An infinite ferm in the universal deformation space of Galois representations.
I hope this article will be helpful to people who might want a quick overview of how modular representations fit into the theory of deformations of Galois representations. There is also a more specific aim: to sketch a construction of a point-set topological'' configuration (the image of an infinite fern'') which emerges from consideration of modular representations in the universal deformation space of all Galois representations. This is a configuration hinted previously, but now, thanks to some...