Riemann and Klein surfaces with nodes viewed as quotients (Q2496886)

Let \(X\) be a closed Riemann or Klein surface with nodes, and let \(G\) be a group of automorphisms of \(X\). The author shows that two conditions characterize the cases for which \(G\) acts nicely on \(X\), in the sense that the quotient space \(X/G\) has also structure of surface with nodes. The action of \(G\) on \(X\) has to be discontinuous and no dual automorphism can occur in \(G\). An automorphism is said to be dual if it fixes a node and acts analytically on one part and antianalytically on the other one. The paper also yields with the existence of a structure of Riemann or Klein surface with nodes on \(X/G\) such that the natural projection \(\pi : X \to X/G\) is a morphism. It turns out that such a structure always exists. There is even uniqueness in the case of Riemann surfaces, whereas for Klein surfaces the structure depends on the inessential nodes of the new surface. The paper ends with a version of Riemann-Hurwitz formula for Riemann surfaces with nodes. This is a relation between the genera of the surfaces and the order of the ramification points of the morphism.