges between 1% and 10%. Pileup is expected to produce significant changes to the spectral slopes ($`\delta \mathrm{\Gamma }<0.1`$) for observed count rates greater than 0.1 counts/frame.

The Chandra data were reduced using `CIAO` v. 2.1.2 and following standard criteria, using the latest calibration files provided by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC). Pixel randomization was removed and only events for ASCA grades 0, 2–4, and 6 were retained for the analysis. The data were further restricted to the energy range 0.5–8 keV, where the background is negligible and the ACIS-S calibration is best known. We also checked that no flaring background events occurred during the observations. After screening, the effective exposure times range between 8.4–10.4 ks, with one longer exposure, 37.5 ks (0838+133). Table 2 lists the details of the Chandra observations, where a flag has been added to denote the sources affected by pileup (Col. 5).

For the seven sources not affected by pileup (unpiled sources), X-ray fluxes and spectra were extracted using a circular region with a 2′′ radius centered on the brightest pixel. Based on the ACIS-S encircled energy fraction (Fig. 6.3 in the Chandra POG), a source extraction radius of 1′′ encircles $`\stackrel{>}{}`$ 90% of the flux of a point source at 1 keV. From this guideline and with our findings in the spatial analysis (Sect. 3.1, i.e., the radial profiles drop to zero around 2′′), we consider a source extraction region of 2′′ to contain all of the core flux. Smaller extraction regions (radius=1.5′′) were used for two objects (0802+103 and 0836+299) since the 2′′ aperture included emission from the X-ray jets. The background was estimated in a nearby region free of obvious sources, with a radius of 8′′. The net source counts in 0.5–8 keV after background subtraction are reported in Table 2. We estimated the total X-ray counts in the jet, by extracting the counts from a rectangular region of varying widths and heights to best suit the shape of the particular jet; the dimensions of the box are reported in Table 2. Also listed in Table 2 is the ratio of the core-to-jet X-ray counts (Col. 7); this ratio can be used to gauge the contribution of the jet to the total X-ray emission in previous, lower-resolution X-ray observations.

For the 10 sources affected by pileup of the nuclear flux, we list in Table 2 the total counts collected in a 2′′ radius circle. Since pileup is known to affect the spectral index, we extracted X-ray spectra for these objects using the counts in the wings of the PSF. For relatively low pileup rates, pileup is not believed to affect the wings of the PSF, only its core (within 0.5′′). We extracted the spectrum using an annulus centered on the source centroid with inner radius Rin and outer radius fixed at R$`{}_{out}{}^{}=3^{\prime \prime }`$. We experimented with various choices of Rin (from 0.5′′ to 1.5′′), and selected the radius that gave the maximum number of counts for spectral analysis, Rin=0.5′′. The ancillary files were corrected for the chosen annular extraction region, and used for the spectral fits.

#### 2.2.1 Spatial Analysis

Spatial analysis was performed on all 17 sources. Our aim was to investigate whether diffuse X-ray emission is present around the cores, or whether the X-ray radial profile is entirely consistent with the instrumental point spread function (PSF).

The instrumental PSFs were created using the PSF library for the ACIS camera at 1.5 keV, from the Chandra Calibration Database (CALDB). The CIAO tool `mkpsf` simulates a point source, and the tool `dmimgcalc` normalizes the instrumental PSF to the count rate of a specific nucleus. The extraction of radial profiles allows the data from this normalized image to be compared to the observations.

Radial profiles were extracted using the `CIAO` tools `dmextract` and `dmtcalc`, after restricting the images to the energy range of Chandra sensitivity, 0.5–8 keV, and cleaning them of features that would contaminate the radial profiles. Specifically, serendipitous X-ray sources in the field (as for 0605$``$085, 1136$``$135) were removed, as well as X-ray counterparts of extended radio features (Table 2, Col. 6). Additionally, for piledup sources (Table 2, Col. 5), the charge transfer trail from the nucleus was removed. The `CIAO` tools `dmextract` and `dmtcalc` only calculate a monochromatic PSF, while it is well known that the ACIS PSF is energy-dependent. Following Donato et al. (2003) and Worrall et al. (2001), we calculated PSF profiles at eight different energies (0.73, 0.98, 1.23, 1.63, 2.13, 3.03, 5.48, 7.23 keV) and assigned a weight according to the distribution of photons as a function of energy. The PSF used for comparison with the observed radial profiles is the weighted sum of the energy-dependent PSFs.

Upon the cleaned images, centered on the source centroid, forty annuli of equal width (0.5′′) were placed in order to extract the radial profiles out to 20′′. The background was extracted from an annular region, centered on the source centroid with an inner radius Rin=21′′ and an outer radius Rout=26′′, outside the region of the profile. For the nearby FRI radio galaxy 0836+299, the radial profiles were extracted from wider annuli (1.25′′ radius) up to 25′′ from the core. The background for this object was extracted from an annular region with an inner radius Rin=26′′ and an outer radius Rout=31′′. This is the maximum distance allowed in the 1/8 subarray mode. For sources affected by core pileup we normalized the PSF to the observed radial profile at the fourth pixel, (as suggested by the Chandra POG) otherwise, the final PSF was normalized to the first pixel.

#### 2.2.2 Timing Analysis

To check for time variability of the source flux within the Chandra exposure, we extracted light curves of the cores using the `FTOOL` “lcurve” v. 1.0 (XRONOS 5.16). Light curves were extracted from the 2′′ radius core region in the 0.5–8 keV energy range. The light curves were plotted at a variety of binnings (100–750 second intervals) to check for patterns that might suggest short-timescale variability. To decide if variability was present, we performed a standard $`\chi ^2`$ test. We tested for significant deviations from the average count rate within the light curves. The value for $`\chi ^2`$ varied with the different binnings but not significantly. Listed in Table 3 are the $`\chi ^2`$ values calculated from the 500 second bins and the probability P$`_{\chi ^2}`$ at this binning. This is the probability that the light curve is constant.

#### 2.2.3 Spectral Analysis

Spectral analysis was performed within `XSPEC` v.11.0.1. To account for the recently observed quantum efficiency decay of ACIS, possibly caused by molecular contamination of the ACIS filters, we have applied a time-dependent correction to the ACIS quantum efficiency based on the presently available information from the CXC. The fits were restricted to the energy range 0.5–8.0 keV, where the background contribution is negligible and where the ACIS-S calibration is best known, especially regarding the ACIS-S gain.

Generally, we performed spectral analysis only for sources where 100 counts or more were detected from the core (unpiled sources) or from the PSF wings (piledup sources; see above). The spectra were rebinned to have a minimum of 20 counts in each new bin, in order to apply the $`\chi ^2`$ statistics. For the low-power source 0836+299, only 80 counts were detected from the core. Although this is formally less than our threshold number of counts for spectral analysis, inspection of the distribution of counts versus energy in this source reveals an interesting spectrum (see below). In light of our interest in this source (the only low-power, FRI source of our sample), we performed spectral analysis for 0836+299 with a different binning (15 cts/bin).

To begin, we fitted all sources with a single power law model with an absorption column density fixed to the Galactic value (Table 1, Col. 5), using solar abundances and the Morrison & McCammon (1983) cross sections. Next, several multi-component models were fitted to the ACIS spectra of the nuclei, until the minimum $`\chi ^2`$ was obtained. The significance of adding more complex models to the fit was estimated via the F-test probability over the original fit. We report both the simple power law fits and the significant multi-component fits.

## 3 Results

Below we present the results from the spatial, timing, and spectral analysis for the whole sample. Tables 3–7 report the results in numerical form.

### 3.1 Spatial Properties

We find that in 16/17 sources there is no evidence for diffuse X-ray emission around the cores in the short Chandra exposures: the background-subtracted radial profiles drop to zero around 2′′, with most ($``$90%) of the flux contained within 1′′. In these cases, the observed radial profile is entirely consistent with the instrumental PSF. Figure 1a shows the radial profile for 0405$``$123, which is an example of the 16 quasi-stellar sources without diffuse emission, together with the residuals (ratios of the data to the PSF).

However, evidence for diffuse X-ray emission is present in the case of 0836+299, the only FRI of the sample. As Figure 1b clearly shows, this object has an excess of X-ray emission over the PSF and the background at 2–3$`\sigma `$ level at 5′′ from the core. This is in keeping with the results of Worrall et al. (2001), who find that extended X-ray halos are a common property of low-power radio galaxies.

We tried a fit to the radial profile with a King profile; however, the parameters of the model (the $`\beta `$ value and the core radius) are unconstrained. The intrinsic 0.4–5 keV luminosity of the diffuse emission is L$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}=3.3\times 10^{41}`$ ergs s-1 (assuming a Raymond-Smith thermal plasma with temperature $`kT=1`$ keV, solar abundances, and a Galactic column density), within the range measured for other FRIs (L$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}2.64.2\times 10^{41}`$ ergs s-1 (Worrall et al. 2001). Deeper ACIS observations are needed to confirm the presence of diffuse X-ray emission around the core of 0836+299 and better quantify its properties.

We can determine limits for the detection of galaxy halos for all of the quasars of the sample, since each has a core radial profile that is consistent with a point source. Any small-scale diffuse X-ray emission, if present, is confined within 1′′, corresponding to 3.7 kpc at $`z`$=0.302 and 5.5 kpc at $`z`$=1.956, the two extreme redshifts of the quasar sample. In this case, while we can not resolve the diffuse component spatially, we could in principle detect a thermal emission component in the X-ray spectrum of the core. Alternatively, any diffuse larger-scale X-ray emission, if present on scales $`>`$1′′, is too weak to be detected in our short Chandra exposures, and we can determine a detection threshold.

To assess our sensitivity to the thermal component, we performed a simulation with `XSPEC` assuming a power law model (associated with the active nucleus) with photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=`$1.66 (average value from the sample) and flux F$`{}_{210keV}{}^{}=8\times 10^{13}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1, at a median redshift of $`z`$=0.6. We added a Raymond-Smith thermal component with temperature $`kT=1`$ keV (typical of FRIs’ halos), abundance fixed to 0.5 solar, and varied its normalization until the thermal component was no longer detected significantly, according to the F-test. We find that the latter occurs for a flux, F$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}=5.9\times 10^{14}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1, which corresponds to an intrinsic luminosity, L$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}=4.8\times 10^{43}`$ ergs s-1, greater than the typical halo luminosity measured for FRIs. A similar flux limit is obtained for 0838+133, although it has a longer exposure, since its X-ray core is 4 times brighter than our average model.

