Related papers: Mapping class groups of covers with boundary and b…

Wajnryb proved that the mapping class group of an orientable surface is generated by two elements. We prove that one of these generators can be taken as a Dehn twist. We also prove that the extended mapping class group is generated by two…

This paper is a survey of some properties of the braid groups and related groups that lead to questions on mapping class groups.

We consider the braid groups $\mathbf{B}_n(X)$ on finite simplicial complexes $X$, which are generalizations of those on both manifolds and graphs that have been studied already by many authors. We figure out the relationships between…

Every smooth minimal complex algebraic surface of general type, $X$, may be mapped into a moduli space, $\MM_{c_1^2(X), c_2(X)}$, of minimal surfaces of general type, all of which have the same Chern numbers. Using the braid group and braid…

We obtain simple generating sets for various mapping class groups of a nonorientable surface with punctures and/or boundary. We also compute the abelianizations of these mapping class groups.

This paper will appear in the Santa Cruz proceedings. An overview of the braid group techniques in the theory of algebraic surfaces, from Zariski to the latest results, is presented. An outline of the Van Kampen algorithm for computing…

We construct finite-dimensional projective representations of the mapping class groups of compact connected oriented surfaces having one boundary component using stated skein algebras.

This paper is a study of the subgroups of the mapping class groups of Riemann surfaces, called "geometric" subgroups, corresponding to the inclusion of subsurfaces. Our analysis includes surfaces with boundary and with punctures. The…

In this chapter, we discuss normal generators for mapping class groups of surfaces. Especially, we focus on the relation between normal generation of a mapping class with its asymptotic translation lengths on the Teichm\"uller space 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 consider the space of embeddings of finitely many circles that bound disks in non-positively curved surfaces. We index the connected components of this space with finite rooted trees and show that the connected components are classifying…

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 describe sufficient conditions which guarantee that a finite set of mapping classes generate a right-angled Artin group quasi-isometrically embedded in the mapping class group. Moreover, under these conditions, the orbit map to…

The action of the mapping class group of a surface on the collection of homotopy classes of disjointly embedded curves or arcs in the surface is discussed here as a tool for understanding Riemann's moduli space and its topological and…

Braid groups and mapping class groups have many features in common. Similarly to the notion of inverse braid monoid inverse mapping class monoid is defined. It concerns surfaces with punctures, but among given $n$ punctures several can be…

Hyperelliptic mapping class groups are defined either as the centralizers of hyperelliptic involutions inside mapping class groups of oriented surfaces of finite type or as the inverse images of these centralizers by the natural…

We classify homomorphisms from the braid group on $n$ strands to the pure mapping class group of a nonoriantable surface of genus $g$. For $n\ge 14$ and $g\le 2\lfloor{n/2}\rfloor+1$ every such homomorphism is either cyclic, or it maps…

We say that a cover of surfaces S -> X has the Birman--Hilden property if the subgroup of the mapping class group of X consisting of mapping classes that have representatives that lift to S embeds in the mapping class group of S modulo the…

Braid groups are an important and flexible tool used in several areas of science, such as Knot Theory (Alexander's theorem), Mathematical Physics (Yang-Baxter's equation) and Algebraic Geometry (monodromy invariants). In this note we will…

We describe the lower algebraic $K$-theory of the integral group ring of both the pure and full braid groups of the real projective plane $\mathbb{R}P^2$ with $3$ strings, as well as that of the integral group ring of the mapping class…