Let $\rho \colon G \to \operatorname{GL}(V)$ be a rational finite dimensional complex representation of a reductive linear algebraic group $G$, and let $\sigma_1,\dots,\sigma_n$ be a system of generators of the algebra of invariant polynomials $\mathbb C[V]^G$. We study the problem of lifting mappings $f\colon \mathbb R^q \supseteq U \to \sigma(V) \subseteq \mathbb C^n$ over the mapping of invariants $\sigma=(\sigma_1,\dots,\sigma_n) \colon V \to \sigma(V)$. Note that $\sigma(V)$ can be identified with the categorical quotient $V /\!\!/ G$ and its points correspond bijectively to the closed orbits in $V$. We prove that if $f$ belongs to a quasianalytic subclass $\mathcal C \subseteq C^\infty$ satisfying some mild closedness properties that guarantee resolution of singularities in $\mathcal C$, e.g., the real analytic class, then $f$ admits a lift of the same class $\mathcal C$ after desingularization by local blow-ups and local power substitutions. As a consequence we show that $f$ itself allows for a lift that belongs to $\operatorname{SBV}_{\operatorname{loc}}$, i.e., special functions of bounded variation. If $\rho$ is a real representation of a compact Lie group, we obtain stronger versions.

Let $\sigma$, $\theta$ be commuting involutions of the connected semisimple algebraic group $G$ where $\sigma$, $\theta$ and $G$ are defined over an algebraically closed field $\k$, $\Char \k=0$. Let $H:=G^\sigma$ and $K:=G^\theta$ be the fixed point groups. We have an action $(H\times K)\times G\to G$, where $((h,k),g)\mapsto hgk\inv$, $h\in H$, $k\in K$, $g\in G$. Let $\quot G{(H\times K)}$ denote the categorical quotient $\Spec \O(G)^{H\times K}$. We determine when this quotient is smooth. Our results are a generalization of those of Steinberg \cite{Steinberg75}, Pittie \cite{Pittie72} and Richardson \cite{Rich82b} in the symmetric case where $\sigma=\theta$ and $H=K$.

We provide an explicit thick and thin decomposition for oriented hyperbolic manifolds $M$ of dimension $5$. The result implies improved universal lower bounds for the volume $\rmvol_5(M)$ and, for $M$ compact, new estimates relating the injectivity radius and the diameter of $M$ with $\rmvol_5(M)$. The quantification of the thin part is based upon the identification of the isometry group of the universal space by the matrix group $\PS_\Delta {\rm L} (2,\mathbb{H})$ of quaternionic $2\times 2$-matrices with Dieudonn\'e determinant $\Delta$ equal to $1$ and isolation properties of $\PS_\Delta {\rm L} (2,\mathbb{H})$.

Matrices whose entries belong to certain rings of algebraic integers can be associated with discrete groups of transformations of inversive $n$-space or hyperbolic $(n+1)$-space $\mbox{H}^{n+1}$. For small $n$, these may be Coxeter groups, generated by reflections, or certain subgroups whose generators include direct isometries of $\mbox{H}^{n+1}$. We show how linear fractional transformations over rings of rational and (real or imaginary) quadratic integers are related to the symmetry groups of regular tilings of the hyperbolic plane or 3-space. New light is shed on the properties of the rational modular group $\PSL_2 (\bbZ)$, the Gaussian modular (Picard) group $\PSL_2 (\bbZ[{\it i}])$, and the Eisenstein modular group $\PSL_2 (\bbZ[\omega ])$.