To assess our sensitivity to diffuse emission on larger-scales ($`>`$1′′, $``$10 kpc), we performed `MARX` simulations. We assumed a point source with an average core X-ray flux of $`8\times 10^{13}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1, at a median redshift of $`z`$=0.6 and a spectrum described by a power law with a photon index of 1.66. Following Worrall et al. (2001), the point source was described spatially as a Gaussian with width $`\sigma =0.2`$ to account for the aspect solution. For the diffuse X-ray emission we assumed a modified King profile for cluster emission, with the core radius fixed at 2′′ (or 10 kpc intrinsic size for $`z`$=0.6), and the $`\beta `$ parameter fixed at 0.8, and varied the 0.5–8 keV flux. We find that diffuse X-ray emission can be detected down to a surface brightness of $`1\times 10^{14}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 arcsec-2 for a 10 ks exposure, corresponding to the luminosity, L$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}=8.5\times 10^{43}`$ ergs s-1.

We conclude that, with the exception of the nearby low-power galaxy 0836+299, no diffuse X-ray emission related to the host galaxy’s halo or cluster was detected around the cores of the quasars in our sample, even in the case of 0838+133, which was observed for a significantly longer exposure (37 ks). Since our exposures were short ($``$10 ks) and the detected nuclear emission is relatively strong, it is possible that the diffuse emission is just too weak to be detected against a very bright core in these relatively distant quasars. Our simulations show that any unresolved ($`\stackrel{<}{}`$1′′) diffuse emission on the scale of the galaxy halo would be fainter than F$`{}_{0.45keV}{}^{}=5.9\times 10^{14}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1, while any larger-scale diffuse emission would have a surface brightness $`\stackrel{<}{}`$ $`1\times 10^{14}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 arcsec-2.

### 3.2 X-ray variability on short and long timescales

Most (13/17) of the sources in this sample are classified as variable at optical and other wavelengths, and two of them are also known from previous studies to exhibit long- and short-term variations of the X-ray flux. The blazar 1510$``$089 showed a factor of $``$3.5 variation in flux on a timescale $``$2 years, between survey and pointed observations with ROSAT (Siebert et al. 1996). The blazar 1641+399 showed a factor of $``$2 variation also on a timescale $``$2 years (Sambruna 1997). Here we examine whether short-term variability is also present within our Chandra exposures.

Table 3 reports the results of the $`\chi ^2`$ test applied to the 500s-bins Chandra light curves of the core, and the probability that the light curve is constant ($`\chi ^2`$ probability). No high-amplitude variability is present based on this test.

Only 1510$``$089 has a large enough reduced $`\chi ^2`$ value, $`\chi _r^2`$=2.63, to indicate possible variability. Inspection of its light curve shows erratic excursions of the X-ray flux, with no apparent regular trend at the 500s binning. For this reason the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test for a probability of constancy was applied to this object at a variety of binnings. The results of this test show that the probability of constancy for this object is 6.7% at binnings of 750, 250 and 100 seconds, but is 10% at a binning of 500s, the most erratic bin set. In other words, according to the KS test the probability of variability in the light curve ranges between 90% and 93.3%. Figure 2 shows the light curve for this object binned at 750s. A change of the flux by a factor of 1.4 within 25 minutes is apparent.

We also investigated whether the flux variability in 1510$``$089 is energy-dependent. Light curves binned at 750 s were accumulated in a soft (0.3–1 keV) and a hard (2–8 keV) energy band, and the $`\chi ^2`$ and KS tests were applied. At soft X-rays we find a 92% probability of variation in the light curve, and at hard X-rays we find a 96% probability of variation. We conclude that variability is present at both soft and hard X-rays in 1510$``$089.

In conclusion, none of the objects decisively demonstrated short-term, high-amplitude variability in our Chandra exposures. The only exception is 1510$``$089 which showed a low-amplitude flux change within a timescale of $``$ 25 minutes. We suggest long-exposure observations with Chandra or XMM-Newton of this object for confirmation of this result.

We also checked for long-term X-ray variability by comparing the Chandra flux with previously published X-ray fluxes from other experiments. We decided to compare the monochromatic 1 keV fluxes, because these are less sensitive to the shape of the X-ray continuum and are not based on the different waveband sensitivities of earlier experiments. The Chandra monochromatic flux at 1 keV is reported in Table 7 for each object, while previous X-ray observations of the sources in our sample are listed in Appendix A. As a caveat it is worth noting that the X-ray fluxes from the pre-Chandra experiments used much larger extraction radii (of the order of arcminutes); however, as shown by our spatial analysis, the nucleus is the dominant source of X-ray emission in these regions. In Table 7, five objects are found to be long-term X-ray variables: 0405$``$123 shows a factor of $``$1.5 decrease in 9 years (Sambruna 1997); 1055+018 a factor of $``$1.5 increase in 8 years (Siebert et al. 1998); 1354+195 a factor of $``$3 decrease in $``$20 years (Biermann et al. 1987); 1510$``$089 a factor of $``$1.5 decrease in $``$8 years (Siebert et al. 1998 and Singh et al. 1990); and 1928+738 a factor of $``$2 decrease in 10 years (Lawson et al. 1992).

### 3.3 X-ray continuum emission

Quasar cores: The results of the spectral fits with a single power law plus fixed Galactic absorption are reported in Table 4, including the observed 2–10 keV fluxes, and the intrinsic (absorption-corrected) 2–10 keV luminosities. All fitted parameters are listed with their 90% confidence errors, ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$=2.7 for one parameter of interest).

In general, a single power law plus Galactic absorption provides an acceptable description of the 0.5–8 keV continua, as judged by inspection of the residuals and from the values of $`\chi _r^2`$ from Table 4. For two sources (0838+133 and 1040+123), this model provides a large $`\chi _r^2`$ 1.26; inspection of the residuals shows the presence of random fluctuations indicating a noisy spectrum. Complex models do not improve the fits of these two objects.

The single power law plus Galactic NH model is not an adequate description of the X-ray continuum in 6 quasars (0405$``$123, 1055+018, 1150+497, 1354+195, 1510$``$089, and 1641+399). These sources show complex residuals which require additional spectral components at low energies. In all six cases, excess flux at soft X-rays ($``$1 keV) is present over the extrapolation of the power law model. We modeled the soft excess flux in terms of three possible alternative models: a) thermal bremmstrahlung, b) blackbody, and c) broken power law. In all cases, a broken power law with a steep index below $``$1.6 keV is the preferred model based on the $`\chi _r^2`$. These best-fit models are reported in Table 5.

No excess absorption was detected in the quasars of our sample, including the quasar 0838+133, for which Brunetti et al. (2002) found excess column density over Galactic. After making a correction for the molecular contamination of ACIS, the column density we measured in 0838+133 was consistent with Galactic values.

The low-power radio galaxy 0836+299: In this source, inspection of the spectrum shows a marked deficit of counts below 2 keV, indicating large excess absorption over the Galactic value. A formal fit with a single power law plus free absorption converges to a negative value of the photon index and zero column density, which simply parameterizes excess absorption at low energies, and is not physically acceptable. We fitted the spectrum of 0836+299 with a power law plus Galactic NH model, adding an extra column density at the redshift of the source in the assumption that the excess absorption is intrinsic (this is a nearby source). Because of the limited number of counts, the photon index of the power law was fixed to the average found for the other lobe-dominated sources ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.69`$; see below). We found a significant intrinsic column density, N$`{}_{H}{}^{}5\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 (Table 5). The fitted column does not vary significantly if the photon index is fixed to the extrema of the range observed for this sample.

### 3.4 Fe K-shell emission

As discussed above (Sect. 1), Fe K-shell emission in higher-luminosity sources, both radio-quiet and radio-loud, is not well established. Interestingly, we find evidence for possible Fe K line emission in two sources of our sample, 0723+679 and 1150+497, and possibly in a third object, 1642+690.

Inspection of the residuals of the power law models shows excess emission around 3.5 keV, 4.8 keV, and 3.7 keV for 0723+679, 1150+497, and 1642+690, respectively. These energies are consistent with the redshifted Fe K$`\alpha `$ line energy, 6.4 keV. To model the line, a Gaussian component was added to the power law models reported in Table 4 for each of the three sources. The significance of the $`\chi ^2`$ improvement is 97% for 0723+679 and 1150+497, and 94% for 1642+690. In Figure 3 we show the best-fit model and data for 0723+679 and 1150+497, for which the line detections are more significant. Also shown in Fig. 3 are the confidence contours for the line flux versus line width in both sources. The Fe K$`\alpha `$ line is detected at the $`\stackrel{>}{}`$90% confidence level and is always unresolved. Since the line is unresolved, we fixed the line width at $`\sigma =0.05`$ keV, lower than the S3 resolution (from Fig. 6.6 from the Chandra POG, $`\sigma 0.2`$ keV at 6 keV), and performed the fit— leaving the Gaussian center energy and normalization free to vary. The fitted parameters (energy and EW, both in the rest-frame) for a narrow line are listed in Table 6a, with their 90% confidence errors. The fitted rest-frame emission line energies are consistent with the K$`\alpha `$ fluorescent line from cold Fe. The fitted, rest-frame EWs are 164$`{}_{138}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+455}`$, 296$`{}_{203}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+538}`$, and 188$`{}_{54}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+748}`$ eV for 0723+679, 1150+497, and 1642+690, respectively. Deeper observations of these targets with Chandra and/or XMM-Newton are needed to confirm the line and study its profile.

For the remaining 14 sources, we determined an upper limit to the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line EWs. We fitted the spectra adding a Gaussian component at an energy consistent with the redshifted energy of the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line and assumed an unresolved line ($`\sigma =0.05`$ keV). The 90% confidence upper limits on the line EWs (in the source’s rest-frame) are reported in Table 6b. For one source (0836+299) the data included too few counts from the hard X-ray spectrum to determine an upper limit for the Fe K$`\alpha `$ emission line.

## 4 Summary and Discussion

We presented the X-ray properties of the cores of 16 radio-loud quasars and one low-power radio galaxy observed with Chandra in short ($``$10 ks) exposures. The targets were selected for their large-scale radio properties, so the Chandra observations were optimized for the detection of radio jets at X-rays. Thus, the sample is not statistical as far as the core and extended properties are concerned.

The Chandra resolution allows us to separate the nuclear X-ray emission from the extended (kpc-scale) jet for the first time. In general, we find that the cores dominate the total X-ray emission from the source, with a large ratio of core-to-jet counts (Table 2, Col. 6). The only exceptions are the lobe-dominated sources 0802+103 and 0836+299, where the core X-ray emission is comparable to and smaller than the jet, respectively. However, it is necessary to stress that the 2′′ aperture used for the core spectrum extraction corresponds to a region of intrinsic size $``$10 kpc at a median redshift of $`z`$=0.6 ($``$2 kpc in the near source 0836+299). So, the “core” X-ray emission measured with Chandra is likely contaminated by the inner regions of the jet. Indeed, the ratios of the jet-to-counterjet flux from radio observations (Cheung et al. 2003) indicate that most of the jets in these sources are closely aligned to our line of sight. Worrall et al. (2001) also found that the X-ray jet is a substantial fraction of the total X-ray output in the B2 FRI sample.

