arXiv subjects

Richard Shadrach

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Shadrach.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2016

Observed periodicity related to the four-strand Burau representation

A long-standing open problem is to determine for which values of n the Burau representation Psi_n of the braid group B_n is faithful. Following work of Moody, Long-Paton, and Bigelow, the remaining open case is n = 4. One criterion states that Psi_n is unfaithful if and only if there exists a pair of arcs in the n-punctured disk D_n such that a certain associated polynomial is zero. In this paper, we use a computer search to show that there is no such arc-pair in D_4 with 2000 or fewer intersections, thus certifying the faithfulness of Psi_4 up to this point. We also investigate the structure of the set of arc-pair polynomials, observing a striking periodicity that holds between those that are, in some sense, 'closest' to zero. This is the first instance known to the authors of a deeper analysis of this polynomial set.

math.GT↗

arXiv2015

Integral models of certain PEL-Shimura varieties with $Γ_1(p)$-type level structure

We study $p$-adic integral models of certain PEL Shimura varieties with level subgroup at $p$ related to the $Γ_1(p)$-level subgroup in the case of modular curves. We will consider two cases: the case of Shimura varieties associated with unitary groups that split over an unramified extension of $\mathbb{Q}_p$ and the case of Siegel modular varieties. We construct local models, i.e. simpler schemes which are étale locally isomorphic to the integral models. Our integral models are defined by a moduli scheme using the notion of an Oort-Tate generator of a group scheme. We use these local models to find a resolution of the integral model in the case of the Siegel modular variety of genus 2. The resolution is regular with special fiber a nonreduced divisor with normal crossings.

math.AG↗