Related papers: Birman-Hilden theory for big mapping class groups

In the 1970s Joan Birman and Hugh Hilden wrote several papers on the problem of relating the mapping class group of a surface to that of a cover. We survey their work, give an overview of the subsequent developments, and discuss open…

In this paper, we classify homomorphisms from the braid group of $n$ strands to the mapping class group of a genus $g$ surface. In particular, we show that when $g<n-2$, all representations are either cyclic or standard. Our result is sharp…

We completely classify the orientable infinite-type surfaces $S$ such that $\operatorname{PMap}(S)$, the pure mapping class group, has automatic continuity. This classification includes surfaces with noncompact boundary. In the case of…

We show that the closure of the compactly supported mapping class group of an infinite type surface is not perfect and that its abelianization contains a direct summand isomorphic to an uncountable direct sum of rationals. We also extend…

We consider hereditary classes of graphs equipped with a total order. We provide multiple equivalent characterisations of those classes which have bounded twin-width. In particular, we prove a grid theorem for classes of ordered graphs…

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…

We show that the extended based mapping class group of an infinite-type surface is naturally isomorphic to the automorphism group of the loop graph of that surface. Additionally, we show that the extended mapping class group stabilizing a…

We extend Siu's and Sampson's celebrated rigidity results to non-compact domains. More precisely, let $M$ be a smooth quasi-projective variety with universal cover $\tilde M$ and let $\tilde X$ be a symmetric space of non-compact type, a…

For every $n\ge 2$, the {\em surface Houghton group} $\mathcal B_n$ is defined as the asymptotically rigid mapping class group of a surface with exactly $n$ ends, all of them non-planar. The groups $\mathcal B_n$ are analogous to, and in…

We prove the irreducibility of the space parametrizing branched covers of a fixed Riemann surface $B$ of degree $d$, with at least 2d branch points, and with monodromy group equal to $S_d$. The result is classical for $g(B)=0$. The result…

We show that any twisted Dijkgraaf-Witten representation of a mapping class group of an orientable, compact surface with boundary has finite image. This generalizes work of Etingof, Rowell and Witherspoon showing that the braid group images…

Branch points of a real 2-surface S in a 4-manifold M generalize the branch points of complex curves in complex surfaces: for example, they can occur as singularities of minimal surfaces. We investigate such a branch point p when S is…

In this work, we study topological properties of surface bundles, with an emphasis on surface bundles with a spin structure. We develop a criterion to decide whether a given manifold bundle has a spin structure and specialize it to surface…

Dehn twists around simple closed curves in oriented surfaces satisfy the braid relations. This gives rise to a group theoretic from the braid group to the mapping class group. We prove here that this map is trivial in stable homology with…

Let $K$ be an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic and let $X$ be an irreducible projective variety over $K$. Let $G\subseteq\text{Bir}(X)$ be a bounded-degree subgroup. We prove that there exists an irreducible projective…

In this paper we extend the unramified class field theory for arithmetic surfaces of K. Kato and S. Saito to the relative case. Let X be a regular proper arithmetic surface and let Y be the support of divisor on X. Let CH_0(X,Y) denote the…

A generalization of the topological fundamental group is developed in order to exhibit a topologically complete braid group containing Artin's braid group on infinitely many strands with respect to the following notion of convergence: A…

We are concerned with mapping class groups of surfaces with nonempty boundary. We present a very natural method, due to Thurston, of finding many different left orderings of such groups. The construction involves equipping the surface with…

For a geometrically rational surface X over an arbitrary field of characteristic different from 2 and 3 that contains all roots of 1, we show that either X is birational to a product of a projective line and a conic, or the group of…

Branched n-coverings of Riemann surfaces are described by a 2d lattice gauge theory of the symmetric group S(n) defined on a cell discretization of the surface. We study the theory in the large-n limit, and we find a rich phase diagram with…