### 4.1 Nuclear X-ray Emission

The X-ray continua can be described by a power law, with further spectral complexities (cold absorption in excess of Galactic, soft excess, Fe K line) in 9/17 sources. Using the photon indices from the best-fit models in Table 4 and 5, we calculated the average slope of the 2–10 keV continuum. In the cases with a soft excess (Table 5), we used the photon index above the break energy. The average photon index for the whole sample is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{sample}=1.66`$ with standard deviation $`\sigma _{sample}=0.23`$.

It is interesting to compare the average X-ray slope from our sample ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{sample}`$=1.66, $`\sigma _{sample}=0.23`$), with the slope derived for radio sources (BLRGs and quasars) with jets that are known to be oriented at large angles to the line of sight (Hasenkopf et al. 2002; Eracleous & Halpern 1998). These sources have inclination angles larger than 15 (Eracleous & Halpern 1998), or are classical radio doubles where the line of sight is not too close to the jet (Hasenkopf et al. 2002). From ASCA, RXTE, and BeppoSAX observations of these sources, an average photon index of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.83`$ and dispersion 0.04 is obtained in a range of intrinsic X-ray luminosities similar to our sources. The average slope for the more misaligned sources is steeper than for our sources (within large dispersions), supporting the idea that contamination from the unresolved, inner parts of a jet is present in our sample. Indeed, the average photon index for our quasars is consistent with the average X-ray photon index measured with BeppoSAX for a sample of gamma-ray bright blazars (Tavecchio et al. 2000), where beaming is important. The average slope for our sample is also flatter than for radio-quiet quasars, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{RQQ}=1.89`$ and dispersion 0.05 (Reeves & Turner 2000).

Previous studies of radio-loud quasars with ROSAT (Elvis et al. 1994) indicated the presence of excess cold absorption over the Galactic value in high-z sources. At odds with this result, we do not find evidence for excess X-ray absorption in our two $`z>1`$ quasars, 0802+103 ($`z`$=1.96) and 1040+123 ($`z`$=1.03). Interestingly, we do find evidence for excess X-ray absorption in the closest source of the sample, 0836+299 (see Sect. 4.3).

In 6/17 sources, excess X-ray flux at soft energies is detected. Our best-fit parameterization is a broken power law, with a steep component below 1 keV. Inspection of the Spectral Energy Distributions of these soft excess quasars using data compiled by us shows that the best sampled sources of this group (0405$``$123, 1354+195, 1510$``$089, and 1641+399) exhibit a Blue Bump (BB) in the optical part of the spectrum. It is likely that the soft X-ray excess detected in our ACIS-S spectra is related to the high-energy tail of the BB, for which a possible origin is thermal emission from an optically thick accretion disk (e.g., Czerny & Elvis 1987). This would indicate the presence of a strong isotropic radiation field in these sources which is important for models of their high-energy emission (Tavecchio et al. 2000). Alternatively, the soft X-ray excess could be related to non-thermal (synchrotron) emission from the inner jet. In this case, one could expect to observe significant short-term flux variability as a result of synchrotron radiative losses. The possible detection of flux changes on timescales of $``$25 minutes in 1510$``$089, if confirmed, would indicate the presence of non-thermal emission at soft X-rays in this source. Future XMM-Newton observations are needed to confirm and better study the soft X-ray excess in the quasars of our sample.

We detect an Fe K$`\alpha `$ emission line in two sources (0723+679 and 1150+497) and possibly in a third (1642+690) source. The detection of such a line is very interesting di per se, because the presence of Fe K-shell emission from high-luminosity AGNs in general, and from radio-loud sources in particular, is still not established (see Sect. 1). While it is important to confirm these lines and study their profile with higher-quality X-ray spectra, we note that their measured rest-frame EWs (Table 6a) are consistent with the EWs of the other radio-sources with a double-lobe radio morphology and similar intrinsic X-ray luminosity recently studied by ASCA (Hasenkopf et al. 2002). Usually, dilution of the X-ray continuum by a beamed jet component would weaken the strength of the Fe K lines in radio-loud quasars. This could suggest weaker beaming in 0723+679 (indeed a SSRQ) and in 1150+497 and 1642+690 (both FSRQs).

Although beaming is present in all the quasars of our sample as indicated by their broad-band X-ray continuum properties, we conclude that beaming is likely to affect the individual sources to a different degree.

### 4.2 Core- and Lobe-Dominated Sources

Splitting the sample into core- and lobe-dominated sources based on Table 1 (Col. 7), we find no difference in the average photon index for the two subgroups: for the 11 core-dominated quasars, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{cd}=1.65`$ and $`\sigma _{cd}=0.25`$, and for the five lobe-dominated sources $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ld}=1.69`$ with $`\sigma _{ld}=0.20`$. If we exclude the unusually flat source 0838+133 (the only lobe-dominated source with strong core pileup), the range of the photon index for the lobe-dominated sources is greatly constrained: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ld}=1.77`$ and $`\sigma _{ld}=0.08`$.

Figure 4 shows the plot of the X-ray photon index from Table 4 or 5 versus the ratio of core-to-extended flux $`R_i`$ from Table 1. Our measurements of the extended radio flux included contributions from the kpc-scale jets, which are presumably still beamed to some degree, so our values of $`R_i`$ do not follow the usual convention (Orr & Browne 1982). Nevertheless our derived values are consistent with values from the literature, where available (Cheung et al. 2003) and can be used to gauge the relative importance of beaming in these objects. There is neither any trend between the slope of the X-ray photon index and $`R_i`$ for the whole sample, nor for individual subgroups. The distribution of slopes for the core-dominated quasars overlaps with the distribution for lobe-dominated ones, and extends to flatter slopes; 4/11 core-dominated sources have slopes $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $`\stackrel{<}{}`$ 1.6, while 4/5 lobe-dominated are steeper than this value.

We conclude that no difference in X-ray spectral slope is present between the core- and lobe-dominated subgroups of our sample. This result is not unexpected, as all the quasars including the SSRQs have one-sided radio jets and beaming is important in all cases. Larger samples of both core- and lobe-dominated quasars with optimal selection criteria are needed to verify these X-ray spectral properties.

We also compared the broad-band spectral distributions of both quasar subclasses. Broad-band spectral indices between radio (5 GHz) and optical (V band), $`\alpha _{ro}`$, between optical and X-rays (1 keV), $`\alpha _{ox}`$, and between radio and X-rays, $`\alpha _{rx}`$, were calculated using published values and the Chandra fluxes from this work. Figure 5 shows the plot of the broad-band indices, $`\alpha _{ro}`$ versus $`\alpha _{ox}`$, while the broad-band monochromatic values and the plotted indices are listed in Table 7. We see no marked difference between core- and lobe-dominated objects from the broad-band spectra. Overall, the quasars of our sample occupy a region of steeper radio-to-optical flux ratios than usually found for blazars (e.g., Donato et al. 2001), possibly as a result of their selection criteria based on prominent radio emission. The outlier in Figure 5 is the FRI source 0836+299 (see below), which stands out for its flatter $`\alpha _{ox}`$ than the rest of the sample.

### 4.3 The low-power radio galaxy 0836+299.

The nearby FRI radio galaxy 0836+299 has interesting properties which distinguish it from the other quasars in our sample. This is the only source with evidence for diffuse X-ray emission on the galaxy’s halo scale, with X-ray luminosities consistent with other FRIs (Worrall et al. 2001).

Interestingly, we find evidence for excess absorption from the core, with column density N$`{}_{H}{}^{}5\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 (Table 5). This is at odds with the recent claim (Hardcastle et al. 2002 and references therein) that FRIs lack intrinsic X-ray absorption. Suggested scenarios explain the lack of column density by considering that FRIs do not have a molecular torus obscuring the isotropic core emission, or that the inner jet contributes to the X-ray emission on scales larger than the torus. Corroborating evidence for these scenarios was provided by optical studies with HST of a sample of FRIs (Chiaberge et al. 2000), showing a high detection rate of nuclear point sources.

Our findings for 0836+299 (and for other FRIs studied at X-rays by our group) show that at least some FRIs possess excess X-ray absorption. The optical extinction implied by the X-ray column density is A$`{}_{V}{}^{}240`$ mag, using Galactic gas-to-dust ratios (A$`{}_{V}{}^{}5\times 10^{22}`$ NH mag/cm-2). A nuclear dust lane has been observed in 0836+299 in ground-based optical images (van Breugel et al. 1986) and in our HST images (Scarpa et al. 2003). In fact, the source has a flat $`\alpha _{ox}`$ index and is a luminous IR source detected with IRAS at 25 and 60$`\mu `$m (Golombek et al. 1988), indicating the presence of dust.

The amount of reddening for the optical nuclear light is A$`{}_{V}{}^{}=1.2`$ mag (van Breugel et al. 1986). This is much less than the reddening derived from our X-ray column. Therefore, it seems likely that at least part of the X-ray absorber originates in a different component than the gas responsible for the optical reddening (unless that gas-to-dust ratio is much different from Galactic; e.g., Maiolino et al. 2001). The origin of the X-ray absorbing medium in 0836+299, as in other FRIs studied by us (Sambruna et al. 2003), is not clear. For large inclinations ($`\stackrel{>}{}`$80°), a natural possibility is the molecular torus. Indeed, the column density we measure for 0836+299 is consistent with edge-on Seyfert 2s (Risaliti et al. 1999), and the small value of $`R_i`$ in Table 1 for this galaxy suggests large inclinations. Alternatively, it was proposed that the X-ray absorbing medium is photoionized gas inside the torus (Weingartner & Murray 2002).

Independent of the origin of the X-ray absorber in 0836+299, the existence of intrinsic obscuration of FRIs remains a controversial topic, at best. A larger sample of FRIs observed with Chandra and XMM-Newton is needed to address this issue, which would complement ongoing HST studies by other groups (Chiaberge et al. 2002).

