Related papers: Splittings of groups and intersection numbers

We present a simple proof of the surface classification theorem using normal curves. This proof is analogous to Kneser's and Milnor's proof of the existence and uniqueness of the prime decomposition of 3-manifolds. In particular, we do not…

We prove that, as $m$ grows, any family of $m$ homotopically distinct closed curves on a surface induces a number of crossings that grows at least like $(m \log m)^2$. We use this to answer two questions of Pach, Tardos and Toth related to…

We address the problem of computing bounds for the self-intersection number (the minimum number of self-intersection points) of members of a free homotopy class of curves in the doubly-punctured plane as a function of their combinatorial…

We show that the groupoids of two directed graphs are isomorphic if and only if the two graphs are orbit equivalent by an orbit equivalence that preserves isolated eventually periodic points. We also give a complete description of the…

We prove that the separated curve complex of a closed orientable surface of genus g is (g-3)-connected. We also obtain a connectivity property for a separated curve complex of the open surface that is obtained by removing a finite set from…

Bauer and Catanese \cite{bauercat} have found 4 families of surfaces of general type with $p_g = q = 0$ which are quotients of the product of curves by the action of finite abelian group. We compute integral homology groups of these…

We consider unbounded curves without endpoints. Isomorphism is equivalence up to translation. Self-avoiding plane-filling curves cannot be periodic, but they can satisfy the local isomorphism property: We obtain a set $\Omega $ of coverings…

We prove that every topological conjugation between two germs of singular holomorphic curves in the complex plane is homotopic to another conjugation which extends homeomorphically to the exceptional divisors of their minimal…

We consider homologically essential simple closed curves on Seifert surfaces of genus one knots in $S^3$, and in particular those that are unknotted or slice in $S^3$. We completely characterize all such curves for most twist knots: they…

The fine curve complex of a surface is a simplicial complex whose vertices are essential simple closed curves and whose $k$-simplices are collections of $k+1$ disjoint curves. We prove that the fine curve complex is homotopy equivalent to…

We consider the relations between different measures of complexity for free homotopy classes of curves on a surface $\Sigma$, including the minimum number of self-intersections, the minimum length of the words representing them in a…

It is shown that various questions about the existence of simple closed curves in normal subgroups of surface groups are undecidable.

Given a closed, oriented surface M, the algebraic intersection of closed curves induces a symplectic form Int(.,.) on the first homology group of M. If M is equipped with a Riemannian metric g, the first homology group of M inherits a norm,…

We show that up to isomorphism there are exactly twenty pairs $(C,E)$, where $C$ is a genus-$2$ curve over ${\mathbf C}$, where $E$ is an elliptic curve over ${\mathbf C}$, and where for every integer $n>1$ there is a map of degree $n$ from…

We define and study analogs of curve graphs for infinite type surfaces. Our definitions use the geometry of a fixed surface and vertices of our graphs are infinite multicurves which are bounded in both a geometric and a topological sense.…

This paper is motivated by the real symplectic isotopy problem : does there exists a nonsingular real pseudoholomorphic curve not isotopic in the projective plane to any real algebraic curve of the same degree? Here, we focus our study on…

We show that the algebraic intersection number of Scott and Swarup for splittings of free groups coincides with the geometric intersection number for the sphere complex of the connected sum of copies of $S^2\times S^1$.

Any pair of intersecting cylinders on a translation surface is "coherent," in that the geometric and algebraic intersection numbers of their core curves are equal (up to sign). In this paper, we investigate when a pair of multicurves can be…

A curve in the plane is $x$-monotone if every vertical line intersects it at most once. A family of curves are called pseudo-segments if every pair of them have at most one point in common. We construct $2^{\Omega(n^{4/3})}$ families, each…

The Epstein-Baer theory of curve isotopies is basic to the remarkable theorem that homotopic homeomorphisms of surfaces are isotopic. The groundbreaking work of R. Baer was carried out on closed, orientable surfaces and extended by D. B. A.…