Galois Action on Homology of the Heisenberg Curve

Abstract

The Heisenberg curve is defined topologically as a cover of the Fermat curve and corresponds to an extension of the projective line minus three points by the non-abelian Heisenberg group modulo n. We compute its fundamental group and investigate an action from Artin's Braid group to the curve itself and its homology. We also provide a description of the homology in terms of irreducible representations of the Heisenberg group over a field of characteristic $0$.