Appendix A: Previous X-ray observations

In Table A, we collected the results from previous X-ray observations of the sources of our sample, for comparison with the Chandra spectral results in Table 4-5.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to M. Gliozzi and D. Donato for their assistance with the spatial analysis. JKG and RMS are funded by NASA grants NAS8-39073 and GO 1-2110A, the latter operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. CMU acknowledges support from LTSA grant NAG5-9327. CCC acknowledges that radio astronomy at Brandeis University is supported by the NSF. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


text:
# The variety of characters in PSL₂(ℂ)

## 1 Introduction

The varieties of representations and characters have many applications in 3-dimensional topology and geometry. The variety of $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$-characters has been intensively studied since the seminal paper of Culler and Shalen \[CS\], but for many applications it is more convenient to work with $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ instead of $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ (see \[BZ\] and \[BMP\] for instance). The purpose of this note is to study some basic properties of the variety of characters in $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$. Most of the results of invariant theory that we use can be found in any standard reference (e.g. \[KSS\], \[Kra\], \[PV\]).

Throughout this paper, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ will denote a finitely generated group.

###### Definition 1.1

The set of all representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is denoted by $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ and it is called the *variety of representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$*.

The variety of representations $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ has a natural structure as an affine algebraic set over the complex numbers given as follows: the group $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is algebraic (see Section 2). Given a presentation $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _s(r_i)_{iI}`$ we have a natural embedding:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill R(\mathrm{\Gamma })& & \mathrm{PSL}_2()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{PSL}_2()\hfill \\ \hfill \rho & & (\rho (\gamma _1),\mathrm{},\rho (\gamma _s))\hfill \end{array}$$

and the defining equations are induced by the relations. This structure can be easily seen to be independent of the presentation. In fact using the isomorphism $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()\mathrm{SO}_3()`$, $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ has a structure of an affine set (see Lemma 2.1).

The action of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ on $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ by conjugation is algebraic. The quotient $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })/\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ may be not Hausdorff and it is more convenient to consider the algebraic quotient of invariant theory, because $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is reductive.

###### Definition 1.2

The *variety of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$-characters* $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is the quotient $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })//\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ of invariant theory.

This definition means that $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is an affine algebraic set together with a regular map $`t:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ which induces an isomorphism

$$t^{}:[X(\mathrm{\Gamma })][R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]^{\mathrm{PSL}_2()}$$

(i.e. the regular functions on $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ are precisely the regular functions on $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ invariant by conjugation). We will use the notation $`R(M)=R(\pi _1M)`$ and $`X(M)=X(\pi _1M)`$ if $`M`$ is a path-connected topological space.

In this paper we study the basic properties of $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$.

First we explain the name “variety of characters”: given a representation $`\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$, its character is the map

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \chi _\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }& & \hfill \\ \hfill \gamma & & \mathrm{tr}^2(\rho (\gamma ))\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Theorem 1.3

There is a natural bijection between $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ and the set of characters of representations $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. This bijection maps every $`t(\rho )X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ to the character $`\chi _\rho `$.

In many cases the representations of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ lift to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$, for instance if $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a free group. In such a case, $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is just a quotient of the usual variety of characters in $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ (See Proposition 4.2). This quotient is the definition already used in \[Bur90\], \[HLM1\],\[HLM2\] and \[Ril84\] for 2-bridge knot exteriors. The explicit computation for the figure eight knot exterior is found in \[GM\].

There are cases where representations do not lift to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$, for instance the holonomy representation of an orientable hyperbolic 3-orbifold with 2 torsion. The next result proves that there are manifolds with arbitrarily many components of characters that do not lift.

###### Theorem 1.4

For every $`n`$, there exist a compact irreducible 3-manifold $`M`$ with $`M`$ a 2-torus such that $`X(M)`$ has at least $`n`$ irreducible one dimensional components whose characters do not lift to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$.

In Section 2 we prove Theorem 1.3. In Section 3 we study the fiber of the projection $`t:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, introducing the different notions of irreducibility. Section 4 is devoted to the study of lifts of representations and the proof of Theorem 1.4. In the last section we determine the singular set of $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ when $`\mathrm{\Gamma }F_n`$ is the free group of rank $`n3`$.

## 2 Invariants of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$

Before proving Theorem 1.3 we quickly review some basic notions of algebraic geometry and invariant theory (that the reader may prefer to skip and go directly to the proof in Subsection 2.3). For details see \[KSS\], \[Kra\] or \[PV\].

### 2.1 Basic notions of invariant theory

A closed algebraic subset $`Z^N`$ is called *affine*. We denote by $`[Z]`$ the ring of regular functions on $`Z`$. An algebraic group $`G`$ that acts algebraically on $`Z`$ acts naturally on $`[Z]`$ via $`gf(z):=f(g^1z)`$. We denote by $`[Z]^G`$ the ring of invariant functions, i.e. functions $`f[Z]`$ for which $`gf=f`$ for all $`gG`$.

The group $`G`$ is called *reductive* if it has the following property: for each finite dimensional rational representation $`\rho :G\mathrm{GL}(V)`$ and every $`G`$-invariant subspace $`WV`$ there exist a complementary $`G`$-invariant subspace $`W^{}V`$, i.e. $`V=W^{}W`$.

If $`Z`$ is affine and $`G`$ is reductive, then the ring $`[Z]^G`$ is finitely generated. The affine set $`Y`$ such that $`[Y][Z]^G`$ is called the *algebraic quotient* and it is denoted by $`Z//G`$.

We shall use the following properties of reductive groups:

* By Maschke’s theorem, finite groups are reductive.
* More generally, let $`G\mathrm{GL}_n()`$ be a linear algebraic group. The group $`G`$ is reductive if there is a Zariski-dense subgroup $`KG`$ which is compact in the classical topology. It follows that $`\mathrm{GL}_n()`$, $`\mathrm{SL}_n()`$, $`\text{O}_n()`$, $`\text{SO}_n()`$ and $`\text{Sp}_n()`$ are reductive.
* Let $`G`$ be a reductive linear algebraic group. Let $`Y`$ and $`Z`$ be varieties on which $`G`$ acts and let $`f:XY`$ be a $`G`$-invariant regular map. If $`f^{}:[Y][X]`$ is surjective then $`f^{}([Y]^G)=[X]^G`$ holds.

### 2.2 Algebraic structure of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$

The group $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is algebraic, it is the quotient of $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ by the finite group $`\{\pm \mathrm{Id}\}`$.

It is useful to recall the isomorphism with $`\mathrm{SO}_3()`$, that we construct next. We denote by

$$\mathrm{Ad}:\mathrm{PSL}_2()\mathrm{Aut}(𝔰𝔩_2())$$

the adjoint action of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ on its Lie algebra $`𝔰𝔩_2()`$. The Killing form on $`𝔰𝔩_2()`$ is a non degenerate symmetric bilinear form over $``$. For each $`A\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$, $`\mathrm{Ad}(A)`$ preserves the Killing form and $`det(\mathrm{Ad}(A))=1`$, hence $`\mathrm{Ad}(\mathrm{PSL}_2())\mathrm{SO}_3()`$. The following lemma is well known from representation theory (see for instance \[FH\]):

###### Lemma 2.1

The action of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ on the Lie algebra induces an isomorphism $`\mathrm{Ad}:\mathrm{PSL}_2()\mathrm{SO}_3()`$.

In this paper the trace will be abbreviated by $`\mathrm{tr}`$, and $`\mathrm{tr}^2(A)`$ stands for $`(\mathrm{tr}(A))^2`$. By direct computation we obtain the equality

$$\mathrm{tr}(\mathrm{Ad}(A))=\mathrm{tr}^2(A)1=\mathrm{tr}(A^2)+1\text{ for all }A\mathrm{PSL}_2()$$
(1)
that will be used later.

Given $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$, we have a well defined function

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \tau _\gamma :R(\mathrm{\Gamma })& & \hfill \\ \hfill \rho & & \mathrm{tr}^2(\rho (\gamma ))\hfill \end{array}$$

Since it is invariant by conjugation, it induces a function

$$J_\gamma :X(\mathrm{\Gamma }).$$

### 2.3 Proof of Theorem 1.3

Theorem 1.3 is a consequence of:

###### Proposition 2.2

The ring of invariant functions $`[R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]^{\mathrm{PSL}_2()}`$ is generated by the functions $`\tau _\gamma `$, with $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

###### Proof.

There is a surjection $`\psi :F_n\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ where $`F_n`$ is a free group of rank $`n`$. We obtain an inclusion $`\psi ^{}:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })R(F_n)`$. This inclusion induces a surjection $`\psi _{}:[R(F_n)][R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$. Now, $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is reductive and acts regularly by conjugation on the representation varieties. Hence we obtain a surjection

$$\psi _{}:[R(F_n)]^{\mathrm{PSL}_2()}[R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]^{\mathrm{PSL}_2()}$$

and it is sufficient to prove the proposition for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=F_n`$ since $`\psi _{}(\tau _\gamma )=\tau _{\psi (\gamma )}`$.

Using Lemma 2.1 and (1), we have to prove that $`[R(F_n)]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}`$ is generated by the trace functions on elements of $`F_n`$. Equivalently, we claim that

$$[\mathrm{SO}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{SO}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}$$

is generated by traces of products of matrices and their transposes.

Let $`\mathrm{M}_3()`$ denote the algebra of $`3\times 3`$ matrices with complex coefficients. The group $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()\mathrm{SO}_3()`$ acts on the product $`\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()`$ diagonally by conjugation. A theorem of Aslaksen, Tan and Zhu (see \[ATZ\]) states that the algebra of invariant functions

$$[\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}$$

is generated by the traces of products of matrices and their transposes. Thus the proof of the proposition reduces to show that we have a natural surjection

$$[\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}[\mathrm{SO}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{SO}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}.$$

Since $`\mathrm{SO}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{SO}_3()\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()`$ is a closed subvariety we obtain a natural surjection

$$[\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()][\mathrm{SO}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{SO}_3()]$$

which is of course $`\mathrm{SO}_3()`$-invariant. Using the fact that $`\mathrm{SO}_3()`$ is reductive gives the surjection $`[\mathrm{M}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{M}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}[\mathrm{SO}_3()\times \mathrm{}\times \mathrm{SO}_3()]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}`$. ∎

Since $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma })]=[R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]^{\mathrm{SO}_3()}`$ is finitely generated, we also obtain:

###### Corollary 2.3

There are finitely many elements $`\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _N`$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ such that $`J_{\gamma _1}\times \mathrm{}\times J_{\gamma _N}:X(M)^N`$ is an embedding and its image is a closed algebraic set.

