Related papers: Thurston construction mapping classes with minimal…

This note gives a brief survey of the minimum dilatation problem for pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, and the first explicit train track description of an infinite family of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes with orientable stable foliations and…

Let $S_n$ be a punctured Riemann spheres $\mathbf{S}^2\backslash \{x_1,..., x_n\}$. In this paper, we investigate pseudo-Anosov maps on $S_n$ that are isotopic to the identity on $S_n\cup \{x_n\}$ and have the smallest possible dilatations.…

A filling pair $(\alpha, \beta)$ of a surface $S_g$ is a pair of simple closed curves in minimal position such that the complement of $\alpha\cup\beta$ in $S_g$ is a disjoint union of topological disks. A filling pair is said to be…

In this paper we study the minimum dilatation pseudo-Anosov mapping classes coming from fibrations over the circle of a single 3-manifold, the mapping torus for the "simplest pseudo-Anosov braid". The dilatations that arise include the…

For all orientable closed surfaces, we determine the minimal dilatation among mapping classes arising from Penner's construction. We also discuss generalisations to surfaces with punctures.

Let $S_{g}$ denote the closed orientable surface of genus $g$. We construct exponentially many mapping class group orbits of pairs of simple closed curves which fill $S_{g}$ and intersect minimally, by showing that such orbits are in…

We investigate a phenomenon observed by W. Thurston wherein one constructs a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism on the limit set of a certain lift of a piecewise-linear expanding interval map. We reconcile this construction with a special subclass…

It has been known since 1981 that if one fixes an orientable surface $S$ of genus $g$, then there is a real number $\lambda_{min,g} > 1$ that is the dilatation of a pA diffeomorphism of $S$, and every other pA diffeomorphism of $S$ has…

We construct sequences of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes whose dilatations behave asymptotically like the inverse of the Euler characteristic of the surface they are defined on. These sequences are used to show that if the genus, g, and…

In this short note, we construct a minimally intersecting pair of simple closed curves that fill a genus 2 surface with an odd, greater than 3, number of punctures. This finishes the determination of minimally intersecting filling pairs for…

This paper describes a family of pseudo-Anosov braids with small dilatation. The smallest dilatations occurring for braids with 3, 4 and 5 strands appear in this family. A pseudo-Anosov braid with 2g+1 strands determines a hyperelliptic…

We prove a new lower bound for the dilatation of an arbitrary pseudo-Anosov map on a surface of genus g with n punctures. Our bound improves the former super-exponential dependence on the genus by a polynomial dependence.

Let $\tilde f\colon(S^2,\tilde A)\to(S^2,\tilde A)$ be a Thurston map and let $M(\tilde f)$ be its mapping class biset: isotopy classes rel $\tilde A$ of maps obtained by pre- and post-composing $\tilde f$ by the mapping class group of…

We find the minimum dilatation of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms that stabilize an orientable foliation on surfaces of genus three, four, or five, and provide a lower bound for genus six to eight. Our technique also simplifies Cho and Ham's…

A filling curve $\gamma$ on a based surface $S$ determines a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism $P(\gamma)$ of $S$ via the process of "point-pushing along $\gamma$." We consider the relationship between the self-intersection number $i(\gamma)$ of…

This chapter provides a comprehensive survey of foundational results and recent advances concerning minimal generating sets for the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface, $\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g})$, and its index-two twist subgroup,…

We consider Thurston maps, i.e., branched covering maps $f\colon S^2\to S^2$ that are postcritically finite. In addition, we assume that $f$ is expanding in a suitable sense. It is shown that each sufficiently high iterate $F=f^n$ of $f$ is…

We define a generalization of Coxeter graphs and an associated Coxeter system and Coxeter mapping class. These can be used to construct periodic Coxeter mapping classes on surfaces with arbitrarily large genus, preserving lots of…

In this paper the index of a family of critical points of the systole function on Teichm\"uller space is calculated. The members of this family are interesting in that their existence implies the existence of strata in the Thurston spine…

For each pseudo-Anosov map $\phi$ on surface $S$, we will associate it with a $\mathbb{Q}$-submodule of $\mathbb{R}$, denoted by $A(S,\phi)$. $A(S,\phi)$ is defined by an interaction between the Thurston norm and dilatation of pseudo-Anosov…