English

A construction of minimal coherent filling pairs

Geometric Topology 2026-04-22 v1

Abstract

Let SgS_g denote the genus gg closed orientable surface. A \emph{coherent filling pair} of simple closed curves, (α,β)(\alpha,\beta) in SgS_g, is a filling pair that has its geometric intersection number equal to the absolute value of its algebraic intersection number. A \emph{minimally intersecting} filling pair, (α,β)(\alpha,\beta) in SgS_g, is one whose intersection number is the minimal among all filling pairs of SgS_g. In this paper, we give a simple geometric procedure for constructing minimal intersecting coherent filling pairs on Sg, g3,S_g, \ g \geq 3, from the starting point of a coherent filling pair of curves on a torus. Coherent filling pairs have a natural correspondence to square-tiled surfaces, or {\em origamis}, and we discuss the origami obtained from the construction.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.03632,
  title  = {A construction of minimal coherent filling pairs},
  author = {Hong Chang and William W. Menasco},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.03632},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

11 pages, 5 figures