### 2.4 Other invariant functions

There are other natural functions to consider. Let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$ be the subgroup of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ generated by the squares $`\gamma ^2`$ of all elements $`\gamma `$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. It is well known that we have an exact sequence:

$$1\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\mathrm{\Gamma }H_1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)1,$$

where $`C_2=\{\pm 1\}`$ is the group with $`2`$ elements. For instance, if $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a finite group of odd order, then $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2=\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. In general, if $`\gamma ,\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }`$ the commutator $`[\gamma ,\mu ]=\gamma \mu \gamma ^1\mu ^1=(\gamma \mu )^2(\mu ^1\gamma ^1\mu )^2\mu ^2`$ is in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$ and hence $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$ contains the commutator group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}=[\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{\Gamma }]`$. Notice that

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }^2=\underset{ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}{}\mathrm{Ker}(ϵ)$$

where $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)=\mathrm{Hom}(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$. Let $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ denote the variety of representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$. The cohomology group $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ acts on this variety of representations as follows: an homomorphism $`ϵ:\mathrm{\Gamma }C_2=\{\pm 1\}`$ maps the representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ to the product of representations $`ϵ\rho `$ (which maps $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to $`ϵ(\gamma )\rho (\gamma )`$).

#### 2.4.1 Invariant functions for the free group

Let $`F`$ be a finitely generated free group. For $`\gamma F^2`$ and $`\rho R(F)`$, $`\mathrm{tr}(\rho (\gamma ))`$ is well defined since the representation $`\rho :F\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ lifts to $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }:F\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ and for $`\gamma F^2`$ the trace $`\mathrm{tr}(\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma ))`$ depends only on $`\gamma `$. Note that two lifts $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2`$ of $`\rho `$ differ by a homomorphism $`ϵH^1(F,C_2)`$ and that $`F^2\mathrm{Ker}(ϵ)`$ for each $`ϵH^1(F,C_2)`$.

###### Proposition 2.4

Let $`F`$ be a free group. For every $`k`$-tuple $`\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _kF`$ such that the product $`\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _kF^2`$, the function

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \sigma _{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}:R(F)& & \hfill \\ \hfill \rho & & \mathrm{tr}(\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma _1))\mathrm{}\mathrm{tr}(\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma _k))\hfill \end{array}$$

is regular (i.e. $`\sigma _{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}[R(F)]`$). Here, $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }:F\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ denotes a lift of $`\rho `$.

In order to prove this proposition we shall use the following:

###### Lemma 2.5

Let $`F_n`$ be the free group of rank $`n`$. We have a natural isomorphism

$$R(F_n,\mathrm{SL}_2())//H^1(F_n,C_2)R(F_n).$$

###### Proof.

Since $`R(F_n,\mathrm{SL}_2())\mathrm{SL}_2()^n`$, $`R(F_n)\mathrm{PSL}_2()^n`$ and $`\mathrm{SL}_2()/C_2\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$, we have the lemma. ∎

###### Proof of Proposition 2.4.

For a free group $`F`$ and $`\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _kF`$, the function $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }:R(F,\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ given by $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }(\rho )=\mathrm{tr}(\rho (\gamma _1))\mathrm{}\mathrm{tr}(\rho (\gamma _k))`$ is regular. Moreover, we have $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }(ϵ\rho )=ϵ(\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _k)\stackrel{~}{\sigma }(\rho )`$. Since the product $`\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _kF^2`$ we get that $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }[R(F_n,\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{H^1(F_n,C_2)}`$ is an invariant regular function on the $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ representation variety. By Lemma 2.5, this function factors through $`R(F)`$ and gives the regular function $`\sigma _{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}[R(F)]`$. ∎

###### Example 2.6

Given $`\gamma ,\eta F`$, by Proposition 2.4, $`\sigma _{\gamma ,\eta ,\gamma \eta }[R(F)]`$, thus by Proposition 2.2, $`\sigma _{\gamma ,\eta ,\gamma \eta }`$ is a polynomial on the functions $`\tau `$.

To compute explicitly the polynomial of Example 2.6, we recall some identities of traces in $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$:

$$\mathrm{tr}(AB)=\mathrm{tr}(BA)\text{and}\mathrm{tr}(A)=\mathrm{tr}(A^1)A,B\mathrm{SL}_2().$$

In addition, we have the fundamental identity:

$$\mathrm{tr}(AB)+\mathrm{tr}(A^1B)=\mathrm{tr}(A)\mathrm{tr}(B)A,B\mathrm{SL}_2().$$
(2)
This identity can be deduced from $`A^2(\mathrm{tr}A)A+\mathrm{Id}=0`$ multiplying by $`A^1B`$ and taking traces. Taking the square of $`\mathrm{tr}(AB^1)=\mathrm{tr}(A)\mathrm{tr}(B)\mathrm{tr}(AB)`$ we deduce:

$$2\mathrm{tr}(A)\mathrm{tr}(B)\mathrm{tr}(AB)=\mathrm{tr}^2(A)\mathrm{tr}^2(B)+\mathrm{tr}^2(AB)\mathrm{tr}^2(AB^1).$$

Thus

$$\sigma _{\gamma ,\eta ,\gamma \eta }=\frac{1}{2}(\tau _\gamma \tau _\eta +\tau _{\gamma \eta }\tau _{\gamma \eta ^1}).$$
(3)
###### Example 2.7

For every $`\gamma ,\mu F`$, the commutator $`[\gamma ,\mu ]=\gamma \mu \gamma ^1\mu ^1`$ belongs to $`F^2`$ and therefore $`\sigma _{[\gamma ,\mu ]}[R(F)]`$. Using the the same method as for Equation (3) one can find:

$$\sigma _{[\gamma ,\eta ]}=\tau _\gamma +\tau _\eta +\frac{1}{2}\tau _{\gamma \eta }+\frac{1}{2}\tau _{\gamma \eta ^1}\frac{1}{2}\tau _\gamma \tau _\eta 2.$$
(4)
#### 2.4.2 Invariant functions for other groups

Let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ be a finitely generated group, $`F`$ a free group and $`\psi :F\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ a surjection. It induces another surjection $`\psi _{}:[R(F)][R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$, $`\psi _{}f(\rho )=f(\rho \psi )`$. Hence we obtain for all $`\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _kF`$ such that the product $`\eta _1\mathrm{}\eta _kF^2`$ a regular function $`\psi _{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}[R(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$. Note that the functions $`\psi _{}\sigma _{\eta _1}`$ and $`\psi _{}\sigma _{\eta _2}`$ might be different even if $`\psi (\eta _1)=\psi (\eta _2)`$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. This reflects the fact that in general not every representation $`\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ lifts to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$.

###### Example 2.8

Let $`\psi :F\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ be the canonical projection where $`F=x,y`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=x,y[x,y]=1`$. We consider the representation $`\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ given by $`\rho (x)=\pm A_x`$ and $`\rho (y)=\pm A_y`$ where

$$A_x=\left(\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array}\right)\text{ and }A_y=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right).$$

We obtain $`\mathrm{tr}([A_x,A_y])=2`$ and hence $`\psi _{}\sigma _{[x,y]}(\rho )=2`$. On the other hand we have $`[x,y]=1`$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`\psi _{}\sigma _1=2`$ is a constant function.

If the representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ admits a lift $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }:\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ then

$$\psi _{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}(\rho )=\mathrm{tr}(\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\psi (\eta _1)))\mathrm{}\mathrm{tr}(\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\psi (\eta _k)))$$
(5)
only depends on the elements $`\psi (\eta _1),\mathrm{},\psi (\eta _k)\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

## 3 Irreducibility

To study the fiber of the map $`t:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ we shall consider two different notions of irreducibility for $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, the usual one as a representation in $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ and the so called $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducibility, for the three dimensional representation $`\mathrm{Ad}\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }SO_3()`$.

### 3.1 Irreducible representations

###### Definition 3.1

A representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is called *reducible* if $`\rho (\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ preserves a point of $`P^1()`$. Otherwise it is called irreducible. A character $`\chi :\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is called *reducible* if it is the character of a reducible representation.

###### Remark 3.2

Up to conjugation, the image of a reducible representation is contained in the set of upper-triangular matrices $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}& \\ 0& \end{array}\right)`$.

We shall require the following well known lemma (see \[Bea, § 4.3\]).

###### Lemma 3.3

Two non-trivial elements $`g,h\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ have a common fixed point in $`P^1()`$ if and only if $`\mathrm{tr}([g,h])=2`$. In addition, this fixed point is unique if $`[g,h]`$ is not the identity.

Irreducibility is a property that can be detected from characters:

###### Lemma 3.4

A representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is reducible iff $`\mathrm{tr}([\rho (\gamma ),\rho (\eta )])=2`$ for all elements $`\gamma ,\eta `$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

###### Proof.

If $`\rho `$ is reducible then all the $`\rho (\gamma )`$ have a common fixed point and Lemma 3.3 gives the result.

Assume now that $`\mathrm{tr}([\rho (\gamma ),\rho (\eta )])=2`$ for all elements $`\gamma ,\eta `$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

*Case 1:* There are two elements $`\gamma `$ and $`\eta `$ in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ such that $`[\rho (\gamma ),\rho (\eta )]`$ is not the identity. Then $`A=[\rho (\gamma ),\rho (\eta )]`$ is a non-trivial parabolic element in the image of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. For any $`\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }`$, either $`\rho (\mu )`$ commutes with $`A`$ or $`[\rho (\mu ),A]`$ is non-trivial. The former possibility implies that $`\rho (\mu )`$ fixes the unique fixed point of $`A`$, the latter too by Lemma 3.3.

*Case 2:* The image of $`\rho `$ is an abelian group. Abelian subgroups of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ are well-known: either they have a global fixed point in $`P^1()`$ or they are conjugated to the group with four elements generated by $`\pm \left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right)`$ and $`\pm \left(\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array}\right)`$. Since the commutator of these two generators is $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right)`$, this possibility does not occur. ∎

###### Definition 3.5

A non-cyclic abelian subgroup of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ with four elements is called  *Klein’s 4-group*. Such a group is realized by rotations about three orthogonal geodesics and it is conjugated to the one generated by $`\pm \left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right)`$ and $`\pm \left(\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array}\right)`$.

Let $`R^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ denote the set of reducible representations and $`X^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=t(R^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma }))`$. Let $`F`$ be a free group and let $`\psi :F\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ be surjective. Lemma 3.4 implies that

$$R^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=\{\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })\psi _{}\sigma _{[\gamma ,\eta ]}(\rho )=2\gamma ,\eta F\}$$

is a Zariski closed subset invariant by conjugation. Thus, by invariant theory we have:

###### Corollary 3.6

The set $`X^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is Zariski closed and $`R^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=t^1(X^{red}(\mathrm{\Gamma }))`$.

