Brieskorn manifolds, generalized Sieradski groups, and coverings of Lens spaces (Q2317375)

Generalized Sieradski groups \(S(m,p,q)\) are groups with \(m\)-cyclic presentation \(G_{m}(w),\) where the word \(w\) has a special form depending on \(p\) and \(q.\) In particular, \(S(m,3,2) = G_{m}(w)\) is the group with \(m\) generators \(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_m\) and \(m\) defining relations \(w(x_i,x_{i+1},x_{i+2}) = 1,\) where \(w(x_i,x_{i+1},x_{i+2}) = x_{i}x_{i+2}x_{i+1}^{-1}.\) Cyclic presentations of the groups \(S(2n,3,2)\) in the form \(G_n(w)\) were investigated by \textit{J. Howie} and \textit{G. Williams} [Topology Appl. 215, 24--34 (2017; Zbl 1365.20032)], who showed that \(n\)-cyclic presentations are geometric i.e., correspond to spines of closed \(3\)-manifolds. In the paper under review the authors establish a similar result for the groups \(S(2n,5,2).\) They prove that \[ S(2n,5,2) = G_{n}(x_{i}x_{i+1}x_{i+2}^{2}x_{i+3}x_{i+4}x_{i+3}^{-1}x_{i+2}^{-1}x_{i+1}x_{i+2}x_{i+3}x_{i+2}^{-1}x_{i+1}^{-1}) \] and the above presentation is geometric. Finally it is proved that the above manifolds (which are related with geometric presentations) are branched \(n\)-fold cyclic coverings of the lens spaces \(L(3,1)\) and \(L(5,1)\), respectively.