The groups of real genus 4 (Q1199266)

An NEC (non-Euclidean crystallographic) group \(\Gamma\) is a discrete subgroup of the full group of automorphisms of the open upper half plane \(U\) with the quotient space \(X=U/\Gamma\) compact. \(X\) is a bordered surface with \(k\) component of the boundary \(\partial X\) and the topological genus \(p\). This Klein surface \(X\) has the algebraic genus \(g\), which is \(2p+k-1\) if \(X\) is orientable or \(p+k-1\) if \(X\) is non- orientable. In a former paper the author has proven that any finite group \(G\) acts on a bordered surface. The minimal algebraic genus of such surfaces is called the real genus \(\rho(G)\) of \(G\). In the mentioned paper the author has classified the finite groups with real genus \(\leq 3\). The main result of the paper under review gives the complete classification of the finite groups with real genus 4. Moreover the author gives 5 groups with real genus 5 and conjectures that there exist other groups of this type. For the proof the following result about the large groups is essential: If the group \(G\) operates on the bordered Klein surface of algebraic genus \(g\geq 2\) and its order is \(>6(g-1)\), then the group \(G\) is an extended quadrilateral group which is generated by the reflections in the sides of the non-Euclidean quadrilateral with angles \({\pi\over 2}\), \({\pi\over 2}\) \({\pi\over 2}\) and \({\pi\over 3}\) or \({\pi\over 4}\) or \({\pi\over 5}\). Then the order of \(G\) is \(12(g-1)\), \(8(g-1)\) or \(20(g-1)\) respectively.