###### Remark 3.7

Every reducible character $`\chi `$ is the character of a diagonal representation, because if $`\rho (\gamma )=\pm (\begin{array}{cc}a_\gamma & b_\gamma \\ 0& c_\gamma \end{array})`$ is a representation, then $`\rho ^{}(\gamma )=\pm (\begin{array}{cc}a_\gamma & 0\\ 0& c_\gamma \end{array})`$ is also a representation with $`\chi _\rho =\chi _\rho ^{}`$.

### 3.2 $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducibility

###### Definition 3.8

A representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is *$`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible* if $`𝔰𝔩_2()`$ has a proper invariant subspace by the action of $`\mathrm{Ad}\rho `$. Otherwise it is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible.

Let $`^3`$ denote the three-dimensional hyperbolic space and $`_{\mathrm{}}^3`$ its ideal boundary. We use the isomorphism $`\mathrm{Isom}^+(^3)\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ and the natural identification $`_{\mathrm{}}^3P^1()`$.

###### Lemma 3.9

A representation $`\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible if and only if $`\rho (\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ preserves either a point in $`_{\mathrm{}}^3`$ or a geodesic in $`^3`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`V`$ be a proper subspace of $`𝔰𝔩_2()`$ invariant by $`\mathrm{Ad}\rho (\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. Up to taking $`V^{}`$, we may assume $`dimV=1`$, because the Killing form is not degenerate. We have then two possibilities: either the Killing form restricted to $`V`$ vanishes or not. In the first case $`V`$ consists of parabolic Killing fields, in particular the 1-parameter group $`\{\mathrm{exp}(v)vV\}`$ is parabolic and fixes a unique point at infinity, that has to be fixed also by $`\rho `$. In the second case, when the Killing form restricted to $`V`$ does not vanish, the 1-parameter group $`\{\mathrm{exp}(v)vV\}^{}`$ is a subgroup of index two in the group of isometries which preserve a geodesic in $`^3`$. This geodesic has to be preserved by the representation. Conversely, if a representation preserves a point in $`_{\mathrm{}}^3`$ or a geodesic, the previous argument shows how to construct an invariant subspace of $`𝔰𝔩_2()`$. ∎

###### Corollary 3.10

Reducible representations are also $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible.

###### Remark 3.11

A representation $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible but not reducible is a $`C_2`$-extension of an abelian one that fixes an oriented geodesic. Thus it preserves an unoriented geodesic

We call a representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ *abelian* respectively *metabelian* if its image is an abelian respectively metabelian subgroup of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$

###### Lemma 3.12

A representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible iff it is metabelian.

###### Proof.

If $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible then its image is contained in the stabilizer of either a point in $`P^1()`$ or a geodesic in $`^3`$. Those stabilizers are metabelian, since they are respectively the group of affine transformations of $``$ and the semidirect product $`^{}C_2`$.

Now assume that $`\rho (\mathrm{\Gamma })\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is a metabelian subgroup. We use the fact that an abelian subgroup of $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ preserves a unique point of $`P^1()`$, a unique geodesic or it is Klein’s 4-group (Def. 3.5). If $`\rho ([\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{\Gamma }])`$ is trivial then $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible by this fact. If $`\rho ([\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{\Gamma }])`$is not trivial, then we look at those *unique* invariant objects: the *unique* point in $`P^1()`$, the *unique* geodesic, or the *unique* three geodesics if it is Klein’s 4-group. Since $`[\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{\Gamma }]`$ is normal in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, uniqueness implies that $`\rho (\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ preserves the same objects, hence $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible. ∎

###### Lemma 3.13

The set of characters of $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible representations is Zariski closed.

###### Proof.

Lemma 3.12 gives that the set of $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible representations is

$$R^{\mathrm{Ad}red}=\{\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })\rho (c)=\pm \mathrm{Id}c\mathrm{\Gamma }^{\prime \prime }\}$$

where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{\prime \prime }`$ denotes the second commutator group of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. This is a closed subset of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ invariant under conjugation. Hence we have $`X^{\mathrm{Ad}red}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=t(R^{\mathrm{Ad}red})`$ is a closed subset of $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. ∎

###### Remark 3.14

The image of an $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible representation is elementary, but elementary groups also include groups that fix a point in $`^3`$.

### 3.3 The fibers of $`t:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$

###### Lemma 3.15

The fiber of an irreducible character consists of a single closed orbit (i.e. two irreducible representations have the same character iff they are conjugate).

###### Proof.

Let $`\rho _1,\rho _2R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ be two irreducible representations with $`\chi _{\rho _1}=\chi _{\rho _2}`$.

We assume first that each $`\rho _i`$ is irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible. Thus each $`\rho _i`$ preserves a geodesic $`l`$, that we may assume to be the same after conjugation. The action of $`\rho _i(\gamma )`$ on $`l`$ is determined by the value of $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma )`$, except in the case $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma )=0`$, which means that $`\rho _i(\gamma )`$ is a rotation through angle $`\pi `$, but it can be either about $`\gamma `$ or about an axis perpendicular to $`\gamma `$. Thus if there exists an element $`\gamma _0\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma _0)4,0`$ (i.e. $`\rho _i(\gamma _0)`$ is either a loxodromic element or a rotation of angle $`\pi `$) then $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$ the action of $`\rho _i(\gamma )`$ on the geodesic $`l`$ is determined by $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma )`$ and $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma \gamma _0)`$. In particular $`\rho _i`$ is unique up to conjugation. The exceptional case occurs when $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma )=0`$ or $`4`$ for every $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$. In this special case, $`\rho _i`$ is necessarily a representation into Klein’s 4-group. The lemma is also clear in this case.

When $`\rho _i`$ are $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible, we can assume that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a free group. Thus we can lift $`\rho _i`$ to $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_i:\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{SL}_2()`$. By Example 2.6, for every pair $`\gamma ,\gamma ^{}\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ we obtain a regular function $`\sigma _{\gamma ,\gamma ^{},\gamma \gamma ^{}}:X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, given by

$$\sigma _{\gamma ,\gamma ^{},\gamma \gamma ^{}}(\chi _\rho )=\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma \gamma ^{})\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma )\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\gamma ^{})$$

where $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }:\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ is any lift of $`\rho `$. Thus:

$$\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1(\gamma \gamma ^{})\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1(\gamma )\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1(\gamma ^{})=\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2(\gamma \gamma ^{})\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2(\gamma )\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2(\gamma ^{}).$$
(6)
We define $`ϵ:\mathrm{\Gamma }C_2=\{\pm 1\}`$ by the formula:

$$\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1(\gamma )=ϵ(\gamma )\mathrm{tr}\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2(\gamma ),\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }\text{ such that }\chi _{\rho _1}(\gamma )0.$$

When $`\chi _{\rho _1}(\gamma )=0`$, since we assume that $`\rho _i`$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible, we can find $`\gamma _0\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma _0)0`$ and $`\chi _{\rho _i}(\gamma \gamma _0)0`$. In this case we define $`ϵ(\gamma )=ϵ(\gamma _0)ϵ(\gamma \gamma _0)`$.

By (6), $`ϵ`$ is a morphism. Hence $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_1`$ and $`ϵ\stackrel{~}{\rho }_2`$ are irreducible representations in $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ with the same character. By \[CS\] they are conjugate. ∎

###### Proposition 3.16

* A character $`\chi `$ is irreducible iff $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ acts transitively on the fiber and with finite stabilizer.
* A character is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible iff $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ acts faithfully on the fiber.

###### Proof.

(i) By Lemma 3.15, if $`\chi `$ is irreducible then $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ acts transitively on $`t^1(\chi )`$. Assume now that the stabilizer is infinite: i.e. there exists nontrivial $`A\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ of order $`3`$ (possibly infinite) and $`\rho `$ in the fiber such that $`A`$ commutes with $`\rho `$. If $`A`$ is parabolic, then it has a fixed point in $`P^1()`$ and therefore $`\rho `$ fixes this point. Otherwise $`A`$ has an invariant geodesic; since $`A`$ has order $`3`$, $`\rho `$ preserves the oriented geodesic, and therefore $`\rho `$ is also reducible.

Assume the character is reducible, then it has a diagonal representation $`\rho `$ on the fiber (Rem. 3.7), and therefore the group of diagonal matrices stabilizes it. Thus the stabilizer is infinite.

(ii) Assume $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ does not act faithfully on the fiber, i.e. there exists nontrivial $`A\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ and $`\rho `$ in the fiber such that $`A`$ commutes with $`\rho `$. If $`A`$ is parabolic, then $`\rho `$ fixes a point in $`P^1()`$ by the previous argument. Otherwise $`A`$ has an invariant geodesic, and by commutativity, $`\rho `$ must preserve this geodesic. In both cases, $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible.

If the character is irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible, then it preserves a geodesic, and the rotation through angle $`\pi `$ about this geodesic commutes with $`\rho `$. Hence the stabilizer is nontrivial. ∎

###### Remark 3.17

The projection $`t:R(\mathrm{\Gamma })X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ induces a bijection between irreducible components.

A priori $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ could have more components than $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, but the number of components is the same, because $`\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ is irreducible.

From Corollary 3.6 and Proposition 3.16 we deduce:

###### Corollary 3.18

Let $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ be an irreducible representation. Let $`R_0`$ denote an irreducible component of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ that contains $`\rho `$ and let $`X_0`$ denote the corresponding irreducible component of $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. Then

$$dimR_0=dimX_0+3.$$

## 4 Lifts of representations to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$

Let $`\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ denote the set of representations $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ that lift to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$. According to \[Cul, Thm. 4.1\] $`\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is a union of connected components of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. In particular $`\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is a Zariski-closed algebraic subset of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, since irreducible complex varieties are connected in the $``$-topology \[Sha, VII, §2\]. Moreover, $`\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is invariant under conjugation and hence the algebraic quotient

$$\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })//\mathrm{PSL}_2()$$

is a well defined closed subset of $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$.

In many cases, $`\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })=X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. For instance this is clear when $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a free group. It is also true if $`H^2(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)=0`$ by the following remark (see \[GM\] or \[Cul\]).

###### Remark 4.1

Let $`\rho :\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ be a representation. There is a second Stiefel-Whitney class $`w_2(\rho )H^2(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ which is exactly the obstruction for the existence of a lift $`\overline{\rho }:\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{SL}_2()`$.

### 4.1 Properties of $`\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$

Let $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ and $`X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ denote the variety of representations and characters in $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$. The ring $`[R(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{\mathrm{SL}_2()}`$ is generated by the trace functions $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_\gamma :R(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_\gamma (\rho )=\mathrm{tr}(\rho (\gamma ))`$. The function induced by $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_\gamma `$ is denoted by $`I_\gamma :X(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, therefore $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$ is finitely generated by the functions $`I_\gamma `$, $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$ \[CS\].

