Related papers: Braids, mapping class groups, and categorical delo…
When can a map between manifolds be deformed away from itself? We describe a (normal bordism) obstruction which is often computable and in general much stronger than the classical primary obstruction in cohomology. In particular, it answers…
We give an infinite presentation for the mapping class group of a non-orientable surface. The generating set consists of all Dehn twists and all crosscap pushing maps along simple loops.
We study when the derived intersection of two smooth subvarieties of a smooth variety is formal. As a consequence we obtain a derived base change theorem for non-transversal intersections. We also obtain applications to the study of the…
We prove that isomorphism classes of principal bundles over a diffeological space are in bijection to certain maps on its free loop space, both in a setup with and without connections on the bundles. The maps on the loop space are smooth…
Let $N_{g}$ denote a closed nonorientable surface of genus $g$. For $g \geq 2$ the mapping class group $\mathcal{M}(N_{g})$ is generated by Dehn twists and one crosscap slide ($Y$-homeomorphism) or by Dehn twists and a crosscap…
In this paper, we give a simple description of the deformations of a map between two smooth curves with partially prescribed branching, in the cases that both curves are fixed, and that the source is allowed to vary. Both descriptions work…
We describe a series of complexes that relate to the braid groups as the matching complexes relate to the symmetric groups. A modified construction applies as well to other complexes based on edge sets in graphs. We show that our…
The family of $J$-reflection groups can be seen as a combinatorial generalisation of irreducible rank two complex reflection groups and was introduced by the author in a previous article. In this article, we define the braid groups…
We show that the cycle relation between Dehn twists about curves in a circuit detects whether the circuit bounds an embedded disc. This is done by determining the isomorphism type of the group generated by said Dehn twists for various…
In this paper, we survey recent works on the structure of the mapping class groups of surfaces mainly from the point of view of topology. We then discuss several possible directions for future research. These include the relation between…
One way to better understand the smooth mapping class group of the 4-sphere would be to give a list of generators in the form of explicit diffeomorphisms supported in neighborhoods of submanifolds, in analogy with Dehn twists on surfaces.…
We consider a special class of framed links that arise from the hexatangle. Such links are introduced in [arXiv:0807.1677], which was also analyzed when the 3-manifold obtained after performing integral Dehn surgery on closed pure 3-braids…
In this paper, we use a result of Dahmani to show that the Euler class of some power subgroup (the subgroup normally generated by a fixed power of Dehn twist about a non-separating curve) is trivial inside the mapping class group of once…
The closure of a braid in a closed orientable surface $\Sigma$ is a link in $\Sigma\times S^1$. We classify such closed surface braids up to isotopy and homeomorphism (with a small indeterminacy for isotopy of closed sphere braids),…
We develop a theory of $\times$-homotopy, fundamental groupoids and covering spaces that apply to non-simple graphs, generalizing existing results for simple graphs. We prove that $\times$-homotopies from finite graphs can be decomposed…
By the work of Harer, the reduced homology of the complex of curves is a fundamental cohomological object associated to all torsion free finite index subgroups of the mapping class group. We call this homology group the Steinberg module of…
Considering the monoidal category $\mathcal{C}$ obtained as modules over a Hopf algebra $H$ in a rigid braided category $\mathcal{B}$, we prove decomposition results for the Hochschild and cyclic homology categories $HH(\mathcal{C})$ and…
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…
We apply Majid's transmutation procedure to Hopf algebra maps $H \to \mathbb C[T]$, where $T$ is a compact abelian group, and explain how this construction gives rise to braided Hopf algebras over quotients of $T$ by subgroups that are…
Given two Lagrangian spheres in an exact symplectic manifold, we find conditions under which the Dehn twists about them generate a free non-abelian subgroup of the symplectic mapping class group. This extends a result of Ishida for Riemann…