Related papers: Stein-fillability and positivity in the mapping cl…
For any topological groupoid G and any homomorphism from a locally compact Hausdorff topological group K to G, we construct an associated monodromy group. We prove that Morita equivalent topological groupoids have the same monodromy groups.…
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…
We give an alternate proof of the left-orderability of the mapping class group of a connected oriented infinite-type surface with a non-empty boundary. Our main strategy involves the inductive construction of a countable stable Alexander…
Given a finite modular tensor category, we associate with each compact surface with boundary a cochain complex in such a way that the mapping class group of the surface acts projectively on its cohomology groups. In degree zero, this action…
This article continues the study of diagrams in the bicategory of \'etale groupoid correspondences. We prove that any such diagram has a groupoid model and that the groupoid model is a locally compact \'etale groupoid if the diagram is…
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…
We explain a connection between the algebraic and geometric properties of groups of contact transformations, open book decompositions, and flexible Legendrian embeddings. The main result is that, if a closed contact manifold $(V, \xi)$ has…
In this article, we prove a generalization of a theorem of Lisca-Matic to Stein cobordisms and develop a method for distinguishing certain Stein cobordisms using rotation numbers. Using these results along with standard techniques from…
We make some elementary observations concerning subcritically Stein fillable contact structures on 5-manifolds. Specifically, we determine the diffeomorphism type of such contact manifolds in the case the fundamental group is finite cyclic,…
We study an explicit construction of planar open books with four binding components on any three-manifold which is given by integral surgery on three component pure braid closures. This construction is general, indeed any planar open book…
In this paper, we introduce the notions of an iterated planar Lefschetz fibration and an iterated planar open book decomposition and prove the Weinstein conjecture for contact manifolds supporting an open book that has iterated planar…
We prove that the homology of the mapping class groups of non-orientable surfaces stabilizes with the genus of the surface. Combining our result with recent work of Madsen and Weiss, we obtain that the classifying space of the stable…
A combinatorial Morse structure encodes a mapping class for a surface with boundary, and the data may be efficiently represented via a Morse diagram. This diagram determines an open book decomposition of a 3-manifold, and hence, a contact…
It is a classical result of Powell that pure mapping class groups of connected, orientable surfaces of finite type and genus at least three are perfect. In stark contrast, we construct nontrivial homomorphisms from infinite-genus mapping…
We provide some language for algebraic study of the mapping class groups for surfaces with non-connected boundary. As applications, we generalize our previous results on Dehn twists to any compact connected oriented surfaces with non-empty…
Extending the notion of monodromies associated with open books of $3$-manifolds, we consider monodromies for all incompressible surfaces in $3$-manifolds as partial self-maps of the arc set of the surfaces. We use them to develop a…
We construct, somewhat non-standard, Legendrian surgery diagrams for some Stein fillable contact structures on some plumbing trees of circle bundles over spheres. We then show how to put such a surgery diagram on the pages of an open book…
In this paper, we study contact structures supported by open book decompositions whose pages are four-punctured spheres. The paper is split into two parts. In the first part, we find infinitely many overtwisted, right-veering monodromies on…
We study the homotopy groups of open books in terms of those of their pages and bindings. Under homotopy theoretic conditions on the monodromy we prove an integral decomposition result for the based loop space on an open book, and under…
We study Question 7.9 in the paper "Monoids in the mapping class group" by Etnyre and Van Horn-Morris; whether a symmetric mapping class admitting a positive factorization is a lift of a quasi-positive braid. We answer affirmatively for…