English

A combinatorial algorithm for visualizing representatives with minimal self-intersection

Geometric Topology 2011-02-01 v1

Abstract

Given an orientable surface with boundary and a free homotopy class, we present a purely combinatorial algorithm which produces a representative of that homotopy class with minimal self intersection.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1101.5658,
  title  = {A combinatorial algorithm for visualizing representatives with minimal self-intersection},
  author = {Chris Arettines},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.5658},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

14 pages, 11 figures. The algorithm described in the paper is implemented at http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~moira/applets/chrisApplet.html

R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:18:39.777Z