Orderings of mapping class groups after Thurston (Q1347834)

A group \(G\) is called left-orderable if there is a total order \(<\) on \(G\) that is invariant under the left multiplication. That is, any two elements in \(G\) are comparable and \(x<y\) implies that \(gx<gy\) for all \(x,y,g\in G\). \(G\) is called bi-orderable if there is a total order on \(G\) that is invariant under both left and right multiplication. A group containing torsion elements is not orderable. The mapping class group of a closed surface contains torsion elements, hence it cannot be left-orderable. Therefore, surfaces with nonempty boundary are considered in this paper. Let \(S\) be a surface with nonempty boundary and with (possibly empty) punctures. The mapping class group \({\mathcal {MCG}}(S)\) is defined as the group of isotopy classes of homeomorphisms \(S\to S\) which permute the punctures and restrict to the identity on the boundary of \(S\). In the paper under review the authors show that if the Euler characteristic of \(S\) is negative then \({\mathcal {MCG}}(S)\) is left-orderable. The construction of left orderings on \({\mathcal {MCG}}(S)\), due to Thurston, is given as follows. Equip \(S\) with a hyperbolic metric and consider its universal covering its in the hyperbolic plane. Every homeomorphism \(S\to S\) lifts to the universal covering and then to the circle at infinity fixing a point, since the boundary of \(S\) is nonempty. This way the mapping class group \({\mathcal {MCG}}(S)\) acts on the real line. The authors also classify the set of orderings on braid groups (i.e. the mapping class group of a disc with punctures) which arise from this construction. These orderings can be put into two types: finite and infinite. Finite type orderings are discrete and there are finitely many conjugacy classes of them. On the other hand, there are uncountably many infinite type orderings and they are all non-discrete.