Elements of the cohomology group $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ are homomorphisms $`\theta :\mathrm{\Gamma }C_2=\{\pm 1\}`$ that act on representations by multiplication. The action of $`ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ on $`I_\gamma `$ is given by: $`ϵI_\gamma =ϵ(\gamma )I_\gamma `$. Since $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ is finite, it is reductive and we may take the quotient of invariant theory.

Let $`F`$ be a finitely generated free group and $`\psi :F\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ be a surjection. We fix a $`k`$-tuple $`\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ such that the product $`\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _k\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$. Moreover, we choose $`\eta _iF`$ such that $`\psi (\eta _i)=\gamma _i`$ and such that the product $`\eta _1\mathrm{}\eta _kF^2`$. The function $`\psi ^{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}[\overline{R}(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$ is invariant under conjugation and gives us a function $`\psi ^{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}[\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$. By Equation (5) we have $`\psi ^{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}(\chi )=\stackrel{~}{\chi }(\gamma _1)\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{\chi }(\gamma _k)`$ where $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ is a character such that $`\pi (\stackrel{~}{\chi })=\chi `$. Note that $`\pi :X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is surjective. The function

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}:=\varphi ^{}\sigma _{\eta _1,\mathrm{},\eta _k}[\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })]$$
(7)
depends only on the elements $`\gamma _i\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

###### Proposition 4.2

There is a natural isomorphism:

$$X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())//H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma }).$$

###### Proof.

Composition with the projection $`\mathrm{SL}_2()\mathrm{PSL}_2()`$ induces a surjection

$$\pi :X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma }),$$

which is easily seen to be algebraic and is given by $`\pi (\chi )=\chi ^2`$. At the level of function rings it induces an injection

$$\pi ^{}:[\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })][X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())].$$

We have $`\pi ^{}f(\chi )=f(\chi ^2)`$ for $`f[\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })]`$ and $`\chi X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$. The image of $`\pi ^{}`$ is contained in the set of invariant functions:

$$\mathrm{Im}\pi ^{}[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}.$$

More precisely, we have $`\pi ^{}f(ϵ\chi )=f(ϵ^2\chi ^2)=\pi ^{}f(\chi )`$ for all $`ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$. It remains to prove that this inclusion is an equality.

Since $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]`$ is generated as $``$-algebra by the functions $`I_\gamma `$ with $`\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the monomials

$$I_{\gamma _1}I_{\gamma _2}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}$$

generate $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]`$ as a $``$-vector space. Taking the average of the action of $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$, we deduce that the subspace of invariant functions $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}`$ is generated by

$$\frac{1}{2^r}\underset{ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}{}ϵI_{\gamma _1}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}=\left(\frac{1}{2^r}\underset{ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}{}ϵ(\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _k)\right)I_{\gamma _1}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}$$

where $`r`$ is the rank of $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$ (see \[Kra, II.3.6\] for instance). Using the fact that

$$\frac{1}{2^r}\underset{ϵH^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}{}ϵ(\gamma )=\{\begin{array}{cc}1\hfill & \text{ if }\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }^2\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ otherwise }\hfill \end{array}$$

we deduce that $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}`$ is generated by the monomials $`I_{\gamma _1}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}`$ such that the product $`\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _k\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$.

On the other hand we have for $`\chi X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())`$:

$$\pi ^{}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}(\chi )=\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}(\chi ^2)=\chi (\gamma _1)\mathrm{}\chi (\gamma _k)=I_{\gamma _1}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}(\chi ),$$

where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\gamma _1,\mathrm{},\gamma _k}`$ is the function defined in (7). This gives that the monomials $`I_{\gamma _1}\mathrm{}I_{\gamma _k}`$ such that the product $`\gamma _1\mathrm{}\gamma _k\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$ is in the image of $`\pi ^{}`$ and therefore $`[X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())]^{H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)}=\mathrm{Im}\pi ^{}`$. ∎

###### Remark 4.3

Let $`p:X(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{SL}_2())\overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ denote the projection. If $`\chi \overline{X}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible, then $`p^1(\chi )`$ has $`2^r`$ points where $`r`$ is the rank of $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },C_2)`$. If $`\chi `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible then the cardinality of $`p^1(\chi )`$ is strictly less than $`2^r`$. Thus $`p`$ is a branched covering with branching locus the set of $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible characters.

###### Example 4.4

Let $`F_2`$ be the free group of rank 2, with generators $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. There is an isomorphism:

$$(I_\alpha ,I_\beta ,I_{\alpha \beta }):X(F_2,\mathrm{SL}_2())^3$$

where $`I_\gamma `$ denotes the regular function induced by $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_\gamma `$. In particular $`X(F_2,\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ is smooth.

Since every representation in $`R(F_2)`$ lifts to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$, we deduce

$$X(F_2)=X(F_2,\mathrm{SL}_2())//H^1(F_2,C_2).$$

The group $`H^1(F_2,C_2)(C_2)^2`$ has four elements, and its action on $`X(F_2,\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ is generated by the involutions

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill (I_\alpha ,I_\beta ,I_{\alpha \beta })& & (I_\alpha ,I_\beta ,I_{\alpha \beta })\hfill \\ \hfill (I_\alpha ,I_\beta ,I_{\alpha \beta })& & (I_\alpha ,I_\beta ,I_{\alpha \beta }).\hfill \end{array}$$

Thus $`[X(F_2),\mathrm{SL}_2()]^{H^1(F_2,C_2)}`$ is generated by $`X=I_\alpha ^2`$, $`Y=I_\beta ^2`$, $`Z=I_{\alpha \beta }^2`$ and $`W=I_\alpha I_\beta I_{\alpha \beta }`$. Hence

$$X(F_2)\{(X,Y,Z,W)^4W^2=XYZ\}$$
(8)
The relationship with Corollary 2.3 is given by the change of coordinates (cf. Equality (3))

$$\{\begin{array}{c}J_\alpha =X\hfill \\ J_\alpha =Y\hfill \\ J_{\alpha \beta }=Z\hfill \\ J_{\alpha \beta ^1}=XY+Z2W.\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Remark 4.5

From Equality (8) we remark that the singular set of $`X(F_2)`$ consists of those points such that two of $`\{X,Y,Z\}`$ vanish. This is the same as the set of characters of representations generated by two rotations of angle $`\pi `$. This is also the set of $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible but non-reducible representations.

###### Example 4.6

If $`M`$ is a knot exterior in $`S^3`$, then $`H_2(\pi _1M)H_2(M)0`$ and therefore $`X(M)=\overline{X}(M)`$. When in addition $`M`$ is a 2-bridge knot exterior, explicit methods of how to compute $`X(M)`$ are given in \[HLM1\] and \[HLM2\], where $`X(M)`$ for this particular case was already defined as $`X(M,\mathrm{SL}_2())//C_2`$. The explicit computation for the figure eight knot exterior is found in \[GM\], for instance.

### 4.2 Representations that do not lift

###### Proof of Theorem 1.4.

The manifold $`M`$ is a bundle over $`S^1`$ with fiber $`\dot{T}^2`$ a torus minus a disk. Up to homeomorphism, $`M`$ is described by the action of the monodromy on $`H_1(\dot{T}^2,)`$, which is given by the matrix

$$\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& m_2\\ m_1& 1+m_1m_2\end{array}\right)$$

with $`m_i2`$, $`m_i>0`$. We shall show that $`X(M)\overline{X}(M)`$ has arbitrarily many components by choosing $`m_i`$ sufficiently large.

To have a presentation of $`\pi _1M`$, we use an automorphism $`f`$ of $`\pi _1\dot{T}^2`$ induced by the monodromy. Since $`\pi _1\dot{T}^2`$ is the free group of rank $`2`$ generated by $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$,

$$\pi _1M=\alpha ,\beta ,\mu \mu \alpha \mu ^1=f(\alpha ),\mu \beta \mu ^1=f(\beta )$$

We choose $`f`$ such that:

$$\{\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \mu \alpha \mu ^1& =& \alpha \beta ^{m_2}\hfill \\ \hfill \mu \beta \mu ^1& =& \beta (\alpha \beta ^{m_2})^{m_1}\hfill \end{array}$$

We choose odd numbers $`p_1,p_22+1`$, with $`1p_im_i/2`$ and an arbitrary complex number $`z`$. By Example 4.4, there exist matrices $`A_z,B_z\mathrm{SL}_2()`$ with

$$\mathrm{tr}(A_z)=2\mathrm{cos}\frac{\pi p_1}{m_1},\mathrm{tr}(B_z)=2\mathrm{cos}\frac{\pi p_2}{m_2}\text{ and }\mathrm{tr}(A_zB_z)=z.$$

Those trace equalities imply that $`A_z^{m_1}=B_z^{m_2}=\mathrm{Id}`$. In particular

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill A_zB_z^{m_2}& =& A_z,\hfill \\ \hfill B_z(A_zB_z^{m_2})^{m_1}& =& B_z.\hfill \end{array}$$

Let $`\rho _zR(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ be the representation that $`\rho _z(\alpha )=\pm A_z`$, $`\rho _z(\beta )=\pm B_z`$ and $`\rho _z(\mu )=\pm \mathrm{Id}`$. Since $`m_1`$ and $`m_2`$ are even, this representation does not lift to $`\mathrm{SL}_2()`$. In addition, for each value of $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$ we have defined a one parameter family of characters, with parameter $`z=\mathrm{tr}(A_zB_z)`$. By \[CCGLS, Proposition 2.4\] the dimension of each component of $`X(M)`$ is at most one, hence different values of $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$ give different components. ∎

## 5 The singular set of $`X(F_n)`$

In this section we compute the singular set of $`X(F_n)`$, but before we need two preliminary subsections: in Subsection 5.1 we recall some basic facts about the Zariski tangent space and Luna’s slice theorem, and in Subsection 5.2 we compute the cohomology of free groups with twisted coefficients.

### 5.1 The Zariski tangent space

Given a representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$, we define the space of cocycles

$$Z^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=\{\theta :\mathrm{\Gamma }𝔰𝔩_2()|\begin{array}{c}\theta (\gamma _1\gamma _2)=\theta (\gamma _1)+\mathrm{Ad}_{\rho (\gamma _1)}(\theta (\gamma _2)),\\ \gamma _1,\gamma _2\mathrm{\Gamma }\end{array}\}.$$

Given a smooth path of representations $`\rho _t`$, with $`t`$ in a neighborhood of the origin, one can construct a cocycle as follows:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \mathrm{\Gamma }& & 𝔰𝔩_2()\hfill \\ \hfill \gamma & & \frac{d}{dt}\rho _t(\gamma )\rho _0(\gamma )^1|_{t=0}\hfill \end{array}.$$

This construction defines an isomorphism, due to Weil \[Weil\]:

###### Theorem 5.1 (\[Weil\])

The previous construction defines an isomorphism

$$T_\rho ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(R(\mathrm{\Gamma }))Z^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho ).$$

Here $`T_\rho ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(R(\mathrm{\Gamma }))`$ denotes the Zariski tangent space in the scheme sense (i.e. the defining ideals are not necessary reduced).

