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

We obtain a finite generating set for the level 2 twist subgroup of the mapping class group of a closed non-orientable surface. The generating set consists of crosscap pushing maps along non-separating two-sided simple loops and squares of…

Using the existence of certain symplectic submanifolds in symplectic 4-manifolds, we prove an estimate from above for the number of singular fibers with separating vanishing cycles in minimal Lefschetz fibrations over surfaces of positive…

This paper is concerned with detecting when a closed braid and its axis are 'mutually braided' in the sense of Rudolph. It deals with closed braids which are fibred links, the simplest case being closed braids which present the unknot. The…

We define pseudo-Garside groups and prove a theorem about them parallel to Garside's result on the word problem for the usual braid groups. The main novelty is that the set of simple elements can be infinite. We introduce a group B=B(Z^n)…

For $m=2$ and $m=3$ we prove that any connected, oriented, open manifold $M^m$ admits a simple branched covering map over $\mathbb{R}^m$. When $M$ has $k$ ends and $k$ is finite, the degree of the cover can be taken to be $mk$. Regardless…

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…

For each d>=2, the mapping class group for plane curves of degree d will be defined and it is proved that there exists uniquely the Meyer function on this group. In the case of d=4, using our Meyer function, we can define the local…

We develop Teichmuller theoretical methods to construct new minimal surfaces in $\BE^3$ by adding handles and planar ends to existing minimal surfaces in $\BE^3$. We exhibit this method on an interesting class of minimal surfaces which are…

We consider the (pure) braid groups B_{n}(M) and P_{n}(M), where M is the 2-sphere S^2 or the real projective plane RP^2. We determine the minimal cardinality of (normal) generating sets X of these groups, first when there is no restriction…

A normal subgroup of the (extended) mapping class group of a surface is said to be geometric if its automorphism group is the mapping class group. We prove that in the case of the Cantor tree surface, every normal subgroup is geometric. We…

We introduce $(k,l)$-regular maps, which generalize two previously studied classes of maps: affinely $k$-regular maps and totally skew embeddings. We exhibit some explicit examples and obtain bounds on the least dimension of a Euclidean…

In this paper we first show that many braid groups of low genus surfaces have their centers as direct factors. We then give a description of centralizers and normalizers of prime order elements in pure mapping class groups of surfaces with…

A braided generalization of the concept of Hopf algebra (quantum group) is presented. The generalization overcomes an inherent geometrical inhomogeneity of quantum groups, in the sense of allowing completely pointless objects. All…

In this paper we compute the mapping class group of closed simply-connected 6-manifolds $M$ which look like complete intersections, i.~e.~ $H_2(M;\mathbb Z) \cong \mathbb Z $ and $x^3 \ne 0$ where $x \in H^2(M; \mathbb Z)$ is a generator.…

In \cite{Oh22}, the second author defined a complex of groups decomposition of the fundamental group of a finitely generated 2-dimensional special group, called an \emph{intersection complex}, which is a quasi-isometry invariant. In this…

We show that any homologically non-trivial Dehn twist of a compact surface F with boundary is the lifting of a half-twist in the braid group B_n, with respect to a suitable branched covering p : F -> B^2. In particular, we allow the surface…

Clean markings on surfaces were a key component in Masur and Minsky's hierarchy machinery, which proved to be a powerful tool in the study of mapping class groups. We construct a marking graph for irreducible finite-type Artin groups which…

This is a survey on the automorphism groups in various classes of affine algebraic surfaces and the algebraic group actions on such surfaces. Being infinite-dimensional, these automorphism groups share some important features of algebraic…

We construct a class of Garside groupoid structures on the pure braid groups, one for each function (called labelling) from the punctures to the integers greater than 1. The object set of the groupoid is the set of ball decompositions of…

We show that certain classes of graphs of free groups contain surface subgroups, including groups with positive $b_2$ obtained by doubling free groups along collections of subgroups, and groups obtained by "random" ascending HNN extensions…