Minimizing the cardinality of the fixed point set for self-maps of surfaces with boundary (Q1199265)

Let \(M\) be a compact manifold and \(f: M \to M\) a map, then \(MF[f]\) is defined to be the minimum number of fixed points among all maps homotopic to \(f\). For manifolds of dimension at least 3, the number \(MF[f]\) can be calculated, in principal, because it equals the Nielsen number \(N(f)\) of the map \(f\). For maps of surfaces, \(MF[f]\) does not equal \(N(f)\) in general and, in fact, the author [Pac. J. Math. 126, 81-123 (1987; Zbl 0599.55001)] showed that there are maps on the pants surface (disc with two holes) with \(MF[f]\) arbitrarily larger than \(N(f)\). He obtained this result as a consequence of an algorithm for calculating \(MF[f]\) for all maps of the pants surface. In the present paper, he abstracts the ideas from his earlier paper to produce what he describes as ``a geometric scheme, but not an algorithm'' for computing \(MF[f]\) for a map on any surface with negative Euler characteristic and non-empty boundary. A consequence of the geometric scheme is an embedding theorem that allows the author to embed his pants examples in every surface with negative Euler characteristic and non-empty boundary, to demonstrate that, for these surfaces as well, there are maps for which \(MF[f]\) is arbitrarily larger than \(N(f)\). Recently, \textit{Boju Jiang} [Commutativity and Wecken properties for fixed points on surfaces and 3-manifolds, Topology Appl. (to appear)] has used entirely different techniques to extend the embedding theorem to all surfaces with negative Euler characteristic, including those with empty boundary.