Infinite presentations for fundamental groups of surfaces

Generators, relations, and presentations of groups (20F05) Geometric group theory (20F65) Fundamental group, presentations, free differential calculus (57M05) Topological methods in group theory (57M07)

Abstract: For any finite type connected surface

S

, we give an infinite presentation of the fundamental group

p i_{1} (S, a s t)

of

S

based at an interior point

a s t i n S

whose generators are represented by simple loops. When

S

is non-orientable, we also give an infinite presentation of the subgroup of

p i_{1} (S, a s t)

generated by elements which are represented by simple loops whose regular neighborhoods are annuli.

Review text

For a closed (i.e. compact and without boundary) connected surface \(S\), the fundamental group has well known finite presentations (such as the classical presentations \(\pi _1(S) = \langle [a_1, b_1] \dots [a_g, b_g] | \prod_{i=1}^g[a_i,b_i] \rangle \) when \(S\) is orientable, and \(\pi _1(S) = \langle c_1, \dots, c_g | \prod_{i=1}^gc_i^2 \rangle \) when \(S\) is non-orientable; here, \(g\) is the genus of \(S\)). If a connected surface is not closed (i.e. it is either non-compact or admits a boundary), then the fundamental group \(\pi_1(S)\) is known to be a free group. In [\textit{A. Putman}, Geom. Funct. Anal. 19, No. 2, 591--643 (2009; Zbl 1178.57001)], the author finds a presentation of the fundamental group of connected closed orientable surfaces where the generating set is the set of equivalence classes of all simple closed curves on \(S\); so the generating set is in the form \[ \mathcal{X}_S = \{S_{\gamma } : \gamma \in \pi _1(S)\backslash \{1\} \text{ is represented by a simple closed curve} \} \] consisting of the set of symbols \(S_{\gamma }\), one symbol for each element of \(\pi _1(S)\backslash \{1\}\) represented by a simple closed curve. In the current paper, the author extends this result to all connected surfaces of finite type. The first main theorem (Theorem 1.1) states that for any connected surface \(S\) of finite type, \(\pi _1(S)\) admits a presentation with the generating set \(\mathcal{X}_S\) and the set of relations consists of two types: \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] \(S_{\gamma ^{-1}} = S_{\gamma }^{-1}\) \item[(2)] \(S_{\alpha } S_{\beta } = S_{\gamma }\) if \(\gamma = \alpha \beta \). \end{itemize} In this theorem the surface may or may not be orientable. If \(S\) is non-orientable, then one can define the subgroup \(\pi _1^+(S)\) of \(\pi _1(S)\) generated by elements represented by the two-sided simple loops (simple loops whose regular neighborhoods are annuli). A similar theorem (Theorem 1.2) is also stated and proved for the group \(\pi _1^+(S)\). The presentations obtained in Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.3 are useful in the study of mapping class groups of surfaces. For the proofs, the following lemma from [loc. cit.] is used: Lemma 1.3: Let \(G\) and \(H\) be groups generated by sets \(X\) and \(Y\), respectively, such that \(H\) acts on \(G\). Suppose that \(X'\subset X\) satisfies the following conditions: \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] \(H(X') = X\) \item[(ii)] for any \(x\in X'\) and \(y\in Y\), \(y^{\pm 1}(x)\) is in the subgroup of \(G\) generated by \(X'\). \end{itemize} Then \(X'\) generates \(G\). In addition to this lemma, the author states and proves three key propositions (Proposition 3.1, Proposition 3.3 and Proposition 4.2). These propositions are somewhat similar in spirit to Lemma 1.3 (and \(G\) and \(H\) are more specific examples), but their proofs require considerable efforts. Theorem 1.1 is proved by combining Lemma 1.3 with Proposition 3.1 in the orientable case, and with Proposition 3.3 in the non-orientable case. Theorem 1.2. is proved by combining Lemma 1.3 and Proposition 4.2.

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