The geometric combinatorics of $k$-shuffle polynomials

Abstract

This paper is the second in a series of two which aims at introducing a new family of groups called $k$-shuffle braid groups, denoted $\mathcal{B}_{n}(k)$. We focus here on the geometrical origins of these groups, as first observed by Calegari in arXiv:2105.11265. The spaces we are interested in are spaces of complex monic polynomials of degree $n$ whose critical values lie in $\mathbb{C} \setminus \{1, e^{\frac{2πi}{k}}, \dots, e^{\frac{2πi (k-1)}{k}}\}$. We show that the $k$-shuffle braid groups are the fundamental groups of those spaces, which correspond geometrically to complements of $k$ translates of the discriminant variety. Moreover, we show that the $k$-shuffle braid groups $\mathcal{B}_n(k)$ inject into the larger braid groups $\mathcal{B}_{nk}$.