A menagerie of SU(2)-cyclic 3-manifolds

Abstract

We classify $SU(2)$-cyclic and $SU(2)$-abelian 3-manifolds, for which every representation of the fundamental group into $SU(2)$ has cyclic or abelian image respectively, among geometric 3-manifolds which are not hyperbolic. As an application, we give examples of hyperbolic 3-manifolds which do not admit degree-1 maps to any Seifert fibered manifold other than $S^3$ or a lens space. We also produce infinitely many one-cusped hyperbolic manifolds with at least four $SU(2)$-cyclic Dehn fillings, one more than the number of cyclic fillings allowed by the cyclic surgery theorem.