On the topology of deformation spaces of Kleinian groups

James W. Anderson, Richard D. Canary, and Darryl McCullough

Faculty of Mathematical Studies, University of Southampton
Southampton, SO17 1BJ, England
Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019

Abstract

Let M be a compact, hyperbolizable 3-manifold with nonempty incompressible boundary and let AH(G) denote the space of (conjugacy classes of) discrete fathful representations of its fundamental group G into PSL2 (C). The components of the interior MP(G) of AH(G) (as a subset of the appropriate representation variety) are enumerated by the space A(M) of marked homeomorphism types of oriented, compact, irreducible 3-manifold homotopy equivalent to M. In this paper, we give a topological enumeration of the components of the closure of MP(G) and hence a conjectural topological enumeration of the components of AH(G). We do so by characterizing exactly which changes of marked homeomorphism type can occur in the algebraic limit of a sequence of isomorphic freely indecomposable Kleinian groups. We use this enumeration to exhibit manifolds M for which AH(G) has infinitely many components.


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