English

Filling systems of maximum size

Geometric Topology 2025-03-07 v1

Abstract

Let SgS_g be a closed orientable surface of genus g2g\geq 2. A collection Ω={γ1,,γs}\Omega = \{ \gamma_1, \dots, \gamma_s\} of pairwise non-homotopic simple closed curves on SgS_g such that γi\gamma_i and γj\gamma_j are in minimal position, is called a \emph{filling system} or a \emph{filling} of SgS_g if the complement SgΩS_g\setminus \Omega is a disjoint union of bb topological discs for some b1b\geq 1. The \emph{size} of a filling system is defined as the number of its elements. We prove that the maximum size of a filling system on SgS_g with 1b2g2 1 \leq b \leq 2g-2 boundary components is 2g+b12g+b-1. Furthermore, we give a lower bound on mapping class group orbits of filling systems of maximum size with 1bg2 1 \leq b \leq g-2 boundary components.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2503.04116,
  title  = {Filling systems of maximum size},
  author = {Rakesh Kumar and Shiv Parsad},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.04116},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

11 pages, 10 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:08:43.844Z