Related papers: Symmetry, Isotopy, and Irregular Covers

Let $S$ and $X$ be two connected topological surfaces without boundary, and assume that $S$ is either of infinite type or has negative Euler characteristic. In this paper, we prove that if $p:S\rightarrow X$ is a fully ramified branched…

Given a branched cover of manifolds, one can lift homeomorphisms along the cover to obtain a (virtual) homomorphism between mapping class groups. Following a question of Margalit-Winarski, we study the injectivity of this lifting map in the…

Given a closed oriented PL four-manifold $X$ and a closed surface $B$ embedded in $X$ with isolated cone singularities, we give a formula for the signature of an irregular dihedral cover of $X$ branched along $B$. For $X$ simply-connected,…

We consider finite-sheeted, regular, possibly branched covering spaces of compact surfaces with boundary and the associated liftable and symmetric mapping class groups. In particular, we classify when either of these subgroups coincides…

Let $f: X \to Y$ be a regular covering of a surface $Y$ of finite type with nonempty boundary, with finitely-generated (possibly infinite) deck group $G$. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for an integral homology class on $X$ to…

A function from configuration space to moduli space of surface may induce a homomorphism between their fundamental groups which are braid groups and mapping class groups of surface, respectively. This map $\phi: B_k \rightarrow…

In the 1970s Joan Birman and Hugh Hilden wrote several papers on the problem of relating the mapping class group of a surface to that of a cover. We survey their work, give an overview of the subsequent developments, and discuss open…

We characterize the cyclic branched covers of the 2-sphere where every homeomorphism of the sphere lifts to a homeomorphism of the covering surface. This answers a question that appeared in an early version of the erratum of Birman and…

Let $f$ be a holomorphic mapping between compact complex manifolds. We give a criterion for $f$ to have {\it unobstructed deformations}, i.e. for the local moduli space of $f$ to be smooth: this says, roughly speaking, that the group of…

Given a compact, oriented surface $S$ of finite genus and finitely many boundary components, we provide examples of finite covers $\tilde{S}$ of $S$ and non-simple closed curves $\gamma$ on $S$ which lifts to simple closed curves on…

Given a finite covering of graphs $f : Y \to X$, it is not always the case that $H_1(Y;\mathbb{C})$ is spanned by lifts of primitive elements of $\pi_1(X)$. In this paper, we study graphs for which this is not the case, and we give here the…

We classify all closed, aspherical Riemannian manifolds M whose universal cover has indiscrete isometry group. One sample application is the theorem that any such M with word-hyperbolic fundamental group must be isometric to a negatively…

We state and prove a corrected version of a theorem of Singerman, which relates the existence of symmetries (anticonformal involutions) of a quasiplatonic Riemann surface $\mathcal S$ (one uniformised by a normal subgroup $N$ of finite…

L.H. Feng at el \cite{feng4} present sufficient conditions based on spectral radius for a graph with large minimum degree to be $s$-path-coverable and $s$-Hamiltonian. Motivated by this study, in this paper, we give the sufficient…

Given a finite group action on a smooth manifold, we study the following question: if two equivariant diffeomorphisms are isotopic, must they be equivariantly isotopic? Birman-Hilden and Maclachlan-Harvey proved the answer is "yes" for most…

Let $S$ be a hyperbolic oriented Riemann surface of finite type. The main purpose of this paper is to show that non-trivial geometric intersection between closed curves on $S$ is detected by some symplectic submodules they naturally…

The main theorem of this article provides sufficient conditions for a degree $d$ finite cover $M'$ of a hyperbolic 3-manifold $M$ to be a surface-bundle. Let $F$ be an embedded, closed and orientable surface of genus $g$, close to a minimal…

This article grew out of an effort to understand the smooth mapping class groups of certain 4-manifolds in a geometric manner. We prove a smooth analog of the Birman-Hilden theorem for manifolds that admit a hyperk\"ahler structure. This…

We study branched covering spaces in several contexts, proving that under suitable circumstances the cover satisfies the same upper curvature bounds as the base space. The first context is of a branched cover of an arbitrary metric space…

We prove necessary and sufficient conditions for a smooth surface in a 4-manifold X to be pseudoholomorphic with respect to some almost complex structure on X. This provides a systematic approach to the construction of pseudoholomorphic…