Independence of ell of Monodromy Groups

Abstract

Let X be a smooth curve over a finite field of characteristic p, let E be a number field, and consider an E-compatible system of lisse sheaves on the curve X. For each place lambda of E not lying over p, the lambda-component of the system is a lisse E_lambda-sheaf on X, whose associated arithmetic monodromy group is an algebraic group over the local field E_lambda. We use Serre's theory of Frobenius tori and Lafforgue's proof of Deligne's conjecture to show that when the E-compatible system is semisimple and pure of some integer weight, the isomorphism type of the identity component of these monodromy groups is ``independent of lambda''. More precisely: after replacing E by a finite extension, there exists a connected split reductive algebraic group G_0 over the number field E such that for every place lambda of E not lying over p, the identity component of the arithmetic monodromy group of the lambda-component of the system is isomorphic to the group G_0 with coefficients extended to the local field E_lambda.