English

On sections of configurations of points on orientable surfaces

Geometric Topology 2025-06-10 v3

Abstract

We study the configuration space of distinct, unordered points on compact orientable surfaces of genus gg, denoted SgS_g. Specifically, we address the section problem, which concerns the addition of nn distinct points to an existing configuration of mm distinct points on SgS_g in a way that ensures the new points vary continuously with respect to the initial configuration. This problem is equivalent to the splitting problem in surface braid groups. With an algebraic approach, for g1g\geq 1 and m2m\geq 2, we establish a necessary condition for the existence of a section, showing that if a section exists, then nn must be a multiple of m+(2g2)m+(2g-2). For g1g\geq 1 and m=1m=1, we take a geometric approach to demonstrate that a section exists for all values of nn.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2411.16409,
  title  = {On sections of configurations of points on orientable surfaces},
  author = {Stavroula Makri},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.16409},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

16 pages, 1 figure