We also consider the space of coboundaries

$$B^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=\{\theta :\mathrm{\Gamma }^2|\begin{array}{c}\text{ there exists }a𝔰𝔩_2()\text{ such that }\\ \theta (\gamma )=\mathrm{Ad}_{\rho (\gamma )}(a)a,\gamma \mathrm{\Gamma }\end{array}\}.$$

The isomorphism of Theorem 5.1 identifies the subspace of the Zariski tangent space corresponding to the orbits by conjugation with $`B^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )`$. So it seems natural that in some cases $`T_\chi ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(X(\mathrm{\Gamma }))`$ is isomorphic to the cohomology group

$$H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=Z^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )/B^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )$$

as we will show next.

The stabilizer of a representation $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is denoted by

$$Stab_\rho =\{A\mathrm{PSL}_2()A\rho A^1=\rho \}.$$

In particular, for and $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible representation $`Stab_\rho `$ is trivial.

###### Proposition 5.2

If $`\rho `$ is a smooth point of $`R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ with closed orbit, then

$$T_{\chi _\rho }^{\mathrm{Zar}}(X(\mathrm{\Gamma }))T_0^{\mathrm{Zar}}(H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )//Stab_\rho ).$$

###### Proof.

We use the slice theorem of Luna: there exists an algebraic subvariety $`SR(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ that contains $`\rho `$ and that is $`Stab_\rho `$-invariant, such that

$$Z^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=B^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )T_\rho ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(S)$$
(9)
and the map induced by the projection

$$S//Stab_\rho X(\mathrm{\Gamma })$$

is an étale isomorphism (in particular their tangent spaces are isomorphic). Since we assume that $`\rho `$ is a smooth point, Luna’s theorem shows that $`S//Stab_\rho `$ and $`T_\rho ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(S)//Stab_\rho `$ are étale equivalent (see \[KSS, p. 97 \]). Since $`T_\rho ^{\mathrm{Zar}}(S)`$ and $`H^1(\mathrm{\Gamma },\mathrm{Ad}\rho )`$ are isomorphic as $`Stab_\rho `$-modules (by Equation (9)), the proposition follows. ∎

### 5.2 Cohomology of Free groups

We start with irreducible characters:

###### Lemma 5.3

Let $`\chi _\rho X(F_n)`$ be an irreducible character. Then

$$dimH^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=3n3.$$

###### Proof.

Notice first that $`Z^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )𝔰𝔩_2()^n^{3n}`$. Irreducibility implies that $`dimB^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=3`$, which is maximal (even if $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible representations have invariant subspaces, irreducibility implies that the eigenvalues are different from $`1`$). ∎

We are interested in computing $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )`$ as a $`Stab_\rho `$-module. If $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible, then $`Stab_\rho `$ is trivial, and therefore $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )`$ is the trivial module $`^{3n3}`$. In the reducible and $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible cases we need further computations.

Reducible characters. Let $`\chi X(F_n)`$ be a non trivial reducible character. There exists a representation $`\rho R(F_n)`$ with character $`\chi `$ such that $`\rho `$ consists of diagonal matrices, constructed in Remark 3.7.

We decompose the Lie algebra $`𝔰𝔩_2()=h_0h_{}h_+`$, where $`h_0`$, $`h_+`$ and $`h_{}`$ are the one dimensional $``$-vector spaces generated respectively by $`(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array})`$, $`(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 0& 0\end{array})`$ and $`(\begin{array}{cc}0& 0\\ 1& 0\end{array})`$.

###### Lemma 5.4

If $`\rho `$ is diagonal then $`\mathrm{Ad}\rho `$ preserves the splitting $`𝔰𝔩_2()=h_0h_{}h_+`$. If in addition $`\rho `$ is non-trivial, then $`Stab_\rho `$ preserves the splitting $`𝔰𝔩_2()=h_0(h_{}h_+)`$ (some elements may permute $`h_+`$ and $`h_{}`$).

###### Proof.

The first assertion is clear, because diagonal matrices preserve each factor $`h_0`$ and $`h_\pm `$.

When the image of $`\rho `$ has order $`3`$, the group $`Stab_\rho `$ is precisely the set of diagonal matrices. When the image has order precisely $`2`$, then $`Stab_\rho `$ is the group of diagonal and anti-diagonal ones $`(\begin{array}{cc}0& \\ & 0\end{array})`$. Antidiagonal matrices preserve $`h_0`$ and permute $`h_{}`$ with $`h_+`$, hence the second assertion is proved. ∎

###### Lemma 5.5

Let $`\rho R(F_n)`$ be a non-trivial diagonal representation, then $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )h_0^n(h_+h_{})^{n1}`$ as $`Stab_\rho `$-modules.

###### Proof.

By construction, $`Z^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )𝔰𝔩_2()^n`$. We have the splitting

$$H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )H^1(F_n,h_0)H^1(F_n,h_+)H^1(F_n,h_{}).$$

A diagonal matrix $`\pm (\begin{array}{cc}a& 0\\ 0& a^1\end{array})`$ acts trivially on $`h_0`$ and by multiplication by a factor $`a^{\pm 2}`$ on $`h_\pm `$. Therefore $`B^1(F_n,h_0)0`$ and $`B^1(F_n,h_\pm )h_\pm `$, and the lemma follows. ∎

$`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible but irreducible characters. Let $`\rho R(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ be irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible. Up to conjugation the image of $`\rho `$ is contained in the group of diagonal and anti-diagonal matrices. There are two possibilities for the stabilizer $`Stab_\rho `$. If the image of $`\rho `$ has more than four elements, then $`Stab_\rho `$ has two elements: the identity and $`\pm (\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array})`$. Otherwise the image of $`\rho `$ is Klein’s 4-group (i.e. the group generated by $`\pm (\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array})`$ and $`\pm (\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array})`$ ). In this case $`Stab_\rho `$ equals the image of $`\rho `$. With the same argument as in Lemma 5.4, one can prove:

###### Lemma 5.6

Let $`\rho `$ be as above. Then both $`\mathrm{Ad}\rho `$ and $`Stab_\rho `$ preserve the splitting $`𝔰𝔩_2()=h_0(h_+h_{})`$.

###### Lemma 5.7

Let $`\rho R(F_n)`$ be an irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible representation, then $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )𝔰𝔩_2()^{n1}`$ as $`Stab_\rho `$-modules.

###### Proof.

Again $`Z^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )𝔰𝔩_2()^n`$, and we have the decomposition

$$H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )H^1(F_n,h_0)H^1(F_n,h_+h_{}).$$

The group $`B^1(F_n,h_0)`$ has dimension one, because the antidiagonal matrices act on $`h_0`$ by change of sign. In addition, $`dim(B^1(F_n,h_+h_{}))=2`$ is also maximal, because this is the case when we restrict it to diagonal representations (see the proof of Lemma 5.5). ∎

### 5.3 Singular locus for free groups

We saw above that $`X(F_2,\mathrm{SL}_2())^3`$ is smooth. We also showed that the singular points of $`X(F_2)`$ are $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible but irreducible characters.

###### Proposition 5.8

For $`n3`$ the singular set of $`X(F_n)`$ is precisely the set of $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible characters.

###### Proof.

Since $`R(F_n)\mathrm{PSL}_2()^n`$, $`X(F_n)`$ is irreducible and of dimension $`3n3`$. Thus $`\chi X(F_n)`$ is singular if and only if

$$dimT_\chi ^{Zar}X(F_n)>3n3.$$

This dimension is computed by means of Proposition 5.2: if the orbit of $`\rho t^1(\chi )`$ is closed then

$$dimT_\chi ^{Zar}X(F_n)=dimT_0^{Zar}(H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )//Stab_\rho ).$$

If $`\rho R(F_n)`$ is irreducible, by Lemma 5.3 $`dimH^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )=3n3`$. If in addition $`\rho `$ is $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-irreducible, then $`Stab_\rho `$ is trivial and therefore $`\chi _\rho `$ is smooth.

If $`\rho `$ is irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible, then $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )𝔰𝔩_2()^{n1}`$ as $`Stab_\rho `$ modules, by Lemma 5.7. We may assume that the image of $`\rho `$ has more than 4 elements, because the adherence set of such characters is the whole set of irreducible but $`\mathrm{Ad}`$-reducible characters, and the singular set is closed. Hence $`Stab_\rho `$ is the group generated by the involution $`\pm (\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array})`$, that acts trivially on $`h_0`$ but as a change of sign on $`h_+h_{}`$. Thus the action of $`Stab_\rho `$ on $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )`$ is equivalent to the involution on $`^{3n3}`$ that fixes $`(n1)`$ coordinates and changes the sign of the remaining $`(2n2)`$ coordinates. The quotient of $`^{3n3}`$ by this involution is not smooth, hence $`dimT_0^{Zar}(H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )//Stab_\rho )>3n3`$.

When $`\chi _\rho `$ is reducible but non trivial, we may assume that $`\rho `$ is diagonal and its image has more that three elements (again the adherence set of those characters is the whole set of reducible ones). Thus $`Stab_\rho `$ is the group of diagonal matrices, and by Lemma 5.5, $`H^1(F_n,\mathrm{Ad}\rho )h_0^n(h_+h_{})^{n1}`$ as $`Stab_\rho `$-module. We have an isomorphism $`Stab_\rho ^{}`$ and $`t^{}`$ acts on $`h_0`$ trivially and on $`h_\pm `$ by multiplication by $`t^{\pm 1}`$. An elementary computation shows that $`(h_+h_{})^{n1}//^{}`$ has dimension $`2n3`$ and it is not smooth for $`n>2`$. ∎

A similar argument yields that for $`n3`$ the singular part of $`X(F_n,\mathrm{SL}_2())`$ is precisely the set of reducible characters.

Acknowledgment The second author was partially supported by MCYT through grant BFM2000-0007.

Laboratoire de Mathématiques Pures, Université Blaise Pascal, F-63177, Aubière Cedex, France, heusener@math.univ-bpclermont.fr.

Departament de Matemàtiques, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain, porti@mat.uab.es.