The logarithms of Dehn twists

Abstract

By introducing an invariant of loops on a compact oriented surface with one boundary component, we give an explicit formula for the action of Dehn twists on the completed group ring of the fundamental group of the surface. This invariant can be considered as ``the logarithms" of Dehn twists. The formula generalizes the classical formula describing the action on the first homology of the surface, and Morita's explicit computations of the extended first and the second Johnson homomorphisms. For the proof we use a homological interpretation of the Goldman Lie algebra in the framework of Kontsevich's formal symplectic geometry. As an application, we prove the action of the Dehn twist of a simple closed curve on the $k$-th nilpotent quotient of the fundamental group of the surface depends only on the conjugacy class of the curve in the $k$-th quotient.