Combinatorial rigidity in curve complexes and mapping class groups

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Abstract: In all possible cases, we prove that local embeddings between two curve complexes whose complexities do not increase from domain to codomain are induced by surface homeomorphism. This is our first main result. From this we can deduce our second, a strong local co-Hopfian result for mapping class groups.


The curve complex \(\mathcal{C}(S)\), introduced by [\textit{W. J. Harvey}, Boundary structure of the modular group, Riemann surfaces and related topics: Proc. 1978 Stony Brook Conf., Ann. Math. Stud. 97, 245--251 (1981; Zbl 0461.30036)], of a compact oriented surface \(S\) of genus \(g\) (possibly with \(n\) boundary components) is a simplicial complex whose \(k\)-simplices are collections of \(k+1\) simple disjoint closed curves on \(S\) which are homotopically nontrivial and nonperipheral and pairwise nonisotopic. This complex carries a natural action of the mapping class group \(\text{Mod}(S)\), which is the group of isotopy classes of orientation-preserving self-homeomorphisms of \(S\). Given surfaces \(S\) and \(S'\), a simplicial map \(s:\mathcal{C}(S)\rightarrow \mathcal{C}(S')\) (resp. a homomorphism \(h:\text{Mod}(S)\rightarrow\text{Mod}(S')\)) is said geometric if it is induced by a map \(f:S \rightarrow S'\). In this context, a rigidity result usually says that, under certain hypotheses, such simplicial maps (resp. homomorphisms) are geometric. The main result proven by the author says that, with the exception of a few cases for low \(g\) and \(n\), a simplicial embedding from \(s:\mathcal{C}(S)\rightarrow \mathcal{C}(S')\) is geometric, provided \(3g-3+n\geq 3g'-3+n'\). As a corollary, the author obtains a similar rigidity statement for injection of a finite-index subgroup of \(\text{Mod}(S)\) inside \(\text{Mod}(S')\). Other results in this direction were obtained by [\textit{E. Irmak}, Topology 43, No.~3, 513--541 (2004; Zbl 1052.57024), Topology Appl. 153, No.~8, 1309--1340 (2006; Zbl 1100.57020)], \textit{N. V. Ivanov} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 1997, No.~14, 651--666 (1997; Zbl 0890.57018)], \textit{M. Korkmaz} [Topology Appl. 95, No.~2, 85--111 (1999; Zbl 0926.57012)], \textit{F. Luo} [Topology 39, No.~2, 283--298 (2000; Zbl 0951.32012)] and \textit{D. Margalit} [Duke Math. J. 121, No.~3, 457--479 (2004; Zbl 1055.57024)].




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