%0 Journal Article
%T Commuting Elements and Spaces of Homomorphisms
%A Alejandro Adem
%A Frederick R. Cohen
%J Mathematics
%D 2006
%I arXiv
%X This article records basic topological, as well as homological properties of the space of homomorphisms Hom(L,G) where L is a finitely generated discrete group, and G is a Lie group, possibly non-compact. If L is a free abelian group of rank equal to n, then Hom(L,G) is the space of ordered n-tuples of commuting elements in G. If G=SU(2), a complete calculation of the cohomology of these spaces is given for n=2, 3. An explicit stable splitting of these spaces is also obtained, as a special case of a more general splitting.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/math/0603197v2