Complex Hyperbolic Geometry of Chain Links

Abstract: The complex hyperbolic triangle group $\Gamma=\Delta_{4,\infty,\infty;\infty}$ acting on the complex hyperbolic plane ${\bf H}^2_{\mathbb C}$ is generated by complex reflections $I_1$, $I_2$, $I_3$ such that the product $I_2I_3$ has order four, the products $I_3I_1$, $I_1I_2$ are parabolic and the product $I_1I_3I_2I_3$ is an accidental parabolic element. Unexpectedly, the product $I_1I_2I_3I_2$ is a hidden accidental parabolic element. We show that the 3-manifold at infinity of $\Delta_{4,\infty,\infty;\infty}$ is the complement of the chain link $8^4_1$ in the 3-sphere. In particular, the quartic cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold $S^3-8^4_1$ admits a spherical CR-uniformization. The proof relies on a new technique to show that the ideal boundary of the Ford domain is an infinite-genus handlebody. Motivated by this result and supported by the previous studies of various authors, we conjecture that the chain link $C_p$ is an ancestor of the 3-manifold at infinity of the critical complex hyperbolic triangle group $\Delta_{p,q,r;\infty}$, for $3 \leq p \leq 9$.