Related papers: Mapping class groups are not linear in positive ch…
Let $M$ be a graph manifold containing a single JSJ torus $T$ and whose JSJ blocks are of the form $\Sigma \times S^1$, where $\Sigma$ is a compact orientable surface with boundary. We show that if $M$ does not admit a Riemannian metric of…
We show that finite-type surfaces are characterized by a topological analog of the Hopf property. Namely, an oriented surface $\Sigma$ is of finite-type if and only if every proper map $f\colon\Sigma\to \Sigma$ of degree one is homotopic to…
We continue the study of low dimensional linear representations of mapping class groups of surfaces initiated by Franks--Handel and Korkmaz. We consider $(2g+1)$-dimensional complex linear representations of the pure mapping class groups of…
We give a criterion to prove that some groups are not acylindrically hyperbolic. As an application, we prove that the mapping class group of an infinite type surface is not acylindrically hyperbolic.
By analyzing known presentations of the pure mapping groups of orientable surfaces of genus $g$ with $b$ boundary components and $n$ punctures, we show that these groups are isomorphic to some groups related to the braid groups and the…
We study the action of the mapping class group on the real homology of finite covers of a topological surface. We use the homological representation of the mapping class to construct a faithful infinite-dimensional representation of the…
We prove a well known conjecture of Nikolai Ivanov which states that if $X$ is a surface of genus $\geq 3$ (with any number of punctures and boundary components), $\rm{Mod}(X)$ is the mapping class group of $X$, and $K < \rm{Mod}(X)$ is a…
We establish that, given $\Sigma$ a compact orientable surface, and $G$ a finitely presented one-ended group, the set of copies of $G$ in the mapping class group $\mathcal{MCG}(\Sigma)$ consisting of only pseudo-anosov elements except…
We prove that for every closed, connected, orientable, irreducible 3-manifold, there exists an alternating group A_n which is not the topological symmetry group of any graph embedded in the manifold. We also show that for every finite group…
We prove that various subgroups of the mapping class group $Mod(\Sigma)$ of a surface $\Sigma$ are at least exponentially distorted. Examples include the Torelli group (answering a question of Hamenstadt), the "point-pushing" and surface…
The cohomology of the degree-$n$ general linear group over a finite field of characteristic $p$, with coefficients also in characteristic $p$, remains poorly understood. For example, the lowest degree previously known to contain nontrivial…
For a compact surface $S = S_{g,n}$ with $3g + n \geq 4$, we introduce a family of unitary representations of the mapping class group Mod($S$) based on the space of measured foliations. For this family of representations, we show that none…
Let $\mathcal{N}_g$ be the mapping class group of a non-orientable closed surface. We prove that the proper cohomological dimension, the proper geometric dimension, and the virtual cohomological dimension of $\mathcal{N}_g$ are equal…
Main Theorem (3.3): Let $M$ be a compact four-dimensional manifold either with curvature, positive on complex isotropic two-planes, or self-dual of positive scalar curvature. If $\pi_1 (M)$ admits a nontrivial unitary representation, and…
Let $\Sigma_{g,n}$ be an orientable surface of genus $g$ with $n$ punctures. We study actions of the mapping class group of $\Sigma_{g,n}$ via Hodge-theoretic and arithmetic techniques. We show that if $$\rho: \pi_1(\Sigma_{g,n})\to…
We prove that the extended mapping class group, $\rm Mod^{*}(\Sigma_{g})$, of a connected orientable surface of genus $g$, can be generated by three involutions for $g\geq 5$. In the presence of punctures, we prove that $\rm…
It has been known since the time of Nielsen that the mapping class group $\text{Mod}_{g,1}$ of a surface of genus $g$ and one puncture acts faithfully by homeomorphisms on the circle. In this note, we show that this standard representation…
The work of Mann and Rafi gives a classification surfaces $\Sigma$ when $\textrm{Map}(\Sigma)$ is globally CB, locally CB, and CB generated under the technical assumption of tameness. In this article, we restrict our study to the pure…
For any positive integer $n$, we exhibit a cofinite subgroup $\Gamma_n$ of the mapping class group of a surface of genus at most two such that $\Gamma_n$ admits an epimorphism onto a free group of rank $n$. We conclude that…
Let $\Sigma$ be a surface whose interior admits a hyperbolic structure of finite volume. In this paper, we show that any infinite order mapping class acts with infinite order on the homology of some universal $k$--step nilpotent cover of…