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8 votes
1 answer
5k views

Fundamental group of R^2-Q^2

After learning about the fundamental group, and proving that $\mathbb{R}^n$ minus any countable set is path-connected, I started wondering if the fundamental group of $\mathbb{R}^2-\mathbb{Q}^2$ is ...
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Fundamental groups of closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds are freely indecomposable

I believe the following statement is true, and I've even seen it referenced here. Could someone point me to a proof? The fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic 3-manifold is not a free product.
15 votes
2 answers
2k views

Topological vs pro fundamental groups

Consider the following two structure-adding refinements of the fundamental group of a topological space: the set $\pi_1(X)$ inherits a quotient topology from the compact-open topology of $X^{S^1}$, ...
5 votes
2 answers
756 views

explicit linear representations of fundamental groups of surfaces

I am looking for an explicit representation of the fundamental group of a closed orientable surface of genus >1. I guess they should be abundant in degree 2. Did anyone see the explicit matrix ...
13 votes
4 answers
5k views

Fundamental group of Lie groups

Let $T$ be a torus $V/\Gamma$, $\gamma$ a loop on $T$ based at the origin. Then it is easy to see that $$2 \gamma = \gamma \ast \gamma \in \pi_1(T).$$ Here $2 \gamma$ is obtained by rescaling $\gamma$...
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Functoriality of fundamental group via deck transformations

Problem I'm trying to understand this with a view towards the etale fundamental group where we can't talk about loops. What I'm missing is how the fundamental group functor should work on morphisms, ...

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