The monodromy groups of lisse sheaves and overconvergent $F$-isocrystals

Abstract: It has been proven by Serre, Larsen-Pink and Chin, that over a smooth curve over a finite field, the monodromy groups of compatible semi-simple pure lisse sheaves have "the same" $\pi_0$ and neutral component. We generalize their results to compatible systems of semi-simple lisse sheaves and overconvergent $F$-isocrystals over arbitrary smooth varieties. For this purpose, we extend the theorem of Serre and Chin on Frobenius tori to overconvergent $F$-isocrystals. To put our results into perspective, we briefly survey recent developments of the theory of lisse sheaves and overconvergent $F$-isocrystals. We use the Tannakian formalism to make explicit the similarities between the two types of coefficient objects.