Related papers: Crosscap slides and the level 2 mapping class grou…

Let f be a Z/2Z-spin structureon a closed surface S of genus g>3. We determine a generating set of the stabilizer of f in the mapping class group of S consisting of Dehn twists about an explicit collection of 2g+1 curves in S. If g=3 then…

A classification of spanning surfaces for alternating links is provided up to genus, orientability, and a new invariant that we call aggregate slope. That is, given an alternating link, we determine all possible combinations of genus,…

We prove that if a normal subgroup of the extended mapping class group of a closed surface has an element of sufficiently small support then its automorphism group and abstract commensurator group are both isomorphic to the extended mapping…

By considering appropriate finite covering spaces of closed non-orientable surfaces, we construct linear representations of their mapping class group which have finite index image in certain big arithmetic groups.

We prove a general uniformization theorem for N=2 superconformal and N=1 superanalytic DeWitt super-Riemann surfaces, showing that in general an N=2 superconformal (resp. N=1 superanalytic) DeWitt super-Riemann surface is N=2…

Let Ng be the connected closed nonorientable surface of genus g >= 5 and Mod(Ng) denote the mapping class group of Ng. We prove that the outer automorphism group of Mod(Ng) is either trivial or Z if g is odd, and injects into the mapping…

We give new upper bounds on the stable commutator lengths of Dehn twists in mapping class groups and new lower bounds on the stable commutator lengths of Dehn twists in hyperelliptic mapping class groups. In particular, we show that the…

This note studies the Burnside problem for homeomorphism groups of compact connected manifolds. For surfaces, we prove that the identity component of the homeomorphism group is torsion-free precisely when the surface is not the sphere,…

Let $P$ be a pseudogroup of local diffeomorphisms of an $n$-dimensional smooth manifold $M$. Following Losik we consider characteristic classes of the quotient $M/P$ as elements of the de~Rham cohomology of the second order frame bundles…

The group of 2-by-2 matrices with integer entries and determinant $\pm > 1$ can be identified either with the group of outer automorphisms of a rank two free group or with the group of isotopy classes of homeomorphisms of a 2-dimensional…

We give a combinatorial characterization of the group of quasiconformal homeomorphisms of a closed, oriented surface $S$ of genus at least $2$. In particular, we prove they are exactly the automorphisms of a graph of essential quasicircles…

For every $n\ge 2$, the {\em surface Houghton group} $\mathcal B_n$ is defined as the asymptotically rigid mapping class group of a surface with exactly $n$ ends, all of them non-planar. The groups $\mathcal B_n$ are analogous to, and in…

Let $\Gamma$ be the mapping class group of an oriented surface $\Sigma$ of genus g with r boundary components. We prove that the first cohomology group $H^1(\Gamma, O(M_{SL(2, C)})^*)$ is non-trivial, where the coefficient module is the…

We offer a new proof that two closed oriented 4-manifolds are cobordant if their signatures agree, in the spirit of Lickorish's proof that all closed oriented 3-manifolds bound 4-manifolds. Where Lickorish uses Heegaard splittings we use…

Homological mirror symmetry predicts that there is a relation between autoequivalence groups of derived categories of coherent sheaves on Calabi-Yau varieties, and the symplectic mapping class groups of symplectic manifolds. In this paper,…

We present a practical algorithm to determine the minimal genus of non-orientable spanning surfaces for 2-bridge knots, called the crosscap numbers. We will exhibit a table of crosscap numbers of 2-bridge knots up to 12crossings (all 362 of…

Let $S$ be an orientable, connected surface with infinitely-generated fundamental group. The main theorem states that if the genus of $S$ is finite and at least 4, then the isomorphism type of the pure mapping class group associated to $S$,…

We study the action of the mapping class group on the subspace of de Rham classes in the degree-two bounded cohomology of a hyperbolic surface. In particular, we show that the only fixed nontrivial finite-dimensional subspace is the one…

We prove that every orientable infinite type surface without boundary and finite genus has a Riemann surface structure such that its modular group of quasiconformal homeomorphisms is countable.

We study locally flat, compact, oriented surfaces in $4$-manifolds whose exteriors have infinite cyclic fundamental group. We give algebraic topological criteria for two such surfaces, with the same genus $g$, to be related by an ambient…