Related papers: The Alexander method for infinite-type surfaces

Let $\Gamma$ be the fundamental group of a closed orientable surface of genus at least two. Consider the composition of a uniformly random element of $\mathrm{Hom}(\Gamma,S_n)$ with the $(n-1)$-dimensional irreducible representation of…

Let $\phi:\mathcal{C}(S)\to\mathcal{C}(S')$ be a simplicial isomorphism between the curve graphs of two infinite-type surfaces. In this paper we show that in this situation $S$ and $S'$ are homeomorphic and $\phi$ is induced by a…

Let Mod(S) be the extended mapping class group of a surface S. For S the twice-punctured torus, we show that there exists an isomorphism of finite index subgroups of Mod(S) which is not the restriction of an inner automorphism. For S a…

Let $S$ be a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus at least 3, $\mathcal{C}(S)$ be the complex of curves on $S$ and $Mod_S^*$ be the extended mapping class group of $S$. We prove that a simplicial map, $\lambda: \mathcal{C}(S) \to…

We study the homeomorphism types of certain covers of (always orientable) surfaces, usually of infinite-type. We show that every surface with non-abelian fundamental group is covered by every noncompact surface, we identify the universal…

Given a finite subgroup G of the mapping class group of a surface S, the Nielsen realization problem asks whether G can be realized as a finite group of homeomorphisms of S. In 1983, Kerckhoff showed that for S a finite-type surface, any…

We show that the isomorphism problem is solvable in the class of central extensions of word-hyperbolic groups, and that the isomorphism problem for biautomatic groups reduces to that for biautomatic groups with finite centre. We describe an…

We answer two questions about the topology of end spaces of infinite type surfaces and the action of the mapping class group that have appeared in the literature. First, we give examples of infinite type surfaces with end spaces that are…

Building on work of Farb and the second author, we prove that the group of automorphisms of the fine curve graph for a surface is isomorphic to the group of homeomorphisms of the surface. This theorem is analogous to the seminal result of…

Let $\Gamma$ be either the mapping class group of a closed surface of genus $\geq 2$, or the automorphism group of a free group of rank $\geq 3$. Given any homological representation $\rho$ of $\Gamma$ corresponding to a finite cover, and…

Given a 2-manifold, a fundamental question to ask is which groups can be realized as the isometry group of a Riemannan metric of constant curvature on the manifold. In this paper, we give a nearly complete classification of such groups for…

In this note we make progress toward a conjecture of Durham--Fanoni--Vlamis, showing that every infinite-type surface with finite-invariance index 1 and no nondisplaceable compact subsurfaces fails to have a good curve graph, that is, a…

Let $X$ be an algebraic surface with $\mathcal{L}$ an ample line bundle on $X$. Let $\Gamma(X, \mathcal{L})$ be the \emph{geometric monodromy} group associated to family of nonsingular curves in $X$ that are zero loci of sections of…

The extended mapping class group of a surface $\Sigma$ is defined to be the group of isotopy classes of (not necessarily orientation-preserving) homeomorphisms of $\Sigma$. We are able to show that the extended mapping class group of an…

Let Gamma_k be the lower central series of a surface group Gamma of a compact surface S with one boundary component. A simple question to ponder is whether a mapping class of S can be determined to be pseudo-Anosov given only the data of…

This is an exposition of a proof of the Madsen-Weiss Theorem, which asserts that the homology of mapping class groups of surfaces, in a stable dimension range, is isomorphic to the homology of a certain infinite loopspace that arises…

In this article, we are concerned with various aspects of arcs on surfaces. In the first part, we deal with topological aspects of arcs and their complements. We use this understanding, in the second part, to construct interesting actions…

Given a finite connected simple graph $\Gamma$, and a subgroup $G$ of its automorphism group, a general method for finding all finite abelian regular coverings of $\Gamma$ that admit a lift of each element of $G$ is developed. As an…

We show that on a closed Riemannian manifold with fundamental group isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}$, other than the circle, every isometry that is homotopic to the identity possesses infinitely many invariant geodesics. This completes a recent…

Let $\Sigma_{g,n}$ be the orientable genus $g$ surface with $n$ punctures, where $2-2g-n<0$. Let $$\rho: \pi_1(\Sigma_{g,n})\to GL_m(\mathbb{C})$$ be a representation. Suppose that for each finite covering map $f: \Sigma_{g', n'}\to…