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Let $G$ be a complex connected reductive algebraic group and $G/B$ denote the flag variety of $G$. A $G$-homogeneous space $G/H$ is said to be {\it spherical} if $H$ acts on $G/B$ with finitely many orbits. A class of spherical homogeneous…

We produce a sequence of finite dimensional representations of the fundamental group $\pi_1(S)$ of a closed surface where all simple closed curves act with finite order, but where each non--simple closed curve eventually acts with infinite…

We restrict our discussion to the orientable category. For $g > 1$, let $OE_g$ be the maximum order of a finite group $G$ acting on the closed surface $\Sigma_g$ of genus $g$ which extends over $(S^3, \Sigma_g)$, where the maximum is taken…

We prove that second rational homology of the Torelli group of an orientable closed surface of genus g is finite dimensional for g at least 51. This rules out the simplest obstruction to the Torelli group being finitely presented and…

For a oriented genus g surface with one boundary component, S, the Torelli group is the group of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of S that induce the identity on homology. The Magnus representation of the Torelli group represents the…

Let $\Gamma$ be a finite-index subgroup of the mapping class group of a closed genus $g$ surface that contains the Torelli group. For instance, $\Gamma$ can be the level $L$ subgroup or the spin mapping class group. We show that…

Let $G$ be a finitely presented group that can be written as an extension \[ 1 \longrightarrow K \longrightarrow G \longrightarrow F_2 \longrightarrow 1 \] where $K$ is either the finitely generated free group $F_n$, $n > 2$ or the…

We prove a result that relates the number of homomorphisms from the fundamental group of a compact nonorientable surface to a finite group $G$, where conjugacy classes of the boundary components of the surface must map to prescribed…

We prove that if $G$ is a finite simple group which is the unit group of a ring, then $G$ is isomorphic to either (a) a cyclic group of order 2; (b) a cyclic group of prime order $2^k -1$ for some $k$; or (c) a projective special linear…

Given an oriented surface of positive genus with finitely many punctures, we classify the finite orbits of the mapping class group action on the moduli space of semisimple complex special linear two dimensional representations of the…

Let $\G$ be a semisimple algebraic group over a number field $K$, $\mathcal{S}$ a finite set of places of $K$, $K_\mathcal{S}$ the direct product of the completions $K_v, v \in \mathcal{S}$, and $\OO$ the ring of $\mathcal{S}$-integers of…

We classify the automorphism group of minimal surfaces of general type with $K_S^2 = 1$ and $\rho_g = 2$. Furthermore, we show that the order of the automorphism group is bounded above by 200 and can only have prime factors $p \leq 31$ with…

This paper contains a purely topological theorem and a geometric application. The topological theorem states that if M is a simple closed orientable 3-manifold such that \pi_1(M) contains a genus g surface group and H_1(M;Z/2Z) has rank at…

Let $G$ be a connected compact Lie group, and let $M$ be a connected Hamiltonian $G$-manifold with equivariant moment map $\phi$. We prove that if there is a simply connected orbit $G\cdot x$, then $\pi_1(M)\cong\pi_1(M/G)$; if additionally…

We report on the computation of the integral homology of the mapping class group of genus g surfaces with one boundary curve and m punctures, when 2g + m is smaller than 6. In particular, it includes the genus 2 case with no or one…

Recently, Korkmaz established the lower bound of $3g - 2$ for the dimension of a faithful representation of the mapping class group of an orientable surface of genus $g \ge 3$. We raise this bound to $4g - 3$ in the setting of surfaces of…

Let $G$ be a countable group that splits as a free product of groups of the form $G=G_1\ast\dots\ast G_k\ast F_N$, where $F_N$ is a finitely generated free group. We identify the closure of the outer space…

If M is a closed simple 3-manifold whose fundamental group contains a genus-g surface group for some g>1, and if the dimension of H_1(M;Z_2) is at least max(3g-1,6), we show that M contains a closed, incompressible surface of genus at most…

Let k be a field of characteristic 0. Let G be a reductive group over the ring of Laurent polynomials R=k[x_1^{\pm 1},...,x_n^{\pm 1}]. We prove that G has isotropic rank >=1 over R iff it has isotropic rank >=1 over the field of fractions…

We prove that the cohomological dimension of the Torelli group for a closed connected orientable surface of genus g at least 2 is equal to 3g-5. This answers a question of Mess, who proved the lower bound and settled the case